THE NAVIGATORS: STORY OF THE FILMING By Stephen Thomas The Producer Anyone who has stood on a seashore braced against a stiff wind must be awed by the thought of that mass of air moving steadily over miles and miles of cold, dark sea, and must be grateful for a solid beach and the warm earth. Surely the captains of the ancient Polynesian voyaging canoes must have stood thus, before they departed. Filmmaker Sam Low knew this feeling well - that of looking out across the water, and back in time. He knew it first as chief diver for numerous underwater archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean Sea and later as a watch officer aboard a Naval vessel in the Pacific. From these experiences, and because he is part Hawaiian, Low acquired both an intellectual and a personal interest in making The Navigators. With his own funds he began the research in Hawaii. There he met the Bishop Museums Dr. Yosihiko Sinoto, who had excavated an ancient village on Huahine in the Society Islands. Among other artifacts, Sinoto unearthed the planks, mast and steering paddle from a big sailing canoe, or pahi. Sinoto quickly reburied these treasures to prevent them from disintegrating upon exposure to the air. While I was talking with Yosi, Low said, 1 learned that he was returning to Huahine within a few months to re-excavate and preserve the ancient canoe pieces. Suddenly, a vital piece of Lows story was about to unfold and he had to find a way to film it - fast. Funding Low contacted Pacific Resources Incorporated (PRI) and explained the project. Enthusiasm was immediate and Low was encouraged and supported by PRIs then vice president of Public Relations, Philip H. Kinnicutt. PRI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James F. Gary commented, For a long time PRI has been looking for a project which would celebrate the achievements of the Polynesian people and benefit the Hawaiian community. Lows film offered us just such an opportunity. With funds from PRI, Low assembled a team to film the Huahine excavations and to continue researching The Navigators. In November 1981, the Huahine pilot film was shown. After the screening, PRI made a grant to Low for the filming phase of The Navigators. While carrying on with the planning, Low joined forces with KHET, the Hawaii Public Television station, to solicit a grant from the Hawaii Committee for the Humanities. He returned to Boston, where he received word that the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations would also help fund the project. The Team In a matter of months Lows project had gone from initial research to being fully funded. It was then January 1982. Low had to plan and organize a major filming expedition to remote sites in the Caroline Islands, Fiji, The Society Islands and Hawaii. Moreover, he had to do it fast. The spring sailing season in the Caroline Islands was only months away and if he missed it he would have to postpone the shooting for a year-something he couldnt afford to do. Quickly Low assembled a team. Sheila Bernard, who had worked with him on his previous PBS documentary, The Ancient Mariners, was named again as associate producer and production manager. Boyd Estus, cinematographer of the Academy Award-winning documentary, The Flight of the Gossamer Condor, joined the expedition as co-director and cameraman. Eric Taylor would be sound recordist and Roger Haydock would be assistant cameraman. Bill Anderson, editor for Nova, Odyssey, World and many other PBS projects, would edit the film. Special Equipment for a Remote Site On Satawal the team would be shooting in a location 600 sea miles from the nearest airport and serviced by freighter on a wildly irregular schedule. Whatever they needed would have to be brought with them. The equipment and logistic requirements were formidable for such a remote operation and much of the equipment had to be specially designed. Since they would be filming on small, wet outrigger canoes, some means of keeping the camera dry had to be devised. Estus designed a parka for their two Eclair 16 mm cameras of the same black neoprene divers use for their wet suits. For underwater shots Estus rented a housing of metal pipe in which he placed a small, aircraft gun camera. None of the crew spoke Satawalese, so an interpreter would have to be found on the island. To keep Low informed about what was being said as it was being filmed, a complex system of radio-controlled microphones was designed by Estus and soundrecordist Eric Taylor. The sound-recording equipment was connected to a small radio transmitter which broadcast to the interpreter located off-site. He translated the proceedings and transmitted them through a special radio to Low, who, listening on headphones, could communicate with Estus by a set of hand signals. All these systems had to be backed-up with spares in case of a breakdown. This gear, together with 8,000 feet of film, tripods, lenses, a gyro-stabilizer for filming in heavy seas, rubber boats, radios, camping gear, and food for the crew amounted to some two tons-which would have to be landed on Satawal by small boat through the surf. Estus designed and had constructed special waterproof bags to keep their gear dry in case the boat overturned. Estus said: Ive filmed on locations all over the world, but this one was one of the hardest Ive had to plan for-salt water is the enemy of any delicate gear. Low then had to charter a boat to get the crew to Satawal. The boat would have to be big enough to carry crew and equipment and, since Satawal has no harbor, be able to carry enough food, water and fuel to stand offshore for the duration of the filming. Already running behind schedule in May, Low had to find a crew who would be willing to navigate the treacherous waters of the Caroline Islands during typhoon season. After searching in Micronesia and Hawaii for a month, Low finally found a 60- foot schooner - The Dorcas - captained by Dan Wright and a crew willing to do the charter. No sooner did the film crew arrive in Guam and stow their gear aboard the schooner than three typhoons blew through the area, one after the other. For two weeks they were pinned in harbor. This was the beginning of a very tough and challenging period for Low. The delay was costing him a thousand dollars a day. But far more importantly, says Low, I realized I had the safety of ten people on my hands. If one of those typhoons had kissed us ... well...” The two weeks in Guam were spent mostly in the weather hut at the U.S. Naval Air Station. Estus installed a radio on the schooner and arranged a network of operators to keep them informed daily of typhoon warnings once at sea and on Satawal. Satawal: The Shoot On Satawal, Low planned to film events in real time, as they happened. He was up at 5 each morning, trekking the village with Mau Piailug, the navigator who became the central figure in the film. With Piailug, he made arrangements for each days filming. Despite interruptions to the customary daily routine of the island, the Satawalese joined wholeheartedly in the work of the film. They were remarkable! exclaimed Low. They skillfully guided us through the crashing surf, helped lug our two tons of gear ashore, fed us, housed us, held three feasts in our honor-they overwhelmed us with their hospitality. But it was the navigator, Mau Piailug, who took special pains to guide the film crew every step of the way. He took Low and Estus into his home and treated them as his sons - worthy, but needing the steady guidance of a father. At night Piailug schooled Low in the lore of the sky, which was handed down to him through many generations, and which has guided him over thousands of miles in the Pacific. Low came to realize that Piailug was fully aware of the complexities of his film project. Having visited Hawaii and Tahiti, and having gained national recognition for his navigation of Hokulea, the 60-foot replica of a Hawaiian voyaging canoe that sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti, Piailug knew what the 20th century was about. Low came to understand that Piailug had a deeply personal interest in The Navigators. I think Mau saw the film as a way to preserve the knowledge of his fathers - his heritage as a navigator. On Satawal a navigator is a teacher - more than a teacher, he is a community leader. He is bound by an unspoken contract to pass on to the community what he knows. The day the film crew left, Piailug told Low: I wanted you to make this film because the world is changing. I may be one of the last navigators. I hope that by your film, other people, the young people on this island and those that have never heard of the navigators, will understand what we know. The Navigators is a 58 minute documentary film that presents the great achievements of a seafaring people who explored and settled one third of Earth without charts, instruments or metallurgy - long before Europeans even knew the vast Pacific Ocean existed.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:25:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015