Aloha Friday from Joe Bourekas on Vimeo.

Aloha Friday-Documentary. Cinematographer/Camera Operator. Understand Aloha and the Hawaiian cultural community facilitated at Pono’s Hawaiian Grill in Santa Cruz. A bar that has a lively crowd of Hawaiian cultural enthusiasts who get together to play music, dance, and sing together.

This was a no prep shoot, I just grabbed my gear and shot anything I could pick up that caught my eye. The setup was light, with no camera stabilizing gears or rigs, just me, the camera, and the camera strap.

The Good: I was able to find many interesting engaging moments through the crowd through insert shots to really highlight the little things that conveyed the energy of the bar, while also finding ways to simply sit back and observe.

The Bad: The environment had so much going on, I was constantly responding to things as opposed to being ready for them and catching them at the right time. A lot of shots are really shaky, and at times things look as if they were done by an amateur. I now have gear for mobile operation, including a shoulder mount for my DSLR, which will be helpful for future shoots like this.