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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Narrative Report - 2/25/09

Well it was a pretty exciting day today. I received the HVX200 today. I have been testing everything out, and actually I am still in the middle of it, so I will have to get back shortly.

But I am definitely busy working on ironing out the post production format issues, and still working on the SD selects reel for upconversion.

It's going to be a late night. Good thing I will have Ryan to keep me company. He has been working really late on his illustrations of Robert Rogers for another PBS doc.

Narrative Report - 2/24/09

I have contracted motion graphics designer and illustrator Ashley Burke www.ashleyburke.com to do compositing and illustration work for the new fundraising trailer. That I am now working on.

I spent today putting together a style guide for her on flickr. The style of the piece is going to be a multi-media collage kind of style that is heavily influenced by Hawaiian style woodcuts and linocuts, as well as other woodcutting traditions from around the world including Japan and Mexico.

Ashley works as a freelance illustrator, and this is one of the pieces that she did for a commercial job in a synthetic woodcut style. Our animations are going to be less realistically rendered and very colorful, but I thought this work was very nice.



On a less fun note I have also begun re-sifting through my previously shot Standard Definition footage and I am constructing a timeline to export to tape so that I will be able to have all of the clips that I want to have converted to High Definition so that I will be able to have Fiona, my editor put everything together more effectively. I will probably be doing that tomorrow too.

PIC Narrative Report - 2/23/09

Today is day that my contract with PIC (Pacific Islanders in Communications)officially begins. One of the deliverables I am responsible is a narrative report of my activities in making this show.

So I think it will motivate me to keep better reports by publishing up on the blog.

Today I met with Dean Kekoolani and Karin Williams in North Hollywood at Dean's house. Dean is a Post Production format expert, and he is helping advise me on the best way to incorporate the SD footage I have already shot, and the HD footage that I will begin to shoot. We also talked about storytelling, and how to "talk story" through the medium.

After that I headed over to Bexel Video in Burbank to pick up my firestore FS 100 drive. I can't wait to get my camera on Wednesday to put everything all together.

I also treated myself to a nice Petrol accessory case. You can buy Petrol Cases and many other great video finds Bexel's Ebay Store

Earlier today I also sent out an email to some faculty members at the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media putting the word out for interns. I am looking for people to function as addition camera operators, HD workflow assistants, and PA's. I have already gotten a few responses, and I am reviewing them.