Julian Marshall: On Creativity
*Watch Julian’s short film WE ARE GEORGE FLOYD. On May 25th, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, murdered George Floyd, a black man, by driving his knee into George's neck for 8 minutes and 45 seconds until he died. This film chronicles New York City's overwhelming response.
Marianna
Do you have a routine or particular habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Julian
The first thing I like to do is give myself time—specifically time for my mind to play. I rarely come up with great ideas when I’m actively trying to come up with great ideas. My process tends to start very generally and gradually, then it accelerates exponentially as you reach execution. I have a pretty non-linear way of thinking, so my mind likes to bounce around early on in the process. My process always starts with research—which can take on many different forms. It can be subconscious or conscious. For some projects, I try to immerse myself and my subconscious in things that relate to the problem I’m trying to solve which allows for connections to be made and solutions to come out naturally.
For some, I do direct, conscious research, however, I try not to research/reference things that are in the exact same medium as what I am trying to create. Otherwise, your work will only be a derivative of your references. It’s important to leave a synesthetic gap between your research/references and the piece you are making. For instance, I might reference a piece of music for how I want an image to look and feel—so that my brain has to creatively interpret and fill in the gap. If I’m making a film, I try my hardest not to directly reference existing films.
After research, I take all of my kernels and try to establish a theme. For me, a theme is an indivisible statement about your subject matter from which every creative choice flows. It is your north star. It is the DNA that pervades every element of what you are making. I do this agnostic of the medium that I’m working in. Once you have a theme, creative choices become very clear and you can get off to the races on execution and hopefully reach a flow-state.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Julian
I think ideas come from a perfect dance between your conscious and subconscious mind. The subconscious is a wildly powerful information intake and connectivity machine. However, it has to be focused in order to form something that is coherent. The conscious mind is the ‘basic survival instinct’ filter of the subconscious. It takes information from your subconscious and decides what is necessary for survival and what isn’t.
However, the conscious mind is typically too good at its job and kills creative connections before they can surface. Basically, our adult survival instincts are at odds with our creative instincts. So I think it’s important to learn how to modulate your conscious mind in order to release the power of your subconscious mind. In practice, for me, this usually means trying to remain child-like, inquisitive, and playful.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Julian
Creativity gives us purpose. It is a never-ending journey to find truth in our existence. And contrary to what most people think, creativity is not bound to the arts.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Julian
It depends on what I’m working on. I’m typically only able to enter a writing flow-state in the morning. Conversely, I’m typically only able to enter an editing flow-state at night.
Marianna
What are the unexpected turns your life took to lead you to become who you are today?
Julian
I think the most important part of my process is humility. Subordinating yourself and your ego to your work and the people that you work with. This is especially important because of how collaborative film is. It took me years of working in the film industry after ego-driven art schooling to learn and internalize this.
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Julian
I’m very sensitive to my environment. I like to immerse myself and my subconscious in tonalities that are related to the subject at hand. Tonality is the synthesis of sensory intake. It’s the interplay between disparate sensory elements. Controlling tonality is important not only to film itself but also to the process of making film. So if you take the five senses, sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, I try to use them as tools to guide my creativity. It’s different from project to project but it can include listening to specific music, traveling to a specific place, eating a specific food, surrounding yourself with specific people…
Marianna
What creative accomplishments are you most proud of?
Julian
I’m probably most proud of my thesis film from RISD, OBEY THE GIANT, because of the people I was working with and how much of a learning experience it was. It can be a bit cringeworthy looking back on it, but it was a life-changing experience.
Marianna
Do you experiment in your work?
Julian
I strive for everything to be an experiment in some sense. If you’re not experimenting and living/creating on the edge of your seat, you’re not breaking new ground. I try to put myself in uncomfortable positions from which I have no choice but to find my way out.
Marianna
How would you describe your creative process?
Julian
Guided non-linearity. I leave myself enough space to bounce around but with an end in mind.
Marianna
What do you think is something that the most creative people in the world have in common?
Julian
Curiosity. It’s why children are so creative. They have no choice but to be curious. And we lose this as we become adults and form our biases about the world.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Julian
Sensitivity, careful listening, and flexibility. AKA being present. If you are truly flexible and present in a given moment, you can find stillness in chaos. Being on set is the perfect example. Set is always chaos to the highest degree—50 people buzzing around in every direction at full speed 12-16 hours a day. Embracing chaos is the only way to channel chaos. Once I learned to embrace chaos, I truly fell in love with what I do.
Marianna
Why do you think people get stuck on problems?
Julian
I can only speak for myself, but I get stuck on problems when I am thinking too directly about the problem. I like to think ‘around’ problems. This is a skill that comes from directing and working with human behavior as a medium. Imagine that the problem you need to solve is that you need to get sadness from an actor in a scene. If you tell an actor, directly, to BE sad, you’re only going to get a derivative of what they think you want sad to look like and you’ll do a ton of takes and never get anything moving.
However, if you ask an actor to think about their loneliest moment during coronavirus lockdown and express it, you get gold. The same process can be applied to general problem-solving. Don’t think about the problem itself—think about everything that exists in the void around the problem.
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About Julian Marshall:
Julian Marshall is an NYC and LA-based film and commercial director from Washington D.C. His work stems from a love of Cinema, Action Sports, and Fine Art.
Julian has worked with a wide variety of clients including Google, Under Armour, Amazon, Intel, Spectrum, Red Bull, HP, Citibank, BMW, Verizon, Bayer, BET, PricewaterhouseCoopers, ClearMotion, TNT, and The Robin Hood Foundation.
He has a BFA in Film from Rhode Island School of Design. While at RISD, Julian worked for Shepard Fairey at OBEY GIANT, Shilo, and Wes Anderson on Moonrise Kingdom.
His time at RISD culminated in directing an award-winning narrative film, entitled OBEY THE GIANT, about the early life of Shepard Fairey and the origin of his OBEY GIANT street art campaign.