Fresh Meat (2012)

From New Zealand director Danny Mulheron comes Fresh Meat (2012) a hilarious story about a group of criminals who unwittingly find themselves inside the house of a family of cannibals who happen to be Maori. 

Seeming to be quite the funny guy himself, Mulheron answers a question from a member of the audience:

What's going on in your mind normally?

What? There's nothing wrong with this family, just look at your typical dysfunctional family! (laughing)

Coming to a theater near you, see IMDB for more.

Starlet (2012)

  Co-written and directed by Sean Baker, Starlet (2012) portrays the unlikely friendship between a 21-year old adult film star named Jane (played by Dree Hemingway; great-granddaughter of author Ernest Hemingway) and an elderly woman named Sadie (Besedka Johnson).  Jane discovers a substantial sum of money in a thermos purchased from Sadie's yard sale and then tries to determine whether or not to return the money.  Jane's sidekick chihuahua named Starlet provides companionship throughout.

   Cinematographer Radium Cheung from New York City was present for post-screening discussion and to answer any questions from the audience.  Cheung mentioned his preference for naturalistic lighting, and also admitted that this unrated film would have a greater potential for distribution if some of the scenes were cut, but that this was highly unlikely due to the story  degradation that would occur.

  

  You might not be able to watch this film at your favorite theater, but look for it soon on Video on Demand.

For more info see Starlet's IMDB profile.

Continuing Time-Lapse Experiments (Honolulu)

This is a continuation of my time-lapse photography experimenting.
Sun setting over a period of two hours, windy conditions, continuing to learn the effects of f-stop, shutter speed, white balance, and ISO combinations.

Maoli Art Pedagogy

MAP

I went to the opening reception of the Maoli Art Pedagogy exhibition at the Hawaii Pacific University art gallery last week and ended up learning a few things.

I learned that Maoli, or Kanaka Maoli, means to refer to the native people of the Hawaiian Islands.

I learned that Pedagogy comes from a Greek word that means "to lead the child," and is used here to refer to the process of teaching and learning.

And I learned that in order to better facilitate the reporting of a story a person is well-advised to make sure they are adequately prepared beforehand.  Next time I will have a story line to follow before I go to ask interview questions and collect footage.  This will reduce the use of backwards script-writing, and hopefully produce better content.

I also started learning how to use green-screen and wire-frame techniques in Final Cut Pro.



Video Credits:
Producer, Director, Writer, Editor: John Marsh
Asst. Producer, Asst. Director: Charles Yago
Reporter: Shannell Sarme
Anchor: Kourtney Kaopuiki

Interview with Charles Video Segment

Interview with Charles

Hey Charles, how’s it going?

Fine, thanks.  You?

Great.  So you grew up here in Hawaii?

Yeah, I’m the third of three boys and both my parents worked so I pretty much lived with my Grandma and Uncles and Aunties in Waipio until the third grade.

Oh, what school?

Kanoelani Elementary.

Oh wow. I have two boys that went there last year for first and second grade.

Oh, nice.

Were you into sports growing up?

No, not really.  I had asthma so I was always at home or going to the doctor’s.

I see.  Did your parents grow up here as well?

No, both my parents and my oldest brother are from the Philippines.  My second brother and I were born in Hawaii.

Did growing up here make you feel like you missed anything concerning Filipino culture?

Not really, I can understand the language, but I can’t really speak it.  I remember my mom asking me questions in Ilocano and answering her in English.

Are you a fan of Filipino food?

Some, but not all.  I like the sweets, and desserts.

Lumpia?

Yeah, I like Lumpia.  But I don’t like what they call “chocolate” meat.

Blood meat?

Yeah, and I don’t why, but I just won’t eat water chestnuts, or kiwi.  Kiwi makes my tongue feel funny.

Possibly allergic to kiwi?

Maybe.

So, what do your brothers do?

My oldest brother is a bookkeeper for Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, and my other brother works supply in the Air Force.  An interesting thing about all three of us is that we all graduated from Heald College Honolulu with Associates in Applied Science.

Wow, that is interesting.  So you already have a degree?

Yes, two actually, both from Heald and in applied science.

So what brought you to Hawaii Pacific University?

Well, I was working as a Field Tech in North Carolina, replacing computer parts, repairing probably 50 computers a day, when I realized it just wasn’t for me.  I thought about going back to school, talked to my counselor at Heald, and ended up at HPU with transfer credits and a scholarship.

Nice.  And what are you studying?

I’m going for my Bachelor in Integrated Multimedia.

Interesting, why Integrated Multimedia?

I like learning new things, and I wanted to explore the creative side of computers rather than the technical side.

Very cool.  What do you hope to do after graduation?

I’m not sure yet, but I hope to gain a competitive skill set that gives me an edge that identifies me as bringing something new to the table.

Awesome, and how are you enjoying HPU so far?

I like it.  I like the classes, I’m learning a lot from many different areas, and I like that you can network with students on an international level.

Alright, that sounds great.  Thank you for your time, and good luck on all of your educational and professional endeavors.

Thank you.

10-Minute Challenge

Double Homicide on a Typical Afternoon

The Ten Minute Challenge 

involves picking a time of day at a certain location to set up and capture at least 10 minutes of continuous footage without moving the tripod.  The footage is then edited into some kind of story line consisting of the shots gathered during the ten minutes of filming.

     In this case, I set up my tripod near Keehi Marina boat harbor off Sand Island Access Road and used my series of shots to create a story that suggests two murders taking place while other people continue about their business.

     I used a Canon T2i, Final Cut Pro, and GarageBand.