Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1949)

96 Photographs courtesy Matson Linea HAWAII WAIKIKI BEACH, with equally famous Diamond Head as a backdrop, is almost a hallmark of Hawaii. Shot is best made in afternoon. HAWAIIAN diving boys, among the best in the world, are a feature of shipside farewells. Famed Aloha Tower is in background. ALOHA, you will learn long before you arrive in , Honolulu, means in the Hawaiian both "Hello" and "Farewell." For the eager amateur filmer, (his should automatically be extended to read Hello to heaven and Farewell to all reason. "i our problem there will not be how much film to shool hut only how much can you shoot. For one of the pleasantest surprises when you arrive in Honolulu from the film-starved Mainland will be the large stocks of movie film in the camera stores. Likewise, there is a modern processing station in Honolulu, where you can have your pictures developed as soon as they are exposed. \\ hal mure can \ on uanl ? DESIRABLE EQUIPMENT 'i on can make a fine film of your trip to the Islands with the simplesl kind of fixed focus, //3.5 camera. Add to it a near necessities an exposure meter and a haze Idler. The exposure meter is almost a must, since the lighl in the Islands is very tricky. You will find yourself using about one half stop less exposure than you would on a similar scene in the Mainland. Haze filters are also desirable in Hawaii. Not only will they give you better color rendition, but they also serve to protect AHOY! Paradise of the Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands are a year-round mecca for traveling movie makers ARTHUR H. ELLIOTT, ACL your lenses from the local "liquid sunshine," a fine mist-like rain which you encounter briefly but frequently. Accessory items of equipment, not necessary but as helpful here as elsewhere, would be a wide angle lens, a medium telephoto, a tripod and a polaroid filter. This latter will serve you well in darkening the brilliant blue skies behind light colored buildings. BEST SEASON IS ALWAYS From the photographic standpoint there is no best season in the Hawaiian Islands. If your primary object is movie making — and of course it will be — you will find June-perfect days be it January or July. In fact, the weather in the Islands is so uniform that the Hawaiian language simply has no word for weather. Hawaii does have some holidays which offer much to the cinematographer: Lei Day on May 1, Kamehameha Day on June 11 and Aloha Week in November (consult your travel agent for the exact dates). On these holidays you will find rare opportunities to film the natives attired in their colorful costumes, performing the ancient but unforgotten rituals seen only on these special occasions. BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING Your film of the trip might well begin when you arrive at shipside, in either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Start with a long and then a medium shot of the people boarding the ship. About fifteen minutes before sailing paper serpentines are passed out aboard ship. Don't fail to get a few shots as these colorful paper ribbons are thrown gaily down to the people on the dock. Follow this with a shot or two of the gangplank being removed and then a shot of the dock as the ship pulls away from it. Add a few scenes as the ship slowly stands down the harbor, and you will have completed your introductory sequence. The four days aboard ship will give you ample opportunity to record the various seagoing activities. A word of caution, however, on this filming: the sunlight will be intense in these tropical waters and it will also be reflected back on your subjects from the ocean as well as from the ship's whitework. Hence use extreme care in reading your exposure meter. On the morning of the fifth day you will get your first view of the Islands as the ship makes her landfall. Take one or two long shots of the Islands in the distance and then a shot of Koko Head and Diamond Head as the