Who Influences You As A Creative Person?

I come from a background in art (both my parents are artists), so my creativity is fostered by basically the entire world around me. I am inspired by everything from interesting news articles, to films and shows, to artwork, to just the crazy shenanigans that are a part of everyday life. 

THREE EXAMPLES

• "Kiwi!" by Dony Permedi
• This short film is beautifully tragic; the tale of a wee kiwi bird, which by nature is flightless, in his attempt at reaching for his dream: flying. I was really drawn to this particular video because of its ability to engage the audience with relatively simple animation and no dialogue whatsoever. The themes and messages are all conveyed actively. The viewer is guided toward understanding the kiwi's dreams by watching him build a virtual forest and "soar" through it... downwards. We can see this when he pops out his "wings" and waves them as though he is actually propelling himself forward, and a single tear escapes from his eye. There is significant tension when the kiwi jumps off the cliff, as the audience doesn't know why he's plummeting down through a bunch of trees. Then the screen is tilted and we get the release: he's flying. And while this is a tragic way of attaining his dreams, or as close as he can ever get to his dreams, we are to understand that he is finally a happy bird. 

• "The Curse" by Josh Ritter, video by Liam Hurley
• Josh Ritter is one of my favourite musical artists, in part because of his incredible creativity in creating worlds and scenarios you would never think of, and setting these stories to his signature "folk-rock" genre. In this song, "The Curse," he tells the story of a mummy that wakes up after years of slumbering in his sarcophagus to fall in love with the archaeologist who discovered him. It is then set to a video created by Liam Hurley, a puppet representation of the story. The text of the lyrics describe the mummy exploring the modern world and meeting people, the press, etc, but the subtext is about love and loss. Since he's a mummy and not technically alive anymore, he continues existing while the archaeologist grows older and eventually passes away, leaving him alone. At the beginning she asks if he's cursed and he replies, "I think that I'm cured." After she dies the question is presented to him again and repeats his answer, but "hopes that she'll forget that question." I feel like the video is a didactic representation of the song, as the lyrics are visualized for us so we can really connect to what's being said.
• "The Saga of Biôrn" by Benjamin J. Kousholt, Daniel D. Christensen, Mads Lundgaard Christensen, Jesper A. Jensen, Jonas K. Doctor, Steffen Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen, Frederik Bjerre-Poulsen, and Jonas Georgakakis
• This short, animated film is clever, funny, and uses mythology to bring to life a world we might not be familiar with: ancient Vikings. I was drawn to it because of attention to detail and unspoken commentaries on the two different worlds presented. The creators of this video used tenion and release expertly, with the audience wondering if each battle will be his last. Is this it? Will he die? No, all his foes are inadequate and kill themselves. Then finally he is led to a beast he cannot defeat, and we breathe a sigh of relief that he attained his goal. Until the nuns intervene... The film contrasts the Vikings and Christian nuns to further the plot. The nuns are passive and orderly, whereas Biôrn is crashing through the land in search of an honourable death so he can be permitted to live with the Gods. This contrast is what what makes it so funny when he finally attains that honourable death. The nuns bury him in their graveyard with a cross at his head, and instantly he is transported from the entrance of Valhalla to the Pearly Gates, which is the equivalent of Viking Hell, the affinity between the two places providing additional humour.