Since our virtual interview with Tom Peek, we have been creating relationships with numerous people from Hawaii to help us finalize our schedule. We started off this week’s class by meeting a fellow Pace student who is a native Hawaiian from the island Oahu. Precious Hose spoke to us about her personal experiences from her time living on the island. She discussed the importance of her culture’s balanced relationships between the gods, the land, and the people.
She explained the cultural value of these relationships and how it is often displayed through chants. For example, Kumulipo is a creation chant that is over 2,000 lines long; it shows a connection between the people and the land, describing the formation of the universe. She even taught us a greeting chant and the proper form to recite it. The respectful way to do so is to stand in a single line with appropriate posture and hands by your sides.
From there, we began to go through a list of people we will be talking to once we arrive in Hawaii. One of our contacts, Caroline Garrett, has been a resident of Hawaii since 1965. She is actively involved in developing Hawaii-based literature programs through the Volcano Art Center. This art center hosted a series called ‘Stories from the Summit.’ Last month, they completed their third program of the Literature of Kilauea series. These stories gathered 140 people, which was the largest crowd to date.
Garrett graciously agreed to be our liaison or somebody that will assist us to ensure a smooth experience. Garrett has committed to making connections for us and spreading the word about our project. Through the help of Caroline, we were able to connect with Phil and Lunel Haysmer; a couple who had an intense first-hand experience with Kilauea’s explosion. Their home was destroyed after lava fission opened in their front yard in the Leilani Estates on the Big Island. Their full experience with Kilauea can be found on their blog dating back to May 2018.
There are many others whom we look forward to meeting in Hawaii. One other zealous source we are excited to meet is Philip Ong, who is a volcanologist and educator. Ong actively updated his YouTube channel throughout the duration of the Kilauea eruptions. His lengthy videos display a plethora of knowledge on the science behind it. Starting in May 2018, he began to post almost daily, updating his followers about Hawaii’s current situation. These videos are labeled as ‘Kilauea Eruption Updates’.
At the end of class, we split into our four official production groups. Within these groups, we continued to practice setting up and conducting on-camera interviews. To conclude, we collaborated our story development ideas on a whiteboard. This put into perspective how much we have learned. Also, it made us realize that there is so much more to this story than what we had anticipated.
A press release about the documentary is published on Hawaii 24/7 and an article has been posted by Big Island Now.