My Inspirations in Media

Will Smith - Willard Carroll Smith Jr. is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. He has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards. He first gained fame from his rapping career under the name ‘The Fresh Prince’. After the flop of his music, he went broke however he was approached by a producer who was working on a new comedy series which then went on to become ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. This went on for 6 seasons and by the end of the show Will decided he wanted to go into bigger shows/films and play more serious roles in: where the day takes you, bad boys, independence say, etc. He inspires me as he began broke, rose to fame, and got money to support himself only to go broke a second time and do it all again which would take a great amount of effort. He is also considered a professional in 2 quite different fields of media (music and film) as both a rapper and an actor, which I find very inspirational to see that it is achievable to go into multiple forms of media. 

Quinten Tarantino - Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an Italian American actor and musician from New York. He directed many famous movies which are now considered classics, some films of his I like are: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015). He is inspirational to me as he is one of the best know directors, has a unique film style, and has made many revolutionary films, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Django unchained, being some of my favorites. He is the main reason I enjoy movies as much as I do now as he made me analyse everything that I'm watching, and he has made me respect directing even more. 

 

Rosanna Jones - Rosanna Jones is a photographer and mixed media image maker based in London. She experiments with a blend of art and photography. Her trademark aesthetic has been built through years of painting over, ripping up, burning, and otherwise distressing her photography to create portraits that defy the flat images they once were. I am inspired by this photographer/artist as she has developed her style over the space of multiple years and introduced me to a unique and unusual way to edit images that give an image a look that could never be achieved digitally (in Photoshop and similar software). She inspired my photography work in school and made me want to try more experimental photography and editing techniques. 

 

Brian De Palma - Brian De Palma is one of the well-known directors who spear-headed the new movement in Hollywood during the 1970s. He is known for his many films that go from violent pictures to Hitchcock-like thrillers. He directed many famous movies which are now considered classics, some films of his I like are: Greetings (1968), Obsession (1976), Carrie (1976), Scarface (1983) and The Untouchables (1987). He is inspirational to me as he is one of the best know directors of the 70s and has made many revolutionary films including one of my favorites of all time (Scarface). 

 

Alfred Hitchcock - Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (The Master of Suspense) joined the film industry around 1920. He started off drawing the sets (he was a very skilled artist). It was only after the director for Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitchcock was named director to complete the film that he and Reville began to collaborate. Hitchcock had his first real crack at directing a film, from start to finish, in 1923 when he was hired to direct the film Number 13 (1922), though the production wasn't completed due to the studio's closure (he later remade it as a sound film). He also created the film Psycho (1960) which is one of the most famous thrillers of all time. He is an inspiration to me because he was persistent and never gave up, done everything he could to achieve his goal and became that good at his craft that he earned the title ‘The Master of Suspense’.