One of the more dramatic motion segments I have experienced was in the course of shooting motion picture for a film project centered on Hawaii. The stills image above is a quick grab done as  Tyler Swain., Rob Dafoe and I worked 3 camera positions at Anahuli Bay, Hawaii. I think that we all got chicken skin in the course of this days long shoot, repeatedly. We were cognizant of being able to witness something bigger than some people from the Waikaloa Halau performing.

Shooting motion and understanding the nuances is really quite complex.  At least it is, if you engage as a Cinematographer, where your camera moves tell the story. For the purposes of this blog, I am going to use other people’s work.

Here is a great looking story on Hula. The Huamana.

Here is an outstanding body of timelapse work done by a young Cinematographer named Cory Hansen. The piece is entitled “Dark As Night”.

I doubt there is much as sacred or significant in this world as our story. It is that way because it belongs to us. So when we share that, and push the envelope of vulnerability, what we really are doing is baring ourselves to the universe in a way. We give our story up.

Years ago a close friend of mine rang me. He had just returned from a Studio Executive meeting. He is a well known screen writer. He told me that another studio had stolen my story (One published in a Magazine) given it to a screenwriter who developed the screenplay and it had somehow wound up on the desk of his EP. They had asked him to rewrite it.

I asked him what he was going to do.

“I said no. I told them I knew the writer and that the story belonged to someone else. But I suggested they have me write a new piece. They agreed. How do you feel about this, David?”

My response was instant. “Well, it is not my story at all. It really belongs to the men I wrote about. It is their story. I was merely a witness”

“Well, would you consider helping me pen the new one?”

“Of course. Their story matters. It is significant.”

So we did that, and as things go in the entertainment business the project was stalled in pre production and was never made. It was ironic and sort of funny. Possibly  a bit sad, even. Why? Because it was the story of Mark Foo, and what I had seen over the course of nearly 12 years. It delved deeply into the life and world of another friend, Maverick’s pioneer Jeff Clark, who helped me understand Maverick’s and come to terms with Mark’s death, which had affected me deeply.

So you see: our stories are sacred.

sacred |ˈsākrid|
adjective
connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration: sacred rites | the site at Eleusis is sacred to Demeter.
• religious rather than secular: sacred music.
• (of writing or text) embodying the laws or doctrines of a religion: a sacred Hindu text.
• regarded with great respect and reverence by a particular religion, group, or individual: an animal sacred to Mexican culture.
• sacrosanct: to a police officer nothing is sacred.

Motion picture capability is expanding rapidly. One of my favorite companies is Go Pro. They have been highly supportive when I needed help in production. One of their camera lead developers is Cinematographer Pete Hodgson. They even had Pete help me on a production for Nat Geo.

Here is the latest Go Pro trailer. Shot using the Hero Black 3+. You can tell a different story with the POV potential of this system. And beyond it, what heads in will allow for much greater focus on our stories. I like that a lot, because in a life, your story matters. It is all we have.

Aloha nui loa.

 A young Mark Foo. Photo: Bobby Owens