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

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.

VIMBY - Keo Curry

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.

Charles Peterson: VIMBY profile

Considering the legacy of his photography, which includes iconic images of Seattle's rock and roll scene in the early 90's in his photobook Touch Me I'm Sick, or in his latest work documenting the global B-Boy and B-Girl renaissance, Cypher.



Charles Peterson is perhaps not the kind of guy you would expect to meet. He does yoga, his words are thoughtful and measured, the answers to my interview questions were introspective, but not to the point of self-involvement. I really enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and have a pleasant conversation with this man about his work. I think if you take time to look beyond the sometimes frantic nature of his subjects, you can see the serene order that Charles is able to bring to all the chaos.

You can take a look at the finished VIMBY piece here:

VIMBY - Charles Peterson

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.