Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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

Saturday, March 28, 2009

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.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

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.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

VIMBY - Fast Friday

It was really great meeting you Dave. Always love to see a DIY film like this have success. Best of luck in LA! Hope to see you around.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Narrative Report - 3/13/09

So I fell behind and few days on the report, and honestly. I know that I have been doing things over the last few days, but I cannot remember much other than yesterday I met Leanne from PIC, and everyone at the office over there. That was great.

March 13th, 2009

The day was the most brilliantly clear here on the Windward side of the island that I can remember. I wanted to whip out the camera and take b-roll while it was so clear, but I had to get all of the storyboards and schedules copied and ready for the meeting with PBS crew and Mom.



I did snap this picture while it was beautiful, and hoped that the clear blue sky would last until after the meeting.


Mom and I went to a little cafe in the Macy's called The Gazebo which is a favorite of Mom's to meet with both of the camera men, and Robert.


The meeting went very well, and all know the outline of what will happen on March 20th and 23rd. This was the first time she had met the other people that I have been working with, and I think she was very glad to see some of the people that I have been leaving her in the middle of the day to go and talk with.

After that I showed her the trailer that was on my website, I was scared as to how she would react to this since it was the first time she had seen this, and it shows me crying because of her, and talking about her mental illness. She said that it seems like she abandoned us, but I told her that no I never thought of it like that. Which is funny since I had said the same thing to Leanne yesterday over lunch. Mom also said that it seemed "like a downer" and I told her that good stories have ups and downs. She agreed to this. On the whole I was surprised and relieved about her reaction. The more she sees what I am doing with the project the more open she is becoming with me, and the more easily we are able to work together. This whole process is very healing and constructive for us both I think.

After that we went around and got some more nature b-roll and finished buying the rest of the things that we would need for lei making. By the time that we did get back to shoot the Koolau Mountains it was of course not as blue and clear as it had been before.



And then of course again, as we moved away from the Koolau to take b-roll of flowers it got bright and sunny again. Here is a picture of Plumeria and Hina Hina in the background that I took in Mom's yard.



Our search for kupukupu ferns brought us to an old friend of Mom's who had a lovely garden. She has all kinds of flowers and plants that we will be able to use. Which means less things that we will have to buy from Safeway, and she also said that she did not care if we videotaped, which is great.

Lizards!

I sure don't know what it is but I love to take pictures of lizards. So here are some that I took today.





Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Narrative Report - 3/9/09

Good Day today. Did a lot of Location Release things. Found out that both Kahana Valley and He'eia Park are under the open blanket spots to through the Hawaii Film Office.
Which is very good. I will finish submitting that tomorrow.

Went to speak with Jon Osorio at UH. It was very helpful, and ended up meeting another young Kanaka Maoli filmmaker named Blane. I had a really great conversations with both of them today. It was really exciting.

Also spoke with Derek at the station about the finer points of getting location releases. I am going to do everything I can to get all the releases that I can just to cover all of my bases. Although maybe I will not work that hard on getting the release for the bush that is behind the bus stop. Hope I will be safe on letting that one slide.

Leanne canceled her meeting today due to illness, but I am looking forward to meeting with her soon.

I shot some footage with my mom today us practicing a chant, and also I ask her about commerce and commercialism on the island. My light starts to fade, and I don't realize it for about 10 minutes, so some of it is unusable. And most of the part about when I ask her about commerce is very jumbled, but there are a few poignant statements that I maybe be able to make use of.

It also looks like Mom and I will have a meeting on Friday with the station folks, so that she can meet all of them.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Narrative Report - 3/8/09

A light day today. I do feel like I am getting a bit sick. I have a sore throat.

Basically took Mom to church today.

Went and saw this film by Kimberlee Bassford:



I went with my friend Sumi, and got to meet Kimberlee briefly. This film was a PBS Hawaii LINCS partnership also. She was really helpful to me before when I was trying to first establish my partnership with PBS Hawaii, so thanks for that!

Check out the upcoming screening times for the film at: http://www.aheadofthemajority.com/

More local flower scouting. Specifically looking for Pua Kenikeni, which is the flower that is representative of Kaneohe. It is a flower that needs a lot of rain, so obviously it grows pretty well here on the windward side of the island.




PUA KENIKENI








Right now I am going to write out the scene wish lists for my PBS Hawaii crew days. I have written an email to one of the Derek "The Production Man" to give him some of the location contacts that I have collected so far, and asking him questions about which locations I will absolutely have to release. I am so glad that I have someone to help me out with this. I am not good at asking for these things. I understand why people are wary of signing things but it sure makes life hard some times!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Narrative Report - 3/6 and 3/7/09

March 6, 2009

Mom is really beginning to get comfortable in front of the camera. She is beginning to understand why sometimes I need for her to pause when she is speaking if a loud car drives by or an airplane flies overhead. She is becoming much more obliging when I interview her regarding the microphone, and she is also becoming much more willing to speak about more difficult and personal things on camera. She read some old news paper clippings today for me regarding the sale of a ranch on the big island that she almost got a job at. But instead of taking this job, she ended up moving back to Oahu to try and begin teaching hula again. After recovering from her health problems. I was able to get some intimate and personal details on camera.

The lighting I think is also more interesting now that I have a small battery operated LED light panel to use. In the daytime I am able to shoot in Mom's very dark apartment using the natural light that shines in through the book crates. It is very moody and appropriate to the scene, but with the addition of the LED light I am able to add a necessary highlight on myself and my Mom when we are studying together in the cramped apartment.

We also drove around Kaneohe and looked for places that we could pick flowers locally. It is not really the season for this, but we did find a few good patches of bogenvillia in a few different colors that we will probably try to use.

March 7, 2009

It's my brother Will's birthday, and we called Will on camera, there was some good family joking stuff. Mom and I practiced annunciation of Hawaiian letters for chanting. Then went out scouting for flower and fern locations. We drove around to a few different locations along the Pali Freeway to trails different roadside locations. I recorded Mom speaking about the old path that ancients used to use to go back and forth from the palace, and a really interesting rack focus shot of Ti leaf through a chain link fence.

After that we also visited the Foster gardens and I got a contact number to speak with someone for arranging permission to shoot. We also went to several floral shops such as the Koolau Famers, and the flora department at Safeway. Most likely we will have to supplement our picked flowers with purchased flowers due to the time of year. Although I do believe that there is a deeper issue about why my mother does not want me to pick ferns from the mountains just yet. I think she does not think I am ready in terms of my cultural knowledge.

When we got home from all of our scouting I asked her some questions along these lines, but she did not address this directly. Although she did say some interesting things along the lines of identity.

I will ask more about her beliefs behind fern picking in future interviews. I did learn a lot about Native Hawaiian plant species, and plants that had been imported from places like Samoa, but were used by ancient people in traditional ways.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Narrative Report - 2/25/09 to 3/5/09





Alright so a lot has happened in the last few days I am going to put it in list form today just because I have to be off to call some forestry place, and practice my Mele Kupe'e, and be off to find some different kinds of foliage to make lei out of once my brother is here.

The breakdown:

Monday 3/2

Arrived in Honolulu.
Settled in at the place in Kailua, setting up hard-drives ect.
Ate Dinner with Mom @ Zippy's!

Tuesday 3/3

Learned a little more Olelo Hawaii (Hawaiian Language)

Started to work out a shooting schedule with Mom for non-PBS Hawaii days, and made sure she was available, willing, and understood what the PBS days will entail. This will probably be an ongoing process.

Picked a few plant samples from around the yard, and learned about some of the native and non-native plants.

Mom began to teach me a Mele Kupe'e which is a chanting style song. Should have shot this, but didn't want to overwhelm Mom right away with the camera.

Went to PBS Hawaii to meet with VP of Programming Robert Pennybacker.

Picked up Mom in Kaneohe to take her to choir practice.

Tried to take reference photos of downtown tall buildings, but battery in Nikon camera was dead.

Wednesday 3/4

Shoot me practicing Mele Kupe'e in my room.

Hawaiian history research.

Found where to buy lauhala mats.

Thursday 3/5

Went to Mom's house to check in.

Went to UH for a lunch time discussion panel about the Supreme Court Oral Arguments for Hawaii v. OHA.

Went to The Center for Hawaiian studies to try and meet with Jon Osorio. Left a note.

Photographed buildings and streets for Ashley to use in animation composites.


One of the pics for Ashley. Above is a photo I took of a building in Honolulu, my cousin Kaui was actually a contractor on this building, so I think it should go in the final animation.

Took Mom grocery shopping, and planned the agenda for Friday.

Spoke with the Robert Harris, who is the son of the property owner that my Mom lives in to get contact info and verbal permission for now to shoot with full PBS crew on their property. We will be getting an actual location release shortly.

Created production schedule for Ashley's animation, and burned some assets onto a DVD for her to you in the final composition. Like SD video clips which will be composited on to "maps"

Here is a picture of the Center for Hawaiian Studies Taro Patch

Keo Curry on VIMBY

Keo is an awesome guy with a real passion for riding bikes. And he hooked me up with a chocolate maple doughnut. So yeah, best guy ever, straight up!

Does the fact that my admiration can be bought with a doughnut make me look corruptable? Oh well, the doughnut was bomb.