The Creative Personality

Name an individual (historical or contemporary) who you consider to be extremely creative. What about them or what they do led you to this decision? (Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996, Jul). The creative personality. Psychology Today, 29, 36 – 40.)

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I believe that Christopher Nolan is one of the most intriguing creative individuals alive today. Nolan is a famous movie director responsible for big budget movies that are both very entertaining but also thought provoking and original. Some of these movies include Interstellar (Goldberg, J, Thorne, K, Tull, T. 2014) Inception (Tull, T. 2010), The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman) and Memento (Ryder, A, Ball, C, Tyrer, W. 2000). Inception and Memento are two of my favourite movies and are a large part as to why I chose Christopher Nolan.

What makes Christopher Nolan a creative person though? He has great concentration, often putting subtle little background features in his movies for people to analyse when watching again. He has a vivid imagination, his films are very stylish and original, often having their own views on the world and he is extremely passionate about his work which you can see just by watching them.

None of his movies are generic, even ones focused on established characters just like his Batman movies, I am a massive fan of the comics and those movies are the best representation of the character in film following the basic ideals of the comic book character and making him extremely realistic and making the character relatable. I find Inception to be his most creative piece of work though, this is due to its effective world building and very well explained original story. The main character Dom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) has the ability to plant ideas inside peoples heads by going into their minds, but in order to do so he has to create a fake world that they will believe is real in their minds as if the person knows where they are it could all fall apart. I find this idea along with the visuals used throughout the movie to be one of the most entertaining, original and thought provoking movies I’ve ever watched as depending on how you perceive the movie and its ideas presented and how closely you focus on the movie determines the true ending of the movie, which some people are still debating on nine years after the movie has been released.

As I said before Nolan’s movies are thought provoking and have some pretty deep ideas, Inception focuses on not focusing on the past as it can be a distraction but then realising that it is also the driving force behind why we pursue things. Interstellar focuses on the future of human civilization, over population and pollution and how we as a collective are killing the planet and Memento focuses heavily on revenge and mental disorders which are all displayed in very original and entertaining ways that leave the viewers questioning what they watched years after the release and the true meanings of the film.

I chose Christopher Nolan as he is someone who leaves his movies open to interpretation and as someone studying graphic design I want to have very original designs that could represent different meanings depending on the person viewing the piece. I believe that keeping the viewer involved is a very important part of making your creativity stand out from others, because if it is very generic and bland it wont resonate will people.

REFERENCES

Nolan, C., Pfister, W., Zimmer, H., Warner Bros. Pictures (1969- ), Legendary Pictures, Syncopy (Entertainment Company), . . . Warner Home Video (Entertainment Company), Nolan, C (Directors), & Thomas, E.,(Motion picture producer), Tull, T (Producer). (2010). Inception [Video file]. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

Nolan, C. (Screenwriter/Director), Julyan, D., Evans, C., Nolan, J., Newmarket Films, Summit Entertainment, Team Todd (Entertainment Company), & Lions Gate Entertainment (Entertainment Company), & Todd, S., & Todd, J. Ryder, A, Ball, C, Tyrer, W(Producers). (2011). Memento [Video file]. Lions Gate Entertainment.

Nolan, C (Director)., Irwin, B., Zimmer, H., Smith, L., Hoytema, H., Crowley, N., Warner Home Video (Entertainment Company), Nolan, J. (Screenwriter), & Thomas, E., (Motion picture producer), Goldberg, J, Thorne, K, Tull, T. (Producers). (2015). Interstellar [Video file]. Paramount.

(Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996, Jul). The creative personality. Psychology Today, 29, 36 – 40.)

Hey, my name is Tyler Shand, I am 19 years old and I am currently majoring in Graphic Design at Edith Cowan University.

2019 is a fresh start for me as I am studying in a different area to which I was last year. Last year I was studying Architectural Science but realised it wasn’t for me so I transferred to graphic design which I have a lot of interest in.

If I was asked to describe myself I would probably say that I’m very energetic but also conservative at the same time as I’m not great with people I don’t know or share interests with. I’m very competitive, always wanting to win and if I don’t I’m often disappointed and I would like to think I’m friendly.

My interests include:

• Basketball: I am down at a basketball court 7 days a week, either, playing, training, coaching or working as I am a basketball referee. Basketball is probably my biggest passion and I have been playing since I was 4 years old.

• Music: Music is something that I heavily rely on. Just like in movies I use music to set my mood. I use it to give me energy before a game, I use it as a calming device and I actually use it often to sleep.

• Movies: I watch a tonne of movies, if I have time to watch a movie there is a heavy chance i’m going to watch it. I would probably say that i watch about 6-8 movies a week.