I’m sure you have. But does it work. I’m thinking of plonkng a tv screen on my desk and playing some old movies or public domain Nasa stuff or National Geographic and putting the tv on mute. Then composing with what i’m seeing as inspiration. It seems logical and a way to be quite productive. Any thoughts on this. Have you tried it?
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used to do this with anime and kung fu movies! i thrive on chaotic distractions so it was incredibly helpful to me and my workflow to have something I’m actively ignoring 
if i had the space in my music zone i would have another TV set up for this reason
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Worked out really well for this album!
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World of Calm to thread for all the ambient producers up in here… 
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Just put on a wacky episode of against the clock, and go battle mode!
I did a whole album based on this idea but just watching scenes from Blade Runner and scoring them live. Working on a video for it with a buddy, but hoping to release it soon.
It was a ton of fun and honestly took me places creatively that I probably wouldn’t have arrived at by myself.
I’m no Vangelis but it came out pretty good and was a super fun exercise. Highly recommend it.
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I definitely enjoy doing this. I’ll noodle on the piano over a movie I’ve seen while it’s muted. Also have used this series of HOURS-long videos Of driving through Iceland - from Sigur Ros. https://youtu.be/G54tllj-SKI
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Party and festival videos are great to get in that mood. Downside: Checking out hot chicks is rather distracting 
i do some parts of the process in the basement on the couch w/a tv on w/a playlist of movies or whatever in VLC. usually when i’ve recorded a bunch in the studio i’ll dump it on a hard drive and transfer to the laptop and then sit w/headphones and edit. just to break things up if there’s a lot of jams to go through. it doesn’t help or distract. .it’s just a thing to fill the background of my visual field and sort of churn along like a fireplace. it’s kind of comforting really. maybe helps me focus a bit on just editing away long chunks of jam sessions and getting into the zone.
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I just look out the window.
My desk faces the window so I can see the trees and sky outside while I twiddle knobs and make noise.
Screens no thanks.
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i just start day dreaming if i stare out the window. if i’m working with hardware i’m generally look at it and in the studio w/no distraction. for editing and sitting with the laptop i like to sort of ‘nest’ on the couch and zone in.
I wish i had a studio n the 2nd floor w/windows looking out onto something open like a field or some trees or whatever but not really possible in my place. the basement is pretty nice though for shutting out the world and forgetting about what is going on outside and hopefully disappearing into a sort of hardware jamming meditation or something.
I’ve ordered a portable dvd player that plays SD and USB as well. So much public domain videos now and NASA have just given a load away to the public i can zone into my Ambient side hopefully.
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Do you have a link to the new NASA stuff?
I think the idea is good and I have done it a lot. Best would be if you owned the rights to use it as kind of music video imho.
As far as I know NASA has made the videos publicly available. Just as with sampling: throw on tons of effects beyond recognition and don’t worry too much 
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yeah that’s what I do! Analog BadTV effect on top of VHS glitchfx always makes the worst footage looks like it’s okay - video has only 320x240 px? No problem!
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started a while ago with this Demant as i felt i needed something to stimulate creativity but didn’t want to spend way too much time on recording/editing videos. i might do more of this in the future as i find it helpful in the musicmaking process but probably look into different sources…
I’ve been known to put 80s and early 90s NBA games on when I’m getting my sample dig on. Easy to ignore but fun to see when I look up.
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I had to do a double take because my mind went straight to aliens when I saw that first picture of the plant. I almost crapped myself
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Sometimes the only chance I get to focus on music is while my kids are watching TV. Seeing Ghibli visuals or Adventure Time trippiness when I sit back and listen during a session has been a good inspiration.