happy medium

For the Girls second full day in Auckland I decided to take them up the sky tower. Last time was about a year ago with Mum and Bro, and the view still amazes me. A great sunset, and plenty of chances for me to take some panoramic photos (don’t forgot to click the higher-res links below those photos!)

It was a pleasure showing them around, they flew out to Fiji today but both have a strong desire to come back and visit : )

full-res photo here

full-res photo here

full-res photo here

full-res photo here

full-res photo here

Had the pleasure of showing Chloe and her friend Charlotte around Auckland this week. Took them out to Devonport on the first day, up the Mount, down to the beach, enjoyed the best ice creams at the ferry building, and back to mine to an open fire.

Over the weekend we shot our second music video for Simon Spire. It was tricky one as everyone (and everything) is frozen in time apart from Simon. He wanders around inside various houses and gardens, passing by a couple having dinner, a girl throwing out the rubbish, the band, and a BMXer mid-jump, played by your’s truly. The video is set at night, so we started midday, shot the interior stuff first, then all the exterior parts after 8pm. It was about 1am before we got round to shooting the BMX, and it had started to rain (not ideal when you want time to look frozen)

I can barley get an inch off the ground, but it’s going to look like I have mad steez and in the middle of 3 foot jump. Matty and Solly have the pleasure of having to get rid of the wood frame in post.

click here for full-res

click here for full-res

click here for full-res

Labour day yesterday so had the day off and decided to head North up the coast. Got as far as Puhoi which has an awesome pub, and Pakiri beach just a bit further up the road. It’s a beautiful beach, first visited back in January

click here for full-res (spot the three-legged man!)

click here for full-res

The Bunker Boys had a night out to the Vodafone Music Awards this Wednesday. Three of our videos got plenty of coverage, Nesian 101, Anika Moa - Dreams in my head (which we filmed nearly a year ago), and Op-Shop - One Day. Lots of free booze that night = messy Bobby. Thanks to Solly as I’ve stolen these photos from his blog.

We shot our third video for Nesian Mystik this weekend. The Nesian group is a mixed bunch with NZ, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island, Māori Blood, even a bit of English and Chinese thrown in for good measure.

We decided to film in and around lead singer Awa’s family Marae. For non-kiwis - the Marae is a holy place for Māori, an enclosed space in front of and including a (meeting house) and a wharekai (dining hall). It is the spiritual home for each Iwi (tribe) and it’s various Whānau (families).
This is where all decisions are made and meetings, funerals, ceremonies, birthdays are held here.

However, strangers cannot just wonder onto the Marae - and have to go through Pōwhiri, or a welcoming ceremony. This involves someone for the Iwi representing you, and leading you onto the land while the Karanga (women calling/singing in Māori) takes place. You then enter the wharenui, the local leaders speak, and both the hosts and guests must sing a song. The Hongi takes place last - this is where you touch noses and is symbolic as you share the same breath and become family. You are then free to enter the Marae at any time.

Larger version here

Larger version here

One thing to note is that you are not a guest, rather a member of the family and expected to help with the upkeep of the Marae.

After the ceremony, we filmed a little, listened to the guys play guitar and sing, got a few hours kip (everyone sleeps in the wharenui, and those polys know how to snore!), got up before sunrise and filmed through-out the day.

It was a great experience for this Pākehā, something I’ve wanted to do for some time. It wasn’t like the ones put on for the tourists,and wasn’t as full on and drawn out as some can be by all accounts.

So the success of the video for Nesian Mystik - 101 (click here to see) increased a little last night as it won the Juice TV award for best hip hop music video. It now has a combined viewing of over 250,000 on the tubes, not bad going!

I did nothing but lie in the sun and read this:

A day well spent