“As a kid, I remembered how romantic and modern and beckoning space was. Life Magazine made heroes out of space pioneers. I loved the idea of exploring all the images we grew up with… and how excited we all were about the promise of the future above our heads.”
“I sometimes think with all the discussion of hardware and weaponized-tech if we’ve lost a little bit of the wonder of space — the magic of just looking upward, into the unknown. I love this old footage from the dawn of space exploration. It’s filled with giddy romance and the promise of what’s to come. And it’s also a real tribute to the NASA scientists, technicians, and astronauts … the 20th Century pioneers who pushed every boundary and reached further than our wildest dreams could have imagined…”
“Ah, the great Ernst Lubitsch’s Ninotchka is a movie that will fill you with charm and humor of the highest order. Emma Stone’s Air Force Pilot Captain Allison Ng was modeled on Greta Garbo’s memorable Russian envoy character Ninotchka.”
“Another inspiring photo. Hawaii, far more than the mainland, values its traditions and history. The remnants of generations gone by are especially sacred there, and unearthed bones are links to myths, legends and the real-life stories of our ancestors. Another piece of the puzzle that would become the story of the culture and life of our characters in Hawaii.”
“And then there was the music… some of the worlds’ greatest and most expressive guitarists live and work in Hawaii. Here’s one of my favorite guitarists in the world, Ledward Kaapana, with his sometime accompaniest, the equally evocative Mike Kaawa. That’s me directing them both for a sequence in “Aloha,” a real dream come true. The movie was always going to be a stew of intoxicating elements, set to Ledward’s guitar and other music that you might hear on any given week in Hawaii. Talk about the Aloha spirit… it lives in every note of these wonderful artists’ work.”
A new feature entitled Aloha Inspirations makes its debut today. These images, films and people helped inspire Cameron as he wrote and directed Aloha. The comments are from Cameron in his own words. Enjoy!
“This photo was an early inspiration for “Aloha,” a story which takes place partially in the new world of space exploration. I was fascinated with the effect of the shrinking budgets allowed for modern space study, and this was a fascinating photo of an astronaut who had been sent up to fix an ailing space shuttle. The photo went around the globe, and pre-dated the current situation where private investors are now so active in launching rockets. Who owns the sky? Is it for sale? The idea really got me going.”
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