Creative Futures- Influence Boards

Another university assignment dealing with our personal influences. We had to choose six categories and select images that spring to mind when we think of our interests. I chose the categories: Books, Games, Fine Artists, Graphic Artists/Illustrators, Films and Directors.

Fine Artists

Most of the fine artists I like are Surrealist artists (like Bosch, Dali, Magritte and Bacon). I've always enjoyed Surrealism mainly because of it's strange, zany quality and wacky combinations of images they offer. But the thing I enjoy most is analyzing and gleaning meaning from seemingly random nonsense. Plus, I'm particularly interested in horror so painters like Bacon and Goya who paint visceral and disturbing images in their work really fascinates me.

Books

Similarly with books, I love fantasy and horror as genres. Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' was seemingly set in an odd dystopia based on our world but one steeped in black humour, wit and dark stories. "The Broken World" is a novel written from the perspective of a gamer who thinks of the real world as comparable and almost the same as the game world. Alice was also a particular childhood favourite, and Dan Brown's thrillers interest me because of the 'puzzle' elements. I also have an attachment to puzzles and riddles, another reason I like video games.

Directors

Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Ruggero Deodato are Italian horror directors and were brought to my attention when I became interested (as a horror buff) in the Video Nasties saga in the 1980's UK, in which certain horror films were deemed obscene and banned to the public. I like Lars Von Trier's films for their parable-like feel and their unique staging. Edgar Wright and David Renwick are British directors, who produce some of my favourite witty British programs: Spaced and Jonathan Creek. I'm also a fan of the films of Paul W.S. Anderson (namely Event Horizon) and M. Night Shyalaman (namely Signs and The Village).

Films

I particularly enjoy horror classics like Night of the Living Dead and Jacob's Ladder for their colour schemes. Black and white really helped convey a nightmarish scenario in NOTLD, while a decrepit, rusty, otherworldly feel was achieved in Jacob's Ladder. I also liked Pleasantville for this reason. The design of The Fifth Element also drew me in, as well as the entirely believable continuity the film depicted. Being a horror fan, Friday the 13th (while being merely cheap thrills) really helped to define the slasher genre and so it's one of my favourites. I enjoyed eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor for their refreshing takes on simulated reality, while I enjoyed the Chaos Theory-related plot of The Butterfly Effect.

Games

Again, being a massive fan of horror, survival horror games make up the majority of my influences,, with titles like Silent Hill, Siren, Fatal Frame and Haunting Ground. My other passion of fantasy is fulfilled by Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Mortal Kombat is a great blending of the two genres, while Metal Gear Solid inspires me with it's revolutionary and visionary storylines told with dynamic characters.

Graphic Artists/Illustrators

Concept artists Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshitaka Amano, Masahiro Ito and Yuji Shinkawa are some of my favourite because they worked on my favourites games (Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill). Brett Helquist illustrated 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', Rick Melton does digital paintings for a cult film company and Quentin Blake's scribbly watercolours bring lots of nostalgia from reading Roald Dahl.