MOVIE TO WATCH: Treeless Mountain (Korean - 2008)

If a clear border between documentary and narrative movies exists. I think it lies between the fictional film Treeless Mountain and the documentary The Story of the Weeping Camel. Both of these films unfold quietly and delicately at their own pace.

The world of Treeless Mountain is so enveloping and complete, and the are scenes so precisely selected. It manages to use mood, delicate as a leaf's skeleton, as the storytelling engine of the movie. Which is a nearly impossible task to accomplish or explain.

Treeless Mountain Trailer:


Here is the director So Young Kim talking a little bit about the making of the movie:

Townhall on the state of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health in California

Here is the internet video series I have cut together from California Assemblymember Mike Eng's November 18th, 2009 townhall meeting on the state of mental health in the AANHPI community in California. This townhall is a continuation of the work that Assemblymember Eng has been doing to help disaggregate data on Asian and Pacific Islander sub-groubs.

This is an album of some of Mike Eng's opening comments, a few community members, and excerpts from all of the panel members who spoke that day.

Asian Pacific Islander Health Report

California Assemblymember Mike Eng is committed to advancing health issues for Asian and Pacific Islanders.



He helped commission a report which disaggregates mental health problems for many diverse Asian and Pacific Islander communities. You can download the report here.

Last night he also hosted a townhall presenting the issues facing these communities. I recorded the event and will be posting some videos soon. Legislative Aide Annie Lam was extremely vital to the success of the event and said "This is only the beginning of the work we hope to do in these communities."

Pacific Islander Youth Leadership Summit

THE EVENT IS NEXT FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14TH, 2009 8am to 4pm

It is a free event and travel scholarships are available for PI students in Northern California and San Diego.

This program is part of a "College Day" event planned by CSUDH and the NHPI Youth Coalition. Please share with your Native Hawaiian high school and college students. Agenda to include, but not limited to NHPI Youth issues: Health, Education, Mental - Behavioral Health, "Island Identity" vs Acculturation.

For more info please contact:

Victor Kaiwi & Jane Ka`ala Pang
Pacific Islander Health Partnership (PIHP)
1-714-401-1784 (cell)
email: kaiwisplace@yahoo.com

To download a flyer and a registration form click here: www.drop.io/piyouthsummit

E Hula Mau on Pacific Networks

In September I shot a three part video about E Hula Mau (A chant and hula competition) in Long Beach California. Now it is up on www.pacificnetwork.tv. Click here to see. The site doesn't have fixed links for each video so you have to look for E Hula Mau pt. 1, 2, and 3. Just click on it and there you go.

Let me know what you think.

The Four Budget Catagories

The Four Catagories of film budets are.

No Budget / Student
Low Budget Indie
Mid Budget or Mini-Major Indie
Sudio

I am going to break down how to identify these budgets and give a few examples. This may seem like pretty obvious stuff, but it will be expanded on in the next articles in the series.

No Budget / Student ($0 - $60k)



Often films that work best in this category are short films, documentary, and comedy. Directors and Producers often make short films because they hope to raise money to create a feature version of their idea. Peluca is the short film that Napoleon Dynamite is based on. It is a good example of a good comedic student short (see it here) Period pieces and action movies are generally a bad idea to take on at this budget level.

Low Budget Indie ($50k – 5 mil)



The variety of films produced within this budget category is amazingly diverse. These producers and directors are largely operating outside of the studio system. Most of them are first and second time filmmakers who are extremely passionate and committed to getting their film completed with the help of a group of other committed individuals.

This budget range is also where many documentaries intended for PBS broadcast and educational markets live. Although the budget range for this type of project is generally quite narrow usually between $250,000 and $400,000.

Medicine for Melancholy is a great example of a low budget narrative ($50k):
See a trailer here

Bigger, Faster, Stronger is a great example of a low budget documentary (?)
Trailer here

Mid Budget or “Mini-Major” Indie (5 mil – 60 mil)



Films in this budget range tend to have known actors in them, since “name talent” helps lend credibility to a film. Most of these films are also being produced by what is known as a “mini-major” production company. These production companies are technically independent, but often have very close relationships with studios or other large distribution networks. It is often easier for films in this group to cast celebrity actors in roles. Check out a list of mini-majors and also a grid of the major studios and their production subsidiaries here on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_film_studio#The_.22mini-majors.22

The Soloist is an example of a mini-major production. Produced by Dreamworks SKG with Participant Media.
Trailer Here

Studio (Sky’s the Limit!)



The number of film production studios in the U.S. is very small. Here is a Wikipedia page that Everyone knows about these movies the are the block buster action movies like Transformers, the romantic comedies starring people like Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon, screwball comedies like The 40 year old virgin, and the ever popular talking animal movie.

Surrogates is an example of a Touchstone/Walt Disney Picture
Trailer here

If you have any questions you can comment below, or ask a question to @paradocsfilm

List of Articles

I was able to attend the Film Independent’s Filmmaker Forum in Los Angeles, California October 10th and 11th. This was an incredibly educational experience for me. I think and speculate a great deal about the general state of independent filmmaking. A great challenge for me and all independent filmmakers, not only Pacific Islander filmmakers, is the fact that we are like little points of light thrown across a gigantic galaxy. It is really hard to get a sense of the bigger picture of what is currently happening in independent production because of this. As a result of this it is difficult for first time filmmakers to find their starting position in the film and media making arena let alone be able to empower themselves to guide their projects successfully from concept to distribution.

In addition the difficulties of being spread out independent filmmakers are also infinitely varied in size, approach, and goal. However, we are all unified by the goal of making movies. By being able to conference with other filmmakers of all types I was able to learn new techniques and strategies fit the goals, scope, and market of my own projects.

Attending the forum this weekend I was able gain a choice outlook on the landscape. I have decided to create a report in the form of three blog articles with the intention to expand it to 10 articles total over the next three months. Which I hope will be used to help other filmmakers especially those representing the Pacific Islands begin to make their way in the larger world of production. These articles are mostly made up of the new things I learned from other filmmakers. Information I found innovative, inspiring or informative, and a few of my own insights that solidified over the course of the weekend.

Here are the titles of the articles I plan to write:

The Four Budget Categories
The Budget and Genre Grid: Where does your film fit?
How does film business work?
Knowing your voice, the low-budget producer’s best weapon.
Lawyers, Publicists, and Music Rights: All the junk nobody wants to think about.
What’s up Doc? Methods of fundraising, and increasing your chances of success.
Fundraising – the indie world’s answer to “development hell”
Film Festivals: How to prepare and what to expect.
Traditional Distribution Routes: Pros and Cons
Online Audience Building: The indie film savior
New distribution models: What the heck is day and date?
Selling your movie at $300 per DVD. (The Educational Market Demystified)
Passion versus Ambition: An Encouraging Reality Check

10 part indie filmmaker article series coming up.

I absorbed an immense amount of new ideas and information this weekend. I will be writing a series of short articles on what I took away from the Film Independent Forum this weekend.

For now here is a little tidbit. I just joined this start-up network called Open Indie. Learn more at www.openindie.com

Publicist and Random Samoan Movie

I am researching the different people who are going to be at the Film Independent Networking Lunch at this weekend's filmmaker forum. I got to this publicist Marina Bailey, who helped promote awesome films like Black Sheep. Which lead me to this movie called Samoan Wedding. What do you think?
See the trailer here

Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum

I am very excited that I will be attending this Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum this year.

Here is the section of the keynotes speech from last year.



I will share what I learn here on the blog.

Lots of Pacific Islander videos heading this way

I have been out and busy shooting for a few different videos pertaining to Hawai‘i and other Pacific Islander related subjects. I have started producing short news pieces again for www.pacificnetwork.tv the videos are not up yet, but I will definitely be reposting them soon. So hang tight.



Me with shooting some Samoans, Tongans, and other Pacific Islanders in Huntington Beach.

The Bronx is Building Episode #1

This is another project I am involved with Leyla Rosario, it is a web series about economic development in the Bronx, NY.

Check out the first episode. Also take a look about more of the project here: www.thebronxisbuilding.net

The Waterpod™ Project from Leyla Rosario on Vimeo.

Webisode #1: The Waterpod ™ Project

Description: "Is it possible to create a self-sustaining home on water? A group of scientists, artists, and engineers have been working together over the last three years to set the Waterpod ™ afloat. Leyla catches up to them when they dock at Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx."

Pacific X-Change Participants

I just got back yesterday from Oahu. I was there for three days for a filmmaker conference, and I met a lot of cool people. I have another blog entry that is being posted on the ITVS website about the conference itself, which is reposted below. But I thought it would be good to showcase some of the other filmmakers that I met while I was over there because there is absolutely a budding community of filmmakers all throughout Polynesia, which is very exciting for me to see. Here are just a few:



Jacob Holcomb - lives on Oahu and is currently working on a documentary about the revitalization of the art of Tongan Tatooing. I also got to see the vampire film that he made. It was an official selection of the 2008 Louis Vuitton Hawai‘i International Film Festival. He is working on making the feature. You can see the trailer and more at: www.hawaiivampire.com



Keoni Kealoha Alavarez - is from Pahoa, Hawai‘i his current project is about Hawaiian burial grounds. You can learn more about his productions here: www.hawaiianislandproductions.org

The Pacific X-Change ITVS blog entry

Below is a little taste of the article I wrote for the ITVS blog. If you would like to see the entire thing and leave a comment that is great. Just go to the ITVS blog Beyond the Box.

The Jump Project goes to Amsterdam

It is so satisfying to look around and see the great work that friends are doing. My friend Leyla Rosario is an amazing photographer originally from the South Bronx. She has so so many awesome projects happening. Here is just one. This video is about her recent trip to Amsterdam for her first international exhibition. For her photo project called The Jump Project

You can also see the rest of her photo work at: http://www.ltrphoto.com/

Luv ya lady!

Here are a few images from her project:

Future Tense on VIMBY

VIMBY - Future Tense

I think you can tell from this video I had so much fun with these guys. I love riding in the back of trucks and shooting. I am not a track stand expert or anything but Allender is amazing. Thanks so much to Zach of www.zlogblog.com and Ryan of www.gomeansgo.org for working so hard to put the whole thing together, and thanks for the beer Maiki.

Blogging for ITVS

I will be attending and blogging about the ITVS Pacific X-Change conference in Honolulu, Hi from August 27th - 30th. More to come about that.

Green Filmmaking Resources

Filmmaking is hectic. Because of this it is also wasteful. The sight of hundreds of plastic water bottles all getting thrown into the garbage has always bothered me. Along with all the styrofoam plates from crafty, wasted food, and miscellaneous plastic, wood, metal and other junk from the art department I have seen some mountainous heaps of waste created in the wake of movie magic.

I understand that especially a low budget filmmaker is always trying to do everything cheaper and faster. But if we start making small changes and becoming aware of places we are wasteful on set and taking small manageable steps toward making less environmental impact while we work it is a good beginning. Most other industries are being required to make changes in their environmental practices. The film industry really shouldn't be any different. Here are a few suggestions and resources from the California Film Commission.

You can also find more suggestions at their website: www.film.ca.gov/greenfilmmaking



GREEN TIPS FOR FILMMAKERS

Catering and Crafty

- use bio-degradeable plates and utensils made from corn
- use prominently displayed recycling bins
- label garbage cans "landfill" so people will think twice
- donate leftover food to an organization like Angel Harvest (Don't worry you are covered by the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act)

Set Construction

- use-reusable building materials such as metals
- donate materials such as furnishing, hardware, lumber, and appliances after the shoot to Habitat for Humanity

Make Sick Shoes: How to Customize Shoes

This is a video that I made for my friend Louie Gong. He is an artist and activist of mixed heritage living in Seattle, WA.

You can see more about him and his customized shoes at his website www.eighthgeneration.com

Join his Facebook Fanpage here

Most of the designs that Louie makes are in the 1st Nation style of the Coast Salish cultural group, but he does draw inspiration from all types of art including Northwest Coast Art, and graffiti. I am pretty excited to be getting my own custom pair of hummingbird design Van's in the next couple of weeks!

Seattle Screening Success!

Thank you so much to everyone who came to last weeks' fundraising screening of Haku Inoa at Central Cinema. As you can see the house was really packed!



The event raised about $2000 toward the completion of the project. I plan on using this money toward making a rough cut of the film.

I also want to congratulate Karen Winston who was the winner of the gift certificates to The Hotel Max and ‘Ohana in Belltown.

Also thank you so much to Malory and all the lovely ladies of Reel Grrls, Louie and Amanda of the Mavin Foundation, Vivian and Josh at The Wing Luke Asian Museum, and Pi‘ilani of AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthrophy) Without all of you this event would not have been so wonderful.

Here are a few fun pics from the event:

Haku Inoa sharing the marquee with Less Than Zero



Me dancing hula. Which by the way was very nerve wracking for me!



Me, my brother, and Auntie Linda (Mom's twin sister, who came up from Oregon for the screening).

Seattle Media Blitz

I have been pretty busy trying to get the word out about the July 15th screening. It has been a good little test run of getting press and doing promotion. At this point pretty much everything is in place. I just have to keep practicing the hulas that I am going to dance so I don't embarrass myself. This post is a one stop shop for all of the TV, radio, and print stories that I have done while here in Seattle.

Lori Matsukawa of King 5 News interviewed me on the overall process of film film at the Wing Luke Asian Art Museum.



This interview by Jeremy Richards focuses more on the NW Native connection and what I learned about my mother through working with the people of the Puyallup Tribe:



Joaquin Uy of KBCS and I talk more about the universal conflict between younger and older generations.



Here is the link to the Seattle Post Globe Interview with me by Himanee Gupta. Hawaiian Filmmaker Explores Past

Himanee touches on historical context of Hawaii that I hope people will be able to learn through Haku Inoa.

July 15th, screening flyer

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

Go, go Washington State Film! I went to the Los Angeles Film Festival last night to check out the movie ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was filmed in Port Gamble, WA. Having lived in the Northwest for 8 years I hold Washington near to my heart.

I enjoy horror, and zombie movies are my favorite because of their tendency to be serious social commentary delivered in an audience pleasing package of suspense, explosions, and gunfire. Going into this film I was a little worried that it was going to be too overtly political without the gore to back up the allegory. However, with the first bloody face peeling human slaughter I knew I had better get ready for the plasmagasm about to come.

Director Kevin Hamedani an American of Iranian heritage was inspired to make this film after the events of September 11th. When he witnessed a change in the treatment of Middle Eastern Americans within the United States. Ignorance of culture and the sudden increase in aggression directed toward this group of people concerned Hamedani, but he did not want to address this issue through a serious film. So, in the tradition George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead) Hamedani uses the zombies as a device in his film to force his character's into small spaces where they would be forced to talk out larger social issues.

The tone of this social dialog is what is particularly refreshing about ZMD. Co-Writers Hamedani and Ramon Isao cleverly juxtapoz the tension of impending armageddon creeping in on the main characters with hilarious one-liners. The cast fires off rapid comedic quips, paired with campy slapstick gore that will make any Evil Dead fan titter with delight.

ZMD producer Yahya Sinno was hesitant to reveal in a Q&A the budget was less than $500,000 for the film. Which for the quality of the make-up, effects, and scenery is hard to believe. Although, at times the limitations of the budget could be felt, the film feels incredibly resourceful and intelligently produced. The filmmakers hardily and graciously thanked the Town of Port Gamble for their collaboration with the production.

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction --- 4 of 5

Go see it if you have the chance.

Playing this Saturday at the LA Film Festival

Tour De Nez

Last weekend I was in Reno, NV and Truckee, CA shooting a three day cycling race called the Tour De Nez. It was a lot of fun. I got to shoot part of the time on the back of a motorcycle, thanks Chris!

The three day Tour de Nez has a pro-women's, pro-men's, and pro hand cycling events all three days as well as a few community kids races. It is a really great cycling event.

The show is going to air on Versus in mid-July as an interstitial program during the Tour De France. Very exciting!

Here is a little peek of the footage that I shot for the race. It's not very much just what the director could send me. You can see a little of the hand cycling champion Alejandro Arbol. I am such a fan, he is amazing!

LAVSH LIFE

These guys are great! They are coming up in fashion so get it while you still can. Cause pretty soon they are going to have Jamie Foxx and all of the Black Eye Peas all over it! (No really for real) You can already see Taboo in LAVSH click here.

GO TO THEIR WEBSITE HERE: www.lavshlv.com

VIMBY - LAVSH

Seattle Fundraising Screening Tickets

A name is a name... unless its 63 letters long.

Central Cinema
1411 21st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
July 15th, 2009
6pm - 8:30pm
www.central-cinema.com

Haku Inoa: To Weave a Name is the deeply personal story of filmmaker Christen Marquez’s journey to heal her family relationships, which have been devastated by her Mother’s mental illness. Driven by the desire to to learn the meaning of her enigmatic Hawaiian name. Christen attempts to unite her scattered family and come to terms with her estranged mother, because her mother is the only one who knows the true meaning. However, learning her name proves to be more difficult then Christen first realizes. The film brings up deeper questions about surviving in a family with mental illness, and the modern cultural identities of “on-island” and “off-island” Native Hawaiians also called Kanaka Maoli.

I will be screening some very old work of mine, and the very newest. I will also be dancing hula there too, so that should be cool.

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/69035

If you cannot make it to the screening you can still donate to the project here by clicking on the yellow donate button: http://www.paradocsproductions.com/haku_inoa_donate.html

Narrative Report - 5/28

I realized that I had not done a narrative report for PIC in a few weeks. But I definitely have been at work. The progress that Ashley and I have been making on the animation is great. We reviewed the first draft of the entire two minute sequence on Monday. We spoke on the phone to plan the next set of revisions for about two hours. There was more work left to do than we both had expected. And the expected delivery date for the final animation is now June 5th. Thankfully Ashley is so awesome, and she is going to be working hard over the next week to get everything together.

I also cut together three additional scenes for the work sample trailer which is bringing my total running time for my work sample to around 15 minutes.

I have revised the treatment, budget, and all other written accompanying materials which are being reviewed and proof-read by Karin Williams and Ti Locke.

And next Thursday Karin and I will be going to a sound studio in Atwater Village to record the final VO which will be married to the final animation and work sample reel. The deadline I have set for all materials to be completed at this time is June 10th to hopefully apply to the National Geographic All Roads grant, before the LINCS, and PIC Production grants.

Movies for $6 or Less in Los Angeles

The economy is no excuse to not go see movies in the theater. Quit your whining and go see movies at these theaters.

Thanks to http://celestronica.blogspot.com



You can see the original post here: http://celestronica.blogspot.com/2008/02/cheap-movie-theaters-in-los-angeles.html

Congratulations to Kuni Leal

I had a good time at the Aloha Expo this weekend. I raised a little money for the completion of the film, and made a lot of new friends.

The winner of the $50 gift card to Back Home in Lahaina is Kuni Leal.

Mahalo nui makou! Thanks to all y'all! Especially Back Home in Lahaina for donating the prize.



For everybody who didn't win you can check out what you are missing out on at:
http://www.backhomeinlahaina.com

Go ahead eat a Luau plate for me with some of that ono haupia cheesecake!

Also a little pic of me setting up my booth.

O wai kou inoa? (What's your name?)

No matter who you are or where you come from your name tells a story. The stories behind how people get their names are funny, embarrassing, and sometimes very meaningful.

I am started an off-shoot mini-project from Haku Inoa. It is called O wai kou inoa? or in English, What's your name? I will be taking photographs of people and asking them to share the stories and meanings behind there names.

This is she is the first picture I took for this project.



You can check out the progress of the project here: "O Wai Kou Inoa? (What's Your Name?)"

Documentary Camera Reel

Here is my documentary camera work reel, finally got one cut together. I am pretty happy with it.

Documentary Camera Reel from Christen Marquez on Vimeo.

Dark Material

Here is a cool short doc on the theme of Hope and Fear by my Reel Grrl buddies up in Seattle. Check out all of the other short films on the site, and vote for the ones that you like.

Here's the link

Aloha Expo

Next weekend is the 2009 Aloha Expo, and I will be out there taking pictures and fund-raising for Haku Inoa.

I am going to be setting up a booth, playing clips, and hopefully some of the animation that Ashley is working on.

I am also going to be working on a mini photo project. I will take pictures of people and ask them the story that is behind their name. Last time I met people to talk about my film I learned so many interesting names and stories. Hawaiian and not Hawaiian.

So if you are in Southern California come by and say hello at the Aloha Expo

More Illustrations

So here is some of the new stuff that Ashley is working on. I think it looks pretty great. I especially like the map of the contiguous U.S.

The composited one of me in the cityscape is good, but I will need to make sure Ashley needs to keep everything in a 16:9 format.

Other than that I think it is all coming along quite nicely.

Fair Use Free Speech

A video produced by the Center for Social Media about best practices of fair use for documentary filmmakers. They also produced a really great document called The Documentary Filmmaker's Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use you can download it and find other fair use resources at: www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fairuse

First looks at illustration

Check it out...

Beginnings of animation...

just at the illustration stage but very cool.

Also I get to meet Ashley in person today, that is if I can stop emailing people about setting up the July fundraiser.

Fresh Eyes for Work Sample

Here is the rough work sample that Fiona and I have been working on. Please leave comments, send emails, tweets, Facebook comments ect. about what you think.

Especially if you have never seen the work before, thanks!

The only two caveats are obviously that the blue screen is not composited yet, and some of the audio is still from my laptop mic, so be forgiving on the audio quality. Other than that, rip it apart...

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Making the Assembly Edit

I am busy with putting together an assembly edit for my editor Fiona, before I go up to Seattle. Here is a little sample of the bluescreen part without any compositing so far.



I have also been doing much of the not so glamorous things such as sorting receipts and interim financial reports.

Media Database for Documentary Funding

I have found this website for documentary film funding called the Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media. http://media.gfem.org/ There is one requirement for entering your projects into this database is that you ave at least one foundation or government funder.

I haven't fully investigated all of the aspects of the site yet, but I have started the profile for my film, and I poked around and found this other interesting project called The Salmon People. I liked it because it is also another personal journey film dealing with family relationships and cultural identity.

You can check out that film's profile here at The Salmon People

Narrative Report - last days Hawaii

The last few days in Hawaii were mostly spent shooting b-roll, but I was also able to meet up with Dr. Lau who was the psychologist who worked with my family until we left Hawaii. She did not want to be on camera, but we still had a really great talk and I think what she told me gave me more clarity for the story. She also connected me with the Child Protective Services caseworker who worked with my family before we left the island. I wasn't able to connect with her before I left, but I will most likely be going back in July, so I think that will work better anyhow since I was pretty burnt out on shooting by the end of the trip.

During the day before I left I shot one last interview with my Mom. I asked her about whether she felt that we had grown closer in this time. She had a lot of really good things to say about the whole experience. On the whole I really feel very good about everything that happened. I can't wait to start editing.

I touched bases with Ashley the animator/illustrator, and she said she will be able to get something to me by the end of next week as far as illustrations.

US Supreme Court Hawaii V. OHA

Today's disappointing but not unfortunately not surprising US Supreme Court Decision in the case of Hawaii v. OHA reinforces that an apology is nothing more that an acknowledgement of a wrong that has been done. If you apologize that does not mean you are obligated to enable redress for these wrongs? I believe so. The US government does not.

I am Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) but since I am also United States Citizen. It saddens me to realize that a US Congressional Resolution such as the 1993 Apology Resolution would be passed only to effectively be reduced to a statement equivalent to “Oops, my bad!” by the US Supreme Court 16 years later.

The 1993 Apology states, "the indigenous Hawaiian
people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent
sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States,
either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum". The
court ruled today that this was merely "symbolic".

Here is the link to the Supreme Court Decision.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-1372.pdf

And two articles on the subject:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090331/BREAKING/90331025/1352

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/publawall.html

Narrative Report 3/27

Today was the last shoot with PBS Hawaii before I go back to Los Angeles. I think that it went very well. We shot everything that I needed for the animated opening and closing of the work in progress trailer I am putting together. So that is two short scenes both with blue screen. And we were also able to shoot a version of a scene with a black background too, which is extremely helpful at this stage. It was also great because those shots were very beautiful, it is not possible yet to know how the blue screen is going to turn out in the end.

The shoot went very smoothly, and I am glad that I had taken to time to put those photo collage storyboards together. Since I was in the shots also as well as directing, the way that we worked would be to work out the shot as best as possible shoot a take, and then I would watch the shot played back on the monitor to make any adjustments if necessary.

And a huge thank you to everyone at PBS Hawaii for all the help and support with Haku Inoa! It was wonderful working with you!

Here are a few pictures from today's shoot.

I had a make-up artist, which was fun. Her name is Karen, she was quiet lovely.


this is some of the lighting and camera set up. and running through one of the shots for the closing animation.


Doing the time lapse weaving scene. Thanks Premo for the weaving help.


Office Intern Sheryl, and DP Glen.


Premo at the lighting board.


Todd adjusting one of the lights in the grid.


One of the pages from the storyboards.

Narrative Report - 3/23 and 3/24

March 23rd, 2009

Today was the second PBS shooting day and final on location shooting day with the crew. We shot Will and me arriving at Mom's house, she served us breakfast of potato salad, texas toast, bacon, tuna patties, chocolate cake, and fettucini alfredo. Thank god there was something wrong with the fettucini, and we didn't have to eat any of it.

After that we tried to shoot Will and I rocking out in the car, don't know if it really worked. No good songs really came on the radio.

We picked flowers and talked about our relationship with Mom.

Then went home, Mom did more chanting lessons with me, and a little hula. This parts sounds a little boring but there was a certain feeling in the air between me and Mom and I am thinking that this will come through on the footage.

I had wanted to try play music with Will. I bought a guitar, we tried to play the ipu with the guitar, it worked a little bit. I will have to see.

Then Mom and I cleaned ti leaf for the skirt that I will use in the Friday shoot. Will, Mom, and I all had a little wrap party that involved big slices of chocolate cake and Will playing some dance music on his keyboard.

March 24th, 2009

I met with Hokulani Aikau who is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department of UH Manoa. You can read about about her and her research.

She suggested a few books for me to read. One is specifically on Kahana, which is the place that my brother is named for.



It is available on Amazon. However I am going to see if it is possible for me to pick it up locally.

She also suggested I read the work of Noelani Arista, who is getting her Ph. D. from Brandeis University. Who has done some writing specifically on Hawaiian naming traditions. I hope to get to this next.

Narrative Report - 3/16/09 to 3/20/09

3/16/09

Will arrives from Seattle. I shoot his arrival. We also go to Kualoa to celebrate his birthday (belated) with a cake that Mom made. I also shoot that.

Here is a picture off the Kualoa Regional Park website















Also followed up for permits with Foodland, Safeway, and State of Hawaii.

3/17/09

Began to research and track down Dr. Levay Lau and Diana Deucey. They are the Psychologist and CPS Caseworker that handled my family's case in the late 80's right before we left the islands.

I think it will be interesting to get their perspectives on what happened right before we left the island.

I was successful in finding Dr. Lau, with the help of my father, she remembers all of us, and said that she would be able to meet. It has been a pretty hectic week with all of the preparations for the shoot days, so we have been playing phone tag over scheduling a good time to meet.

3/18/09

Location scouted at Kahana Valley. Met a man named Anagan he told us all about the trails to get to the best vista's of the bay, and agreed to be interviewed about the valley and how people live there.

Will and I were pretty unprepared for the hike and got bit by mosquitos alot, but oh well. We just had our slippers on so we got a little mud on our feet since it had been raining.

3/19/09

Lots of flower picking and shooting, and running around getting little odds and ends for tomorrow.

3/20/09

The first shooting day with PBS Hawaii.

Will and I got there a little bit before nine. Everyone from the crew showed up a little bit after that. There was Terrence who was the camera operator, Robert from Creative Services, Primo the sound mixer, Todd the UH intern, and also Glenn who is another camera operator, showed up to help with lighting and see what was happening.

We started off shooting me dragging out Mom's old things, her ipu heke, which is a type of gourd drum pictured here.

The shooting space was tight, but we worked it out. We also shot Mom doing a couple of Mele Oli and and interview.

There was some b-roll of my dancing, it was hot and hopefully my face will not be too red.

After that moved to interview Anagan and hike in Kahana. You can see some of the pictures from this hike in the Picasa Album.

But Here are just a few:

Beginning out on the trail


Green lizard, green leaf!


At the Kahana Bay Vista. Hey Terrence you're shooting the wrong way!


Sunlight through the trees on the hike back down.