Influenced - Films

Dutch angle, balloon and the prince of the Eccentrics

In the first two “Influenced” posts, I visited my obvious source of influence - picture books. But in this post, I will share the biggest influence on my visual storytelling - FILMS (or movies if you’re on the other side of the pond). I went to universities to study films because I loved films so much. For my BA degree, I studied film theories and it was like learning how to decode secret messages. I was hooked. I still think film is the greatest invention in the history of storytelling.

The concept of “mise en scène” blew my mind. Originating from theatrical productions, mise en scène means “setting the stage”. In films, it refers to basically everything in front of the camera, including the set design, lighting, and costumes etc and the overall effect of how the scene comes together to tell a story. The idea that every, even seemingly incidental thing has an intention opened my eyes. Now when I build a world for a story, I always ask myself “What should I show on the page and why?”