Last week I wrote a post on how much I love The Pacific on HBO. I had a couple people tell me I need to watch Band of Brothers, so we rented and watched the entire mini-series this weekend.
It was great. Extremely painful to watch, but great. Just like The Pacific, there are interviews with the men depicted in the film, but we don't find out who they are until the very end - after we are already attached to them. The last quote of the series got me, as in I balled.Major Richard Winters quoted a letter from Sergeant Mike Ranney who served with him in Easy Company, "'I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said 'No… but I served in a company of heroes.'"
These guys were ALL heros. Every single one of them.
If you haven't seen Band of Brothers, I recommend it and I think it's an important story for every American to know.
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Here's an interesting tidbit: Tom Hanks had a huge part in creating both series. Hanks has always had 2 main passions - WWII and space exploration. So, when he was far enough along in his career where he could pick and choose projects, he worked on Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and now, The Pacific. Cool, no?
A while ago, we cancelled HBO... but somehow we still have HBO. I'm so glad, because now we get to watch this:
Usually, it's difficult for me to watch war movies, especially when they are based on real events. This miniseries is no exception, but I must say, it's wonderful. Wonderful in a very painful kind of way. At the beginning of each episode, there is an interview with the men whom this story is about (not the actors) - talking first-hand about their experiences. And then, we watch it unfold on-screen. I don't have anything even remotely close to an idea of what war is like, but I think The Pacific makes it clear - more so than other films of this type I've seen - that there is absolutely nothing glorious about it. I'm amazed and completely humbled by it all... what our fellow Americans had to (and have to) do to ultimately keep our country free.
It makes me think about my grandfather (who passed away a year ago yesterday). He was a WWII vet... on the other side of the continent - fighting the Germans, not the Japanese. For a long time, that's all I knew about his experiences because he never talked about them with us, my grandma, or my mom. I'm sure it was unbearably hard to relive the horrible things he probably did and saw. When we were home for his funeral, my grandma dug up his old scrapbooks from the war. Being the WWII history buff he is, my husband was able to tell us a little bit of what my grandpa was part of during those years. I can't even begin to imagine it. But, I know he was a hero.
God bless our troops and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make so that we are able to live in freedom. Let's remember every day (not just on special holidays) - and live lives that make them proud.
I'm been wrestling with this question a lot lately: when does inspiration become stealing?
Here is my creative process in a nutshell: 1. Outline the parameters of the project 2. Research 3. Design concepts 4. Client feedback 5. Revisions (repeat as needed) 6. Finalize
Somewhere between #2 and #3, there is a line. On one side is "originality" and on the other is "been done." I've heard many times that design is really the art of taking ideas, using them and passing them off as your own. Are there really any new ideas? New to the context in question or the combination in which they are used, definitely. But really NEW?
As a designer, I am constantly aware of my visual environment. Part of that includes what is happening right now in the brains of other designers and what is getting published - i.e. trends. And what is a design trend but using the same idea and executing it differently or to convey a different message?
I try to be as original as possible, pulling things from my brain which has collected so much visual information that what comes out is an expression of many, many combined ideas. Even if it is inspired by things that are specific, what I create is new... I hope. Or as new as possible.
There are certainly lines I have been asked to cross and will not, such as slapping a logo on something without permission, using copyrighted images without paying for them or without permission, searching Google Images for a design I like and blatantly copying it.
But I feel as though the line is fuzzy... and for some designers I know, non-existent.
Thoughts?
For more "inspiration" on this topic, check out this blog.
