Category Archives: Film related

March has arrived with some  epic  winds, blowing everyone around in the marina and doing a fair share of minor damage.  Marlene’s little boat Pixie, which she keeps on a mooring, came loose and ended up aground.  Luckily it missed every expensive thing it could have run into and just ended up stuck in the mud and tipped over a bit.  She went out and put an anchor on it and when the tide comes in again it will float nicely.  On Hanalei Moon we had no problems just some very interesting bouncing around. I actually felt a little bit sea sick from the motion. Perhaps exacerbated by the tummy full of a nice dinner.

I’ve been quite busy on this project…editing several hours of video.  With many a surprising stumbling block.  I thought I had it all under control and hit a new stumbling block today:  A big section of an otherwise good video was just an orange field.  For some reason that section didn’t do like everything around it did.  I did work out a way to get what I needed…a workaround.  I still don’t know what the problem was.  I took some time this week to do videography at a wedding. My first wedding video, actually.  I’m looking forward to editing it.  I know I got a lot of great material.  Today at Filmsters, I watched part of a documentary with Patti White and Lee Anderson.  Lee took the time to talk to me a bit about setting up a subject for an interview and made me a little sketch.  It’s wonderful how much more meaningful it is to have an actual person show you something, rather than to read it in a book.

Working on video while on the boat is a little bit tough… especially with all that teak wood out there that needs sanding and that beautiful fall weather.  Still, I am keeping my nose to the grindstone just a bit longer at least. I managed to solve the last round of obstacles, or at least find a good work-around.  Now I thinking about what sort of editing program to install on the MFA’s newish Macs.  Since I’m using Premiere Pro CS5, that seems like a reasonable choice; but it might be a good time for me to think about upgrading to CS6.  There is a lot to  take into account here and I need to do a bit more research.  I’m open to suggestions, however.  Reviews of CS6 seem pretty good.  There is always the expense to take into account.

I spent about three hours today working at Filmsters. With my laptop set up at the big table, I started sorting through my collection of video files. I discovered that my editing program was freezing and crashing, though it they had run fine on my desktop PC at home. Lee Anderson came to my rescue and we had a fruitful discussion about how programs can get bloated with multiple versions of the rendered files. I was given an avenue to explore and so far it looks like things are looking up. I really would never have thought of the rendered files being the problem. Once Lee made the suggestion I went to Google and found a wealth of discussion about various approaches to dealing with the problem. Good, but not surprising that I’m not the first.

1. I had a very encouraging meeting with Patty White and Lee Anderson yesterday.  They both had a lot of good practical advice to offer as well as being very generous in finding ways to further my project.  It seems I have bitten off a pretty large chunk of business with this project and will be looking for some help in several areas…particularly in terms of crew for field work.

I won’t be using this camera. I’ll be shooting strictly digital

I started today to complete my internship requirements for an Audio Production Certificate. In fact it may turn out to be an Associate’s Degree. In any case, I’ll be working on a documentary with some oversight by my adviser at Anne Arundel Community College, my sponsor at the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis, and my mentor from Filmsters in Annapolis. The project is a documentary film about the MFA with particular attention to the fact that it is the 50th anniversary of that organization. A small part of the requirement for this program is that I maintain a blog about the internship. This entry marks the beginning of that.

Getting a tow on the newly acquired O’Day 28, to her new berth in Mayo.  Largest boat I’ve ever bought or owned and just chock full of promise. And roomy.

I’ve been so busy working on the script, I’ve let the video editing of the material I have languish.  I did work on a little project, just for fun.  A short 30 second video which takes the basic structure of the classic tune famously sung by Don Ho called Hanalei Moon and transmutes it to Hanalei Blues.  So here is a first taste of that …[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wFPyZtgBSo]

Fourth of July Sunset

My film project for the summer has run up against a fairly disconcerting obstacle.  At the end of my first week in Kauai I discovered  that a great deal of my filming equipment had been stolen.  After taking stock of my situation I decided to return home and booked a flight for the next day.  I’ve been back in Annapolis for a week now.  The value of the loss amounted to about what I had budgeted for the project as a whole, and my insurance company has made it clear that they are not liable for the  loss; so it’s a big hit and quite demoralizing.  However, during the week I was there I did take about 20 pages of handwritten notes and gather just over 13 gigabytes of still and video images.  The script continues to be written and I will have some sort of video produced and ready to show by the end of August.  I want to thank everyone who gave me support and encouragement on the venture and express my regret that I wasn’t able to plan well enough to forestall this outcome.  I have no doubt the thief was  “on the prowl”  for opportunities and I doubt very much it was the work of the individuals who lived or camped  in the area where I was camped.  My regard for the Hawai’an people is undiminished, though at the moment I am feeling a bit un-enthusiastic about a certain neighborhood.  The new working title of the film is Hanalei Blues in place of the former Kauaithemovie.

Best wishes and thank again to all.  I’ll be posting whatever updates are appropriate on this blog:

The handbook of film making clearly stresses the crucial importance of guarding the equipment. In this I failed and the project is stopped. I could have gone on but the anxiety of guarding what I have left is just too much for me to bear. I didn’t bring anything with me I didn’t think was absolutely necessary and with so much essential equipment gone I find I must retreat from the field. I will make a film with what I’ve already shot and continue with the script. I did gain some very helpful insights in the short time I had before the “incident.”. And now a flower. Plumeria or sometimes called Frangipani.