Music, Books, Illustrations, Animations, Films, and Video Games, it’s amazing how they all connect and influence each other. It’s even more amazing how many people don’t realize that connection. They don’t realize that the video game designer has been influenced by the illustrations they’ve seen the and films they’ve watched. They don’t realize how the illustrator is influenced by the books they’ve read or the video games they’ve played. How a song can inspire a film. How a film can inspire a song. How a writer, influenced by all these things, puts pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard.
Some see these mediums as completely separate worlds with no connection, and the populace of these worlds feel as though their world is better than all others. A writer might snub their nose at a game designer or songwriter, or a filmmaker might look down upon an animator or illustrator feeling that their craft is more prestigious. It’s really all the same thing. They all tell stories.
With the flow and growth of technology, all of these mediums are crossing paths more and more. There are comics that turn into animations, which in turn, become full feature live action films. Videogame characters are now movie icons and nearly every action movie has a videogame translation or line of collectable action figures. They all crisscross and blur the lines of their respective boundaries. Each medium tells a story in its own unique way or allows a person to tell their own stories through a cast of established characters. Better yet, it inspires a person to create their own characters and stories to share with the world. The creative cycle just goes on and on without end.
I, myself, a writer, and an avid gamer am not embarrassed to admit that I’ve gotten a lot of character, ability, and story ideas from playing videogames. Just as I’ve been equally inspired by reading certain books, watching particular films, and pouring over many comic books and graphic novels. Now, when I look back to the time of the first G.I. Joe and Transformer figures that sparked my imagination, and I see where I’ve been and where I’m going creatively, I chuckle at how it all connects.
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