Name:
Daniel Newton
Module No: ARD406 Creative Futures 1
Assignment Title: Influence Boards
Introduction to the Influence boards
For this
assignment I have to produce 6 separated influence boards made up of a montage
of images that reflect my interests and people that have influenced me in
different ways. These include a variety of people from different walks of life
e.g. engineers, film companies, artists and authors.
Railways and trains have always been a great interest and passion for me, especially steam engines.
The first
two images that I`ve chosen include two early steam engines, Richard
Trevithick’s early locomotive (Image 1) and George Stephenson`s famous “Rocket”
(Image 2) from the early 19th century. I am full of admiration for
these early inventors, their ingenuity and belief that such machines would work
and make a difference to the world in which we live.
The bridge (Image
3) is the “Royal Albert Bridge” which crosses the River Tamar between Plymouth
and Devon, the Tunnel (Image 4) is called “Box Tunnel” which is 1.83 miles long
in length and is located between Bath and Chippenham. Both the bridge and
Tunnel are the creative work of Brunel (in the 19th century) and
both are still in use today. Whenever I see railway bridges and tunnels like
these it makes me wonder how all these clever engineers managed to design and build them, especially considering that they
didn`t have the assistance of technology and machines that we have today.
The image of
the steam engine (Image 5) is the famous “Flying Scotsman”, built in the early
1920s by Sir Nigel Gresley. This is my favourite steam train and which I have
seen on numerous occasions. Every time I have seen this especially when I saw
it working I am amazed at the power and strength and the fact that it could do
100 M.P.H.
The Station
(Image 6) is Paddington station in London, the image shows the old roof
structure and modern electric trains. I am impressed with how the old and new
can blend in together.
Influence Board 2-Reverend Wilbert
Awdry
As railways
and trains are one of my best interests, the “Thomas the Tank” book series has had
a big influence on me when I was young because it tells a lot of stories of fictional
trains, involving them a series of incidents and events which are all based on
real life railway incidents. The trains are also given names, lives and
personalities and by reading the books they captured my early imagination.
Most of the books were written by a British
author named “Rev. W. Awdry” (Image 1) and a couple of others were written by
his son, Christopher Awdry (who the books were written for originally).
At home I still
have the entire big book collection of the series; the second image shows the
book cover of the collection. The third image shows an illustration from one of
the books and on the bottom, left hand corner of the image is the author with
his wife and children.
The books
were also adapted into a children`s TV series in the 1980s (Images 4, 5 and 6),
I have a couple of the episodes at home on videos. I enjoyed the TV series as
much as the books and I find that they are just as imaginative as the books
themselves. The books encouraged me to read in a regular way for enjoyments and
pleasures.
Influence Board 3-Disney/Pixar
I am a big fan of the Walt Disney film company; over the years
the films created by Disney have had a big influence on me. I love the
animation style used in the films because I feel they are very colourful, this
helps the films to stand out from other similar films. The films shown in the
top three images are my top favourites of the Disney film series. I feel they
are very well created, they are imaginative, heartbreaking and they are full of
magic of film entertainment.
“Robin Hood” (Image 1) tells a legendary tale of Robin Hood,
as he battles to save England from the slavery of the ruthless “Prince John”.
Rather than using real people, the characters are humanised animals and I feel
this is quite an effective way to portray a story, as it shows the true natures
of the characters e.g. Robin Hood was as sly as a fox and he is portrayed as a
fox.
“The Rescuers” (Image 2) tells a fictional story of two mice
who set out to save a kidnapped little girl, from and evil woman who is
intending to use the girl to retrieve a valuable diamond. This is my second
favourite of the Disney films. I enjoy seeing how the mice fought to save the
little girl and how they successfully defeated the evil villainess.
“Lilo & Stitch” (Image 3) is my top favourite of the
Disney films; the story is set in the Hawaiian island of Kauai and I like how
it tells the story of a lonely little girl who adopts and alien from space,
whom she believed was a dog. The alien intends to use the girl as a protection
shield from his alien hunters who are trying to re-capture the alien. I also
like how the artists used water colour painting technique to capture the glory
and beauty of the tropical Hawaiian beaches and culture. I consider this the
best of the Disney films.
The fourth image
shows one of the Disney home video introductions.
There is another film company in co-operation with Disney,
which has also had a heavy influence on me, the company is Pixar. I feel very
intrigued at the animation style the company uses in the films. All the films
are computer animated and the animation is so realistic it looks as though it
the films were shot in live action, which was my first impression when I saw
“Toy Story” as a child.
Image 5 shows the company`s famous logo introduction, with
the hopping lamp bouncing on the I, crushing it and having to take its place.
The bottom images show three of my favourite films from
Pixar. I feel that Pixar films are very imaginative indeed. “Toy Story” (Image
6) was my favourite film as a child; as it really captured my imagination of
what toys would do once you leave the bedroom, it was also the first film to
fully animated by computer.
Another one of my favourite Pixar films was “Monsters Inc”
(Image 7), I feel that it`s an interesting way to wonder what is lurking behind
your closet door at night.
My favourite of the Pixar films today is “The Incredibles”
(Image 8); I consider it the best of the Pixar films because of all the
hilarious actions it contains.
All of these films have helped me be creative with my
college assignments.
Influence Board 4-Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (Image
1) is another one of my favourite book authors. Many of his books have had a
major influence on me and I have collected most of his books.
I feel that
his books a very creative, imaginative and they are very well written, they are
definitely books that everyone should read. My favourite of his books is
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, this is because it tells the story of a
boy named Charlie Bucket who wins a free golden ticket into a chocolate factory
and I wish that I could get a free ticket to enter Cadbury’s chocolate factory,
as I really like their chocolates.
Some of his
books like “James and the Giant Peach” (Image 2), “Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory” (Image 3), “Fantastic Mr Fox” (Image 4) and “Matilda” (Image 6) have
been made into films, some of which I have at home. I feel that they are just
as exciting as the books themselves and compliment the books.
Two of his
other books that I really like are “The Twits” (Image 5) and “George`s
Marvellous Medicine” (Image 7). These have not been adapted into films and I
feel they should be adapted.
The four
portraits (Images 1, 2, 6 and 7) are self portraits of himself that were all
painted at different times my favourite is Image 1 as I like the dominant
colour of the painting that is blue.
The painting
of “The church at Auvers-Sur-Oise” (Image 3) is impressive and shows fine
architecture which always impresses me when I see real buildings.
The painting
of “The Starry Night” (Image 4) shows an interesting brush technique that I
have tried to copy when I was in school. The simplicity of the “Sunflowers”
painting (Image 5) is definitely something that I admire.
“Harry
Potter” is a series of books that were written by a British a female Author
named J.K. Rowling (Image 1). Due to the popularity of her books she has become
the 13th richest woman in the UK. There are 7 books in the whole
series (Image 2), I have read and collected all the books as they are all
filled with thrilling breathtaking excitement adventures and fantasy which I
really enjoy.
The
popularity of the books has lead them be adapted into series of films. All the
films have been produced and released on DVD and Blu-Ray (Image 3). At first I
had no interest in Harry Potter, it wasn`t until I saw the first film on video
when I started to gain my interest in Harry Potter, as a result I went on to
read the books and I have collected all the films on DVD. My favourite actor in
the films is Daniel Radcliffe (Image 4) who is rich and famous for staring as Harry
Potter, along with Rupert Grint and Emma Watson (the actors of Harry`s friends,
Ron and Hermione). I feel they were very good actors for the characters and
there could have been no better actors for them. I was also influenced by the steam engine (Image
5) which was used to portray the Hogwarts Express (the train that takes the
wizards to Hogwarts school), as Steam trains are one of my biggest interests.
The Engine is called “Olton Hall” in reality, but was re-named “Hogwarts
Castle”, and painted red for the films.
There is
also a series of video and PC games based on the Harry Potter books and films.
I really enjoy the games and I believe they are better than the books and
films, as I feel they are more adventurous and exciting. I have all the games on
Play Station 1, 2 and 3. The sixth image on the board is the cover art image
for the first game.
Conclusion
In
conclusion to this assignment I tried to collect a variety of images for each
influence board. By selecting a combination of authors, films and other
interests I have researched fully into things that have influenced me and have
discussed the reasons as to why they have influenced me.
