Aloha from Hawaii

[Don Bloom]

Hi Todd and welcome. I was in Maui 2 years ago doing a business conference-I told my wife to go home sell the house and pack the stuff we were moving.
She didn't-we didn't ;-) but I love your island!

Don't know if it would interest you but when we were there I talked to the weddding coordinator at the hotel and she told me how many weddings they do and we had a nice talk. Perhaps you could approach the coordinators at the hotels and see if they would be willing to refer you especially for the mainlanders that go for the destination wedding. Short sweet and full of "fun"

Good luck to you and please walk the beach one time for time ;-)

Don B

[Todd Mizomi]

Hi Don,

I have thought about approaching the wedding coordinators for the different hotels ( I've actually worked with several in the past) but now that I'm on my own, I need to update my wedding sample DVD so I have something to show them when i go in.

A growing problem we are having here is the amount of people that are trying to lowball everyone else on pricing. It's gotten to the point where there are guys doing weddings incl. DVDs for under $200 total - shooting 1-1/2 hrs of coverage with a FX1 and editing in Vegas or something. Many wedding coordinators are going for these cheaper guys.

Nobody seems to want to pay more for video these days. The top wedding video guys on the island are only getting I think around $600. I hear on the mainland wedding videographers make much more than that.

[Don Bloom]

Hi Todd,
Yeah the mainland guys are getting more on the average but they're also working much longer hours. Here in my neck of the woods by the time we do pre ceremony stuff thru the reception it might be 10-12 hours or more shooting time.

I looked at some of the folks websites on Maui and you're right. They are inexpensive but only working for a couple of hours shooting and what I saw when I was there was that a lot of weddings took place during the week so I guess some of the folks there are doing 2-3 or even 4 or 5 weddings in a week. That can add up. Short job, fast edit, deliver before the couple leaves.
I would perk up your demo and talk to the coordinators AND the banquet managers as there are more than weddings going on at the hotels.

Well good luck to you and I really do envy you living in what I call PARADISE!

Don

[Andrew Malek]

Hey if anyone from Honolulu is reading this with 3CCD camcorders or audio equipment and wants to work on a rock concert tomorrow evening at aloha tower marketplace, let me know - email andrewb6k@punkrockvids.com

I'm a hobbyist with a PD150 but I'm from London, England so I don't have a 'crew' with me here, would be nice to film with some other people. The band is Alien Ant Farm.

You'll notice 'hobbyist', which means zero pay for me and zero pay for you at the moment, I actually do this all the time for bands for the love of it, but I suppose there is scope for payment further down the line if our footage actually gets used for anything by the band.

contact me with a phone number and I'll give you a call.

- Andrew

[Victor Muh]

Aloha!

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm currently in Hawai'i... O'ahu to be more precise.

[Dean Sensui]

I'm also on Oahu in Hawaii. Ben Wong, Bob Pritchard and I produce a show called "Hawaii Goes Fishing" for a local cable channel. We just got back from Alaska gathering a ton of material for upcoming episodes. The rest of the summer kept us busy covering everything from visiting educational exhibits to fishing tournaments and other activities.

I was the chief photographer at one of the daily papers here and, after a 24-year career in newspapers, made the switch to television production at the beginning of this year.

The show is shot with a Sony PD-150, PD-170, and a Canon XL1s. I just got a Sony PDX10 to do underwater work.

It's a demanding but interesting change in careers. Something I was looking forward to for a long time.

[Mick Isdes]

Aloha,
I am also located on the island of Oahu' in Honolulu. I have years of television training, I shoot with a DVX100 and have no fear of getting in the water. I hope to work with you soon,
Mick

[Paul Chun]

Dean,

Do you see yourself making the switch over to HDV anytime soon? I'm also using a PD170 but I'm thinking about a Z1 and I'm probably purchasing a A1 for a Japan vacation.

If you guys ever need a helping hand just give me a yell since I'm interested to see how you guys shoot the show.

[Victor Muh]

I'm back in Paris!

[Fred Foronda]

Was up Victor, Paul, Mick, and Dean. Looks like I am the minority in the Hawaii group. You seem like to do video stuffs professionaly, I do it as a hobby. Stepped up to HD and I don't think I'll ever go back to SD.

[Dean Sensui]

Hi Paul...

We don't have any plans at the moment to switch to HD as OC 16 doesn't have any demand for it just yet. If we had the budget we'd probably make the switch right away as it would be an investment that would enable us to re-purpose our material later.

As for cameras, the Panasonic P2 system sure looks interesting. The video format uses a 4:2:2 color space and each frame is independent of the next, unlike HDV which uses a group of frames to allow higher compression. Also, the Varicam format is directly usable by Final Cut Pro, just like HDV.

It would be great if the camera could be set up to buffer the incoming video on a 10-second loop. Our coverage is in real time with very few set-up shots so we end up rolling a lot of tape in anticipation of hooking up a fish or some other action. With a 10-second buffer we can keep the cameras pointing and standing by until something does happen and never miss a shot. It would save a lot of tape and reduce the mountain of material we have to go through for each show.

Even aside from capturing fishing action, a buffer would help catch a lot of occasional comments that are insightful, humorous, etc.

I noticed that the PDX10 seems to roll tape instantly. Surprising for a camera of that price level. MY Canon XL1s has a half-second (or longer) delay. Still, being able to capture several seconds in advance of the action would be tremendously valuable. Nostradamus would have been a good news cameraman :-)

As for observing our production work, we're up to our necks in editing right now. About the only thing we've shot in the past week was members of a large organization bottom fishing from a boat outside of Waikiki. We'll probably do some shoreline work soon as most of our material has been shot from boats recently. I'll let you know if a situation arises that would allow for an observer. A lot of these fishermen are pretty guarded about where they fish.

Fred...

Video production started off on a hobby level for me about 25 years ago and gradually built up into a whole new career. Even though I've been at it professionally for about 10 years I keep learning new things that allow me to refine the end product. HD is definitely the way to go if you haven't invested in a lot of equipment yet.

Probably run into you guys sooner or later. This island's pretty small!

hello, im suprised that there are this many people from hawaii here. I'm a young up and comer in the videography scene of hawaii. i've worked on project with surfing of vans triple crown and multiple local skate films. i shoot with a vx1k and a vx21k but soon to be dvx100a. i own all the main accessories everyone else had i dont need to list them for bragging rights or anything haha.

I'm young knowledgable 17 year old looking for work.....

[Tim Otholt]

Hi all,

Thought I'd add to the list.

I'm actually Hawaiian-Chinese, living in Los Angeles as a cinematographer. Thought I'd just join the club even tho I haven't been home in a few years.

Glad to know some shooters from back home. Anyone figured out how to make a living back there?

Aloha!

Tim Otholt

[Fred Foronda]

Originally Posted by Tim Otholt

Anyone figured out how to make a living back there?

Aloha!

Tim Otholt

Yeah work three jobs!!! As far as video I guess you have to be creative to make it a living here. I was thinking maybe wedding videos here but there a lot of competition out here.

[Dean Sensui]

Originally Posted by Tim Otholt

Anyone figured out how to make a living back there?

Hi Tim...

Our small production company is actually getting by and earning enough right now to make a humble living. As you probably already know, there are a lot of others in this town, in this particular line of work, who can't say the same.

The key, in my opinion, is to be among the people who originate content. Being a member of that club puts you at the highest risk but it also has the potential for the highest return. But it only works if you're good at telling interesting stories.

If not, then you'd have to be among the larger group that makes a living by providing a service. In which case it's important to stand out from the rest by being among the ones who:

1 -- Have a reputation for being a desirable team player.
2 -- Provide a high-quality product.
3 -- Hit deadlines without fail.

There is a large number of those who try to grab as large a portion of the market as possible by undercutting everyone else. But the downside is the possibility of a huge workload, little time to get things done properly, and a growing list of unsatisfied clients.

We count ourselves as lucky to be among the first group.