Goals for the Course!
Since I decided to transfer to SOIS (School of Individulized Study), I wont have the oppertunity to make an Animation or Live Action capstone. For me, this is my final film. This very well make be the final course I take here in SOFA, and I intend to make it count. I'm collaborating with people all over the world and across different cultures to brings this to life, and I intend to make sure their work comes to fruition. So goals:
1. Create something I can feel justified by
2. Create something that represents me and my culture
3. Have fun!
4. Blend live action & animation (specifically Stop Motion!)
5. Have an 8 minute film! (I honestly have MORE than less right now.)
A girl can hope. Go big or go home, eh? While I'd love to go home, I'm not done yet!
Moodboard!
My moodboard is filled of my home, my culture, and my inspiration. Specifically, Dr. Haunani Kay-Trask. She is a Hawaiian activist and is infamous for many things, but her speech 'We are NOT American' is a key factor in the making of my radical.
Intrests!
1. Being Hawaiian
2. Hawaiian culture
3. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
4. Growth as a person
5. Who am I?
6. How should I define myself as a person?
7. How does being mixed contribute to my narrative?
8. How those who are considered patriotic to America should feel toward Native Hawaiians
9. How those who are considered patriotic to Hawaiʻi should feel toward Americans
10. The history of Native Hawaiians and their impacts on history
11. Why do a handful of Hawaiians end up in Rochester?
12. Am I too narcissistic to want to tell my story?
13. Stop motion!
14. Live action!
15. Incorporation of culture in film
16. Collaboration with Hawaiian educators?
17. Awesome drone shots (I know a guy!) 18. Incorporation of a performance to partner with the film?
19. Hula!?
20. The symbolism of color...specifically purple
21. I want to explore the conversation with my ex that started all this, but I don’t want it to seem like he’s the only reason I’m doing this
22. The use of Hawaiian language in my film
23. The inclusion of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask
24. Water. Specifically, the ocean
25. Hawaiian schools?
26. Food as culture (poi, laulau, spam musubi)
27. Generational differences between what my grandparents carry versus me
28. The land (‘āina) and its role in shaping identity
29. Humor in serious stories
30. Vulnerability as a strength in storytelling
31. Letters to my younger self
32. Imagining the future of Hawaiʻi
33. Storytelling through tattoo traditions 34. What does “home” even mean when you’re away?
35. Music and chanting (oli) in film
36. The balance of pride and doubt
37. Community gatherings
38. How activism shaped Hawaiian identity
39. Cyclical vs. linear time
40. Spiritual connections (ʻaumākua)
41. Ocean as metaphor for everything
42. Dreams as guidance
43. The weight of colonization
44. Being Hawaiian in the diaspora
45. Healing and resilience 4
6. What I want future kids to know
47. Performance as cultural archive
48. The “third space” of identity
49. How film can resist cultural erasure
50. Imagining myself both as storyteller and story
Reflection
Despite coming into this class with a clear purpose, there’s still so much I need to figure out. I need to finalize my story and how I choose to tell it. More than anything, I want to do justice to myself and to those who’ve chosen to help me along the way. This isn’t meant to be a film about my ex-boyfriend; it’s about my resilience as both a person and as a Native Hawaiian. It’s about showing that my people are still here.
Even though the initial spark came from an argument (or maybe the negative kind of inspiration), what I really want to share is the truth that I am still here. I’ve been thinking about this for months, trying not to rush the process. Lucky for me the race has begun, and I’m more than ready!
