In creating a fundraising trailer, we had to work with limited elements captured before main production. However, the story of the Shaka is so vast and layered, it was impossible to try and sum up the story in one short video. The challenge for our Director Alex Bocchieri was figuring out what part to focus on that would hook in potential investors and the general public, while not giving away too many secrets. What you see here, we managed to do with a just tiny amount of seed funding. We can’t wait to dive back in and give the film the thorough attention it deserves.
Looking to the Source
We looked to the source of the story, the Kupuna in Laʻie. The stories they told about growing up could be an entire feature length film in itself! We took inspiration from their words and captured elements that helped us put Hamana in the forefront, while showing how the Shaka grew organically. There was so much colorful content that the first cut of the trailer was 15 minutes!
Special Touches
In addition, the interview locations, sometimes on Kuleana lands, was the ideal backdrop. It was gorgeous everywhere you looked. We were also so blessed to have Henry Kapono join this project. The music you hear is a riff that Henry started playing during his interview, and it tied everything together perfectly.
Putting it All Together
As the Editor of the Shaka fundraising trailer, the first thing Deborah Miller wanted to do was sink her teeth into the interviews and diegetic moments with the Kupuna of Laʻie. There is a whole lot you can learn about people by simply listening not just to the interviews but the moments of them just being themselves – the moment when the audio is rolling before and after the interviews, and the moments captured of everyone just hanging out waiting for the crew to finish setting up, or during lunch break. Since she generally didn’t make it to the shoots, she loved feeling like she took part by listening to the generous laughter, nostalgia, and pride the Kupuna conveyed in knowing Tutu Hamana. By the time she actually got to meet them, she felt like she knew them already.