Reflections

Reflection #3  (10.12.22)

This week was short week, with only three days of school. This is because of Parents Weekend, in which parents met with teachers for conferences, and attended both online and in-person events. Since there was only one class for capstone, there was not much time. I continued to work on our formal proposal, and made sure to finish it before the end of the week. It was a lot of work to finish, but I felt very accomplished once it was done. I look forward for feedback from peers and teachers on the proposal, and will make adjustments as necessary. While it was short, I still felt accomplished with what I had finished this week.

Reflection #4  (10.21.22)

Unfortunately, I was unable to be at school this week. I was on mainland in San Diego for a Celebration of Life for my Great Grandmother. Therefore, I was unable to work on my capstone for I was very busy greeting and even meeting some family members I never have seen before. It was a busy and long week, but is full of great memories, and brought final closure for a good portion of the family. I plan to catch-up on whatever I have missed, and make sure to get back on track as soon as possible. 

Reflection #5  (10.28.22)

On my first week back, I used my time to catch up and finalize a few little details. I caught up by letting Mr. Mumau know who I would reach out to through email for my vignettes, and organizing the list of them. I then began to work on the process and finish my first draft email that will be sent out in the near future. I also made sure to make updates to my reflections page on the website, as well as touch-up some of the images. I now am awaiting to receive Mr. Mumau's edits, and will likely send out my first round of emails next week. 

Reflection #6 (11.4.22)

This week was a much slower week than usual. This was mostly due to show week for our Musical production, Cinderella, in which rehearsals ran from 5pm until 10:30pm at night, and the shows were from 7pm until 9:30pm. This meant much less time than usual to work on both school work and my capstone project. I was able, however, to complete a few things for capstone. I was able to finalize my plan for the prototype, which will (hopefully) be interviews with Chris Kahunahana and Nicole Naone, who worked on the film Waikiki.

Reflection #7 (11.10.22)

I was able to complete much more this week than the previous, with the stress of the show mostly over. Firstly, I was able to confirm the prototype plan with Mr. Mumau, and confirmed the appropriate manner with Mr. Tallut on how to contact Chris Kahunahana and Nicole Naone. I was able to reach out to them, and am currently awaiting their response. In the meantime, I have decided to do a "demo" or "test" interview in order to know how to properly run one, and get feedback. I have reached out to Mr. McGrath (known as Kumu Roy), the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) teacher at HPA, to be my test interviewee for this process. At this time, I am simply awaitng for responses, and hopefully can have my prototype completed soon!

Reflection #8 (11.18.22)

This week I was able to complete my prototype with Kumu Roy's assistance. We were able to connect over Zoom, and conduct the first official interview for the project. Afterwards, I spent the rest of the week editing and putting together the footage. In total, I spent around five hours ensuring footage used was related to the questions, background music was noticeable but not distracting, and that resolution was as high quality as possible in its uploaded format. I spent time both in class and at home to get the prototype completed in time, with an accompying slide show and small introduction to Mr. Mumau and my class.

Reflection #9 (11.22.22)

Due to the Thanksgiving break, we were only able to attend one class for the week. For our class, we first did a small slideshow presentation introducing our capstone, clarifying our journey so far, and explaining our inspiration for the project. We then had to present our first semester prototype to our peers and Mr. Mumau, in order to demonstrate our progress so far. For me, I presented my interview with Kumu Roy, and was able to receive some great feedback I will apply to future vignettes. We were then assigned to start formulating and preparing for our final capstone presentation that will be presented in December.

This is our final week of capstone classes for the fall semester. This week, I gave a "practice" presentation in front of my class and Mr. Mumau. This was presented in the exact same format as it will be next week for our actual semester final. The rest of the week was dedicated to refining, editing, and further practicing for our presentations. Additionally, if completed, we were fortunately given extra time in class to catch-up on our websites as well as studying time for other finals that will be given next week. I am grateful for the support, time, and process opportunities for this first semester, and excited to get real interviews and vignette's produced for next semester. Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Reflection #12 (1.12.23)

This was our first week back at HPA, and our first time back in class since the end of last semester. Our first class was focused on reviewing feedback we had got from our semester one presentation, and preparing goals to meet by the end of this month. My main goal is to have an interview completed with one filmmaker, and have a draft video ready for feedback and review by peers, teachers, and others. I also hope to be in contact/already have scheduled my next interview. This month I will be focused on reaching out as much as I can, and have my first video completed. 

For capstone this week, I was able to send out and receive many emails for my project. I was firstly able to reach out to Ms. Stocchetti of the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival through the contact of Ms. Izumi-Nitao who works for the state of Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission. She was then able to recommend filmmakers and Film Commissioners I should reach out to in order to hopefully secure interviews and/or other contacts within the next couple of weeks. I then emailed many of these contacts, and now am awaiting for their replies, prepared for any outcome there may be.

Reflection #14 (1.27.23)

This week was a very busy and productive week, and I am glad to have secured a couple of my first interviews! I received many emails from those I reached out to, and was able to be connected to some other filmmakers through them as well. This week mostly consisted of emails and econnecting with many of these contacts, but set up some important first interviews beginning next Monday. I am truly grateful for the amount of outreach I have received back, and excited to begin the "filming" and editing process!

Once more, this week proved to be quite busy. I continued to reach out to many via email and econnect, and was able to secure quite a few interviews for the upcoming week. I was able to already successfully complete two interviews, and am currently in the process of cutting down the footage of their responses into three-ish to four-ish minute pieces. After that, I will begin to then complete the editing process and check it by both of them before (hopefully) adding them to the website for educational purposes. However, with already four interviews scheduled for next week, I am unsure of when I will have time to edit, as I also have the school play and HPA Olympics coming up. I also learned to triple check my Zooms, as it does not always save changes, and I had to re-email a couple people a new link...Regardless, it was a very busy week, and will be even more busy next week! 

Reflection #16 (2.10.23)

This was by far the busiest and most productive week so far for my project! I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of responses , and certainly humbled to have these incredible opportunities with these numerous filmmakers. I was able to complete a total of five interviews, and had great conversations with all of them throughout the week. This weekend, my goal is to have most of the interview footage cut down into a vignette format, and hopefully complete a first draft of one of them. This week, we also gave an update presentation to fellow classmates on the progress of our capstone. I was able to receive some great feedback from peers and other faculty, and will utilize it all for the future. I am so grateful to have these wonderful opportunities, and am excited for the future of this project!

This week was not as productive, but I was still able to complete some iteneraries I was meaning to complete. I firstly was able to almost finsih editing my first draft video. It is not quite ready yet, for I got some feedback from my capstone teacher and peers before I send out the draft to the filmmaker. I hope to have it done sometime next week, and get it to them as soon as possible. This week I was very, very busy with our school play, "You Can't Take It With You," in which I was the Grandpa (which had over 400 lines to memorize!). Therefore, I did not do much else, but I was able to update and clean-up the website a bit. I was excited last night during opening, and am excited for my last two shows today and Saturday!

Reflection #20 (3.10.23)

As Spring Break begins the next two weeks, I made sure to work as hard as possible to essentially finish up my capstone. I was successfully able to complete and send out all the drafts. I have been able to recieve some great feedback to make some adjustments, and currently am awaiting to hear back still from a few of them. I will be able to have all my final drafts complete and posted before the end of Spring Break as I continue to correspond with all of the interviewed filmmakers. In the classroom, however, we focused on finishing our projects and updating our peers on our progress so far. I displayed one of my vignettes, and was glad to receive positive responses from the class and my mentor, Mr. Mumau. I look forward to being able to present my capstone, and for the restful break ahead!

After coming back from Spring Break, we are starting to prepare for our final showcase. This week was spent finsing up any of our projects that needed last minute touches. We then relayed these to Mr. Mumau, and began to discuss what our final presentation would look like. We learned it would be a live oral speech, followed by a five to seven minute video giving more explanation on our journey's, and concluded with a live Q&A.

Reflection #22 (4.6.23)

This week, we focused on working on our first drafts for our presentation videos. We were able to complete our scripts and have them checked by Mr. Mumau, and then started to work on the videos themselves. These first drafts are due next week, as long as a script for our oral speech. I mainly worked on compelting and revising the drafts this week as we get ready.

Reflection #23 (4.14.23)

Our first draft videos were due on Monday, and I was able to submit it on time. We also had a guest come in, Ms. Kristin Westland, who assisted us in preparing and improving upon our oral speeches. She worked in the tech industry and numerous businesses, as well as having a background in acting and communications, and she was an excellent resource to help guide us. One of my vignettes will be shown at the HPA Film Festival this Friday, but I am unable to attend as I am visiting Loyola Marymount University and Chapman University as I try to decide between these two for college. I was, however, able to make a quick introdution video to introduce myself and my project for context at the Film Festival.  

Reflection #24 (4.20.23)

It is almost here! We are about to start our presentations next week, and so our final drafts of our video and speeches were due this week. We also had Ms. Westland come in again, and help us prepare with Mr. Piercy's capstone class in GPAC at the end of the week. This was a major week for me, as I was able to get all of my preperation done for capstone, as well as make a decision for college. After much deliberation, I am excited to say that I have chosen to attend LMU for college! It was not easy, nor was this project, but in the end I believe I made the best decision for college and my capstone!

Reflection #25 (4.27.23)

This week was the week of capstone presentations! I was able to complete mine in the morning yesterday, April 26th. I believe that it went very well, and I feel very accomplished with my project. I am so relieved that this journey is over, and am happy at its results. It has been interesting to watch my fellow senior's variety of projects, and get to see their products and journeys as well. 

Final Reflection (5.5.23)

With our prjects completed, the only work we had left was the finish our white papers. These are intended to summarize our jounrey as a whole, and our assessment of ourselves and whether or not we completed our goals. After this week, our capstone period will be dedicated to commencement practice and preparation. I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all the filmmakers who helped in this process, Mr. Mumau, my family, and everyone else who helped along the way! This project could not have been done without all of you, and I am forever grateful. To whoever reads this, thank YOU for spending the time and looking over at my work!