Shawty

This is my latest music video with the local group Natural Vibrations. It took two days to shoot, one in front of a green screen with the band, and one by koko head crater with the kid actors.

Music videos are always a blast because I get to try new things out. For this video I wanted to shoot the band with a free flowing camera. I wanted to be able to weave, spin, pan, jib and zoom past each band member. The solution? My DP Mat Medeiros (the carpenter) and myself came up with a home-made spinning platform in front of a green screen. The idea was to shoot each band member while they rotated in front of camera. This gave me the freedom in post to fly by each band member and to also combine them on screen with the other band members.

Pimp daddy (Noa Gottesman), Boy in love (Jett Tanuvasa, James Sereno's Nephew) and Girl (Tiana Hannemann)

Island Insurace

Here's my latest campaign for Island Insurance. Again, I wanted to try something different, and because we wanted the spots to feel very natural and raw these were the choices we made.

No crew. That meant we only had Shawn, the camera, and a few other people. That's it. I wanted everything to have a very natural and authentic feel to it.

No tripod. All the shots were handheld. Very nice and simple.

No scout. We had a rough idea of what we were shooting, but none of the shots were planned ahead of time.

No actors. Yes, this was to feature all real people. All the people you see are either friends, employees or both.

Free flowing editing. The spots were actually edited over a course of maybe two weeks and we went through many different possible versions. We had over 4 hours of footage, and the choices were endless. We did a cut, stepped away for a few days, then came back and revised and fine cut. After presenting to the client, we did something, I've never done on a spot before, we asked them to live with it for a week and get as many comments as they could before coming back. I know, a scary thing, but I wanted the spots to feel free and unique. After assessing all the comments, we completely re-did all the spots, and came back with what you see.

Behind the Smoke

Going thru all my old spots I stumbled across the "Leave Um Where They're At" campaign. I always try and "bleed" in every spot that I do and this was no exception. Being an ex-smoker, I was very passionate about making something powerful and the idea of making a "music video" style spot was appealing. Here's a bunch of little secrets and tidbits no one knows except me about the spots.

- The tree that the kids climb, is the same tree I used to hang out at as a kid. When I was about their age, I too stole a pack of cigarettes and gagged on my first puff.

- I used to skateboard down the street like the teen in the "Store" version. That's the actually street I did it on, too with my banana board. Even the corner store is the spot my friends and I used to hang out at.

- These spots were edited in Jay's living room, (the early days of montaj) and I think we did it all in three days. It was originally suppose to be one spot, but I shot so much footage (which usually happens with me) that it turned into four spots. The editing is incredible in these spots, and props go out to Jay.

- Shawn Hiatt at several points during the shoot was shooting with three camera. The main "A" camera, a stop motion camera, and the bike and misc. cam. I remember Shawn built a lighting rig that went around the camera to get that glow look on the rapper. Shawn was incredible on this shoot and really attacked these spots!!

Oh yeah, we also shot the entire thing, all three spots, in one day, and produced it all for under 25K.

Nappy Napoleon

l-r Rosie Lum, Kala Kukea, Blue Makua Jr., Luana Froiseth, Nappy Napoleon, Kamoa Kalama

I was out shooting this morning at the Hilton Lagoon, and a crusty old guy came up to say hi. His name is Nappy Napoleon. Maybe that name doesn't mean much to most people, but if you paddle canoes, you'll know who he is. Nappy probably owns the record for most times paddling in the Molokai Hoe (52x!)...the annual "Superbowl" of international canoe paddling, spanning 41 miles between Molokai and Oahu.

I'm familiar with Nappy because of what I do. A number of years back, I was privileged to work on a commercial for Long Distance USA with some of Hawaii's paddling elite...Nappy, Luana Froiseth, Rosie Lum, Kamoa Kalama, the late Blue Makua, Jr., and the late Kala Kukea. This was one of those moments when my job is more than just a job...to work with these exceptional people...all successful both in and out of the canoe...was an experience that I'll never forget.

So back to Nappy...this morning the sun rose just to the left of Diamond Head, the sky was clear, there was just a light trade wind blowing, and here I was, talking story with the man who has paddled the Kaiwi Channel more times than any other paddler. Yeah. Life is good.

Location, Location - HTC Spots

New Hawaiian Telcom Spots.
Agency: Milici Valenti Ng Pack
Dir. Ryan Kawamoto



When producing these spots, we went through great lengths to choose locations that would add to the storytelling. “Anthem” features a unique military location which is supposed to portray an out-of-state base. We found there were so many amazing shots on base (which got left on the cutting room floor due to time constraints) and a compelling storyline of the military family that a bonus spot is in the works featuring the full story of the military girl and her family with the extra footage.



As we were in pre-production for “Coffee,” I was surprised to learn that no real coffee carts actually exist in this town (unless you wanna drop $30K for one). Props to Richard Drake who built us these identical carts complete with espresso machines from used restaurant gear. It was also a dream come true to have an espresso machine on set.

The agency, cast, and crew at the hangar.

Time After Time

When I was a starving student at UH and spent my weekends borrowing free movies on VHS from Sinclair Library, I stumbled upon an art film called “Koyaanisqatsi” (1983 dir. Godfrey Reggio). The film is an examination of nature vs human nature and is comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of hours worth of the most amazing timelapse footage I’ve ever seen. I instantly became interested in the timelapse camera.

Throughout the years as I made spots and other projects, I’ve incorporated timelapse shots into the mix. When digital SLR cameras came about , I got back into experimenting with this technique. More recently I’ve used it in commercials like Aloha Airlines and a series of mini-documentaries for the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. I just completed a new DVD project for Hawaii comedian Augie T. and used some timelapse footage of the Blaisdell Arena filling up with 7,500 people.

Here is a timelapse clip from my Augie T. project, shot at an interval of 1 frame every 30 seconds over a 90 minute period. I used my Canon digital XTi SLR with a 10mm lens.



This is a remixed version of “Koyaanisqatsi.” Sorry.... but I’m not into the musical stylings of Philip Glass, so I found a YouTube version with music from the Strokes instead (also a great track on RockBand). You can see the cool timelapse shots that left a big impression on me.

Integration

I'm always striving to be more original. I think an effective way to stay original is to combine different art forms and techniques into one cohesive piece.

When I watch this video, I'm paying attention to so many things, the illustrations, visual effects, art design, cinematography, live action, model making, sound design, puppetry, storytelling, etc.

If every element was alone, separate from each other,

this video would be OK, normal, regular...

But when everything is combined and seamlessly working off each other,

something exceptional is made.

For me, this video inspires me to never feel trapped by one medium or format and to always be open to combining techniques and different forms of art.

Where Do You Create?

It's 6:12 am, and I'm sitting in a Starbucks. There's a perfectly good office not even three blocks away from here, where I have friends, coffee and a home-away-from-home. And yet here I am, drinking a $2.00 cup of coffee and sitting around with a bunch of people I've never met, but I'm all too familiar with.

You see, Starbucks is where I do my writing. And I can't put my finger on why. I'm staring at the same Macbook screen that I would be staring at in my office. It's not the music they play, because I'm usually cocooned in my own headphones. Maybe it's the texture...the constant movement of people on their way to work, people on their way from dawn patrol surfing, old people, young people. The buzz of constant conversation...incomprehensible through the headphones, but still there, like a background sound effect labeled, "coffee shop."

Whatever it is, I can sit for hours in my office and not get a thing done. I come into Starbucks, plant my butt by the window, and in 10 minutes I've got it. Lightning in a Bottle.

I've been struck by creative solutions while washing my car, ironing shirts, and most often, while taking a shower (yeah, I know, I know). Maybe one side of my brain just needs to park itself for awhile while the other side chugs away. Without knowing it.

So...where do you create?

Goodfellas Steadicam

This is probably one of my favorite Steadicam moves. The Steadicam operator is Larry McConkey, who has a long list of Steadicam credits (Sopranos, Kill Bill 1 & 2, Finding Forester, Three Kings, etc)...if you look at this guy's filmography as a Steadicam op, it looks like he was the go-to guy for quite some time.

I'm impressed that it lasts more than three minutes. I'm impressed that he takes us through one of the most difficult sets to shoot on...a restaurant. I'm impressed that they take us from night/exterior to glaring fluorescent interior to dim nightclub. It's Scorsese at his best with regards to moving the camera.

What impresses me most, though, is how Scorsese uses this movement to tell you how much power and influence Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) possesses...how he moves so easily through so many worlds, how he uses the back door entrance of the Copacabana to impress Karen (Lorraine Bracco).

Aw, what the heck...it's just a totally cool move in what has to be one of the great films of all time.

Never work with ________ or animals.

Gondry is King!

This was the spot that first got me thinking about being a director. At the time I didn't even know who Michel Gondry was, but I was just fascinated with the tone, and emotional storytelling. To tell a complete story, beginning, middle and end, to have tone and style create mood and character, and to have fully formed characters from a gesture or camera angle , all in :30 seconds. Needless to say, I was on my knees....

WELCOME