Unearthing Local Legends

Documenting the Evolution of Multicultural Folklore During Hawaii's Plantation Era

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Final Reflection

Thank you all for following along on this journey!

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It’s here, It’s here!

Behold! My finished documentary!

Final reflection post coming soon!

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #7: The Final Push

What’s been happening since the start of the semester?

The focus has been heavily centered on refining the narrative structure of the film. I recently completed the third version of my rough cut and transitioned into the feedback phase, sending the edit to Sharla and Samantha for a deep-dive review.

What’s coming up for the next 2 weeks?

The finish line is in sight. The next 14 days will be an intensive "back to the edit" sprint. My primary focus is implementing the feedback received on the rough cut and finalizing the visual sequence before the looming May 1st deadline. After that, it's just waiting for the May 9th graduation festivities!

Hiccups/Hurdles/AHA moments

The "Research Ghosting" Hiccup: A massive part of this journey has involved reaching out to archivists for image and footage rights. Honestly, I wish people would have some sort of “I’m out of the office / spiritually indisposed / currently being haunted” email notification so I don’t spend weeks staring at my inbox like a Victorian widow watching the sea. If I had a nickel for every time someone never responded to me because they were "indisposed," I’d have four nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened four times. 🪙🪙🪙🪙 Tisha at the Ulu’ulu Archives had been "out for a long while," and it appears my Bishop Museum archival footage request may never have been submitted.

The Pivot (Hurdle turned AHA): Because of the archival delays, I’ve had to pivot to using footage found on YouTube.

The "Intimate Conversation" (AHA Moment): Sharla helped me realize that this film is more than a historical documentary; it's an intimate conversation. I’ve learned that I don't need to "fill every second" with visuals—the "empty" spaces are often where the emotional connection with the viewer actually happens.

Any deliverable drafts to share?

I have officially completed the Rough Cut v3. This version has been shared with my advisors for final notes before I move into the fine cut.

Visual documentation of the progress.

Behold! The first two minutes of my documentary:

Where you are on your timeline?

With my personal April 28 deadline fast approaching I am in the final production stages. Despite the "nightmare" of the archival process, the pivot in my visual strategy has kept me on track. I am currently moving out of the rough cut phase and into the final polishing of the edit. 🎬🕯️

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

"Mini" Update: The Crashout

Since my last post, I had planned to spend a majority of today (April 21) working on another rough cut. This involved creating credits, title cards, transitions and fixing some minor audio and visual issues.

Well I did everything that I had set out to do. Spent about 6 hours working, getting everything just right and happy with the progress that I had made.

Before I get into the point of this post, let me provide a little bit of context. I am horrible when it comes to saving my progress in video games. I once encountered a glitch in Baldurʻs Gate 3 that prevented me from moving on to the next section. I decided that I should probably backtrack and see what my other options were, but my last save point that I had done was so far back I would have had to re-hit several major milestones in the storyline/game just to get back to where the glitch happened. Itʻs been about a year and a half and I have yet to play it again. At this point Iʻd rather restart the whole game, than try to figure out what happened.

With this in mind, you can probably guess what happened to me today.

I did not save any of the progress that I made on my project since I started this morning. At about 5:30 in the afternoon, my computer froze and decided to turn itself off. I havenʻt checked any of the Auto-Save files yet, so this is me crashing out prematurely, but this post is mainly to remind future me and others to SAVE YOUR DAMN WORK.

Outwardly, this is me:

Internally, this is me.

I’ve also been keeping track of my expenses for this project. My largest purchase related to this capstone film is for the rights to use some footage via Getty Images. As of today, I have spent nearly $2,000.

Of course, the money will eventually come back so I shouldn’t worry. But it just puts into perspective how invested I was with this whole experience.

UPDATE: Thank the Universe for Adobe Premiere Pro's autosave feature. All of today's progress is there! My crashout is still valid though. I cannot stress this enough. SAVE.YOUR.WORK.

Of course being that I had been working on my project all day, there was a moment where I wasn't paying attention to where I was placing some clips/audio. Somehow I had managed to erase all of my title cards for my interviewees and the cropping on some of my interviews is off. Time to call it a day and turn in what I have so far for more feedback.

A screenshot of all the progress I have made over the past week, featuring one of my favorite moments from the entire film. Still need to: add more b-roll, polish my transitions, cut redundant clips out and fix audio levels. I would say that at this point I'm 90% done and should be able to finish everything by my deadline of April 28.

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #6: Mental Exhaustion and the Push to the Finish Line

I cannot wait until this semester is over. If I could nap for a week, I would. Several co-workers have been on month long vacations...must be nice. Work has been a total drain on the battery lately, and trying to keep the creative gears turning while mentally exhausted is... a choice. But, progress is being made! Here is where we are at.

What's been happening the past two weeks:

It’s been a lot of "behind the scenes" heavy lifting.

The Script: Finally finished a draft. It helps to have something to follow along with as I put all my clips together. The Narration Voiceovers feel a little too wordy and academic to me, so I'm hoping Sharla and Prof. Farinella can get back to me with some sort of feedback before I go in to record the voice overs.

Budget Tracker: Spent way too much time looking at receipts and adding them to a spreadsheet tracker I found online. The math is mathing, but my wallet is not.

Archive Outreach: Sent a follow-up email to Julie at the Lyman Museum. I'm hoping to get eyes on more plantation-life photos (festivals, sports, camp life) to really flesh out the visual narrative.

Voiceovers: Secured a reservation at the Edit Bay at school to record my voiceovers. Will be a cool experience, and hopefully it will be a nice, quiet space to record in.

B-Roll Footage: In a quest to find a sugar cane field to film in, my boyfriend and I took a field trip out to the Kō Hana Distillery up in Kunia. Unfortunately the area where they grow their sugar cane was closed off due to a recent fire, so all I was able to film was their small educational sugar cane garden. Hopefully it will be sufficient enough to use. If not, I found some stock footage on Getty Images that I could purchase a license for, but that means more $$$ and is more of a last minute resort. We also made our way to Waiahwa and filmed on the bridge that goes over the botanical garden gulch there. No sightings of the Green Lady, but it was still nice to check it out.

Whatʻs coming up for the next 2 weeks?

VO Prep: Reservation for the Edit Bay is April 14. I'm just hoping what I’ve written so far is good enough because, honestly, I don't have the time or the bandwidth to go back and redo anything at this point.

Archival Deep Dive: Julie got back to me regarding the photos. Nothing is available online, but she said she'd conduct a search and compile a list for me ASAP. She's turning into my project MVP.

Timeline Foundations: I've been physically putting together the pieces on my timeline, trying to make sense of it all.

Submission Countdown: My personal deadline to turn the project in is April 28. I'm aiming for that to avoid the last-minute panic of the absolute final deadline on May 2nd.

Hiccups/Hurdles/AHA moments

Hurdle: Total burnout and "Vacation Envy". It’s hard to stay motivated when the workplace is missing key team members and the "brain fog" is real. To make matters worse, my store manager has decided that everything going wrong is somehow my fault. Yay me!

AHA Moment: Realizing that having a collaborator like Julie makes a world of difference. When the digital archives fail, having an "MVP" on the inside is a total game-changer.

Visual documentation of the progress:

Screenshot of my script's opening sequence. Like I said, narration seems a bit wordy, but hopefully I can come up with something less "bulky".

Screen recording of what I have put together on my timeline so far. Just call me Ken Burns Jr.

Where am I on the timeline?

I am currently putting together the pieces and moving into the "construction" phase. It's a bit messy, and I'm definitely feeling the weight of the semester, but the April 28 goal is keeping me focused.

UPDATE AS OF APRIL 13, 9:30PM

After posting this afternoon I spent the rest of the day slaving away at my project. I have now managed to complete a rough cut of the film, which currently has a run time of 56 minutes. I need to find a way to cut that time in half. Boy Howdy.

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #5: From Urban Legends to a Revolution of Identity

It’s hard to believe how much has happened since the start of the semester. I find myself constantly looking back at where this started and being absolutely floored by the scale of the journey.

What’s been happening since the start of the semester?

I have to take a second to reflect on how surreal this feels. This whole project started as a simple, natural curiosity—I just wanted to find out where our local urban legends came from. I thought I was just looking for ghost stories, but it has turned into a profound lesson on identity and heritage.

It’s amazing to think that someone like me could start a "revolution" of sorts—a reclaiming of our narrative and a deeper understanding of who we are. What started as a search for shadows has turned into a discovery of light and self.

The biggest highlight of this adventure was my trip to the Lyman Museum. Diving into their physical archives was such a grounding moment; there is a specific weight to holding literal history in your hands that you just don't get from a digital PDF.

The most transformative part of this journey, however, has been my connection with Margaret Magat, the Filipino folklorist that Michael Dylan Foster recommended. After our interview, I felt a massive surge of inspiration. To my total shock and delight, she also expressed interest in interviewing me for her podcast! It’s such an honor to have someone of her caliber take interest in this project.

What’s coming up for the next 2 weeks?

Editing! Lots and lots of editing! Also need to work on finding a day to go out and shoot some b-roll footage, but for now I need to sift through all the interviews so far and create a cohesive storyline. Also need to come up with narration and figure out if I should do it or have someone with a cool deep voice to do voiceover work.

Hiccups / Hurdles / AHA moments

The AHA Moment: I spent the entire afternoon/evening post interview with Margaret in a flow state and created the trailer for the film. Something in me just “clicked".

Any deliverable drafts to share?

Yes! I’ve officially completed a Trailer for the project. Using a rather profound quote from Margaret, I feel that it sets a somber yet thoughtful tone for the film. 🎥

Visual documentation of the progress

I had a blast looking through the library and archival documents at the Lyman Museum. I spent about 3 hours in total there, getting lost in Hawaiian history!

Screenshot of my zoom interview with Margaret!

Prof. Farinella mentioned that Wikimedia Commons was a good place to obtain some archival photos, so I've been perusing the site to get some inspiration!

Where am I on the timeline?

While I'm still waiting for my friend Kelli to let me know about an interview with her father, I feel that I am right on schedule! With the trailer finished and the main interviews conducted, I’m moving into the post production phase feeling more inspired than ever.

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Capstone Update #4: Chasing Ghosts and Finding Heritage

What's been happening since the start of the semester:

I have been doing quite a lot of research and outreaches to historians and cultural folklorists and the like. As I mentioned in my last update, I had been experiencing some burnout. This past week was my breaking point and I needed to temporarily step away from everything to focus on my mental health and recenter my vision for my project. I think I'm good as far as my timeline goes, but I can only afford a few more off days like that before I start getting really behind.

My interview with Dr. Chun went really well and he told me something so impactful that I ended up crying (more on that later).

Something that I thought would never happen was that Dr. Michael Dylan Foster responded to me! Our interview was on March 4th and he has been extremely supportive of my project and offered some incredible insights on Japanese Folklore. He also pointed me in the direction of Dr. Margaret Magat, an Asian American folklorist whose research focuses on the folk practices of the Filipino diaspora. She will be an incredible resource once she gets back to me and is willing to do an interview. I am still on Cloud 9 that someone as busy as him was willing to talk to me.

I've conducted more archival research, through the 'Ulu'ulu archives at school and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

No wonder I feel burnt out, I've been constantly on the move!

What's coming up for the next two weeks:

I have a trip to the Lyman Museum on the Big Island planned for March 17th. I don't expect to find anything "supernatural" related, but finding footage or pictures that depict plantation life would be extremely helpful.

Working with my friend Kelli to set up a meeting with her father, Edmund Akioka, a Big Island resident with deep plantation roots. After this interview and a potential one with Dr. Magat, I think it'll be time to move onto my post-production phase.

Until then, I have a lot of footage to go through and edit and color correct and the like.

Hiccups/Hurdles/AHA Moments:

The Hurdle: In a twist of irony, Lopaka Kapanui, the legendary storyteller and Hawaiian folklorist, has ghosted me. Being dropped like this reminds me of a bad online dating experience. I don't know if it’s a timing thing or a business thing, but I’m done chasing ghosts. I’m taking the loss and moving on.

The AHA Moment: As mentioned earlier, my interview with Dr. Chun ended with me in tears, but in a good way! The impactful quote from him that made me emotional:

"Only when you lose something, do you start realizing how important it was. So I want to thank you for doing this project on ghost [stories]. It sounds like something trivial, but it's not. You are part of the young generation trying to rediscover and keep this heritage alive...My time is over, YOU'RE going to keep Hawaii alive".

Suddenly, this isn't just a project; it’s a race against time to preserve a vanishing history.

Deliverable Drafts/Visual Documentation:

Teaser Clip: Kelli, a plantation worker descendant, describes an encounter her Grandfather never forgot. (Currently working on brightening the clip and fixing a slight audio echo)

Screenshot from my interview with Dr. Foster. We talked for over an hour!

Screenshot of the last time I communicated with Lopaka Kapanui. This isn't meant to put him on blast, but rather highlight that sometimes your heroes let you down and you need to navigate life on your own.

Screenshot of my Lyman Museum archive visit confirmation.

Where are you on your timeline?:

I am currently Right on Track, but the clock is ticking. The academic research and archival acquisition phases are about 75% completed. I'm pivoting from the "Expert Interview" model to a more "Environmental Haunting" aesthetic to compensate for the missing voices. I am also in the beginning phases of post-production.

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #3: What we’ve got here, is failure to communicate...

What’s been happening over the past two weeks:

The momentum I had at the start of the month suddenly hit a wall, and I’ll be honest—I’m feeling some slight burnout. It’s been tough; between a scheduling miscommunication with Dr. Chun and a failed trip to Maui to visit the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum, it feels like the universe has been throwing up roadblocks. My contact at the Sugar Museum’s sudden departure and failure to pass along my inquiry to the right people was a huge blow to my spirits and a big waste of precious time and money.

However, things took a turn for the better recently. I conducted a Zoom interview with a man who grew up on a pineapple plantation on Molokaʻi. Even though it’s not strictly "sugar," the immigration experience he described is so familiar and resonant. He shared some incredible memories of the urban legends and ghost stories that defined his childhood—it’s exactly the kind of lore I’m looking for.

On top of that success, I reached out to the Lyman Museum on the Big Island to request access to their archives. At least they seem more communicative and on top of things; they offered to set up an appointment to view their records. Now I just have to coordinate a date to fly out there—and find the money and will to go. In a similar vein, I contacted the Ulu'ulu Archives at UH-West Oahu to see if I can get access to some plantation-related clips for my documentary.

I took the plunge and sent an inquiry email to Michael Dylan Foster. I don't have high hopes for him to respond to me; he seems like a pretty busy guy. Meanwhile, a co-worker of mine offered to reach out to her Filipino History professor, in hopes I can get some material on the Filipino experience during the plantation era. To cast an even wider net, I’ve been in contact with both the Japanese and Filipino Cultural Centers here in Hawaiʻi. Hopefully, someone will respond soon.

On February 22, I rented a studio space in Waipahu to film some interviews with Kelli and Joe. Kelli is a descendant of a plantation worker and had amazing stories to share about her grandfather and her time growing up in Plantation housing. Joe is a local ghost tour guide/investigator and gave me some insights on the Faceless Woman urban legend. I am $300 poorer, but the stories that I heard from those interviews are priceless.

Whatʻs coming up for the next two weeks:

After some back and forth with Dr. Chun, we finally landed on February 25 for our rescheduled interview. Now the pressure is on to refine my questions regarding Asian history and the Japanese experience. On another note, I’m currently waiting for a confirmation from Lopaka Kapanui—I’ve asked if he’s free for an interview on March 10, so I’m crossing my fingers he can make it to campus then.

Hiccups/Hurdles/AHA moments:

The Hiccups: The Maui excursion falling through and Dr. Chun realizing his specialty (Asia) might be too broad for my Hawaii-specific focus.

The AHA Moment: The Molokaʻi interview made me realize that the crop (sugar vs. pineapple) matters less than the community. The folklore is the connective tissue. I’m expanding my scope slightly to include these sister industries because the cultural experience is so similar.

Visual Documentation of the Process:

Some behind the scenes shots of my interviews from February 22nd!

Where you are on your timeline?

I’m currently in the middle of a pivot and planning phase as well as production. The burnout and setbacks slowed me down, but the Lyman Museum confirmation along with my recent interviews re-ignited a spark in me. I really want to do this project justice and of course graduate by the end of the semester!

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #2: Transitioning to Production & Historical Outreach

Whatʻs been happening since the start of the semester? 

A lot! After talking with Professor Farinella, I was so motivated that I started working tirelessly to connect with historians and people willing to share their family stories and histories. I established contact with a few history professors at UH-West Oahu, emailed but have not heard back from the Center of Oral History at Manoa, Hawaii's Plantation Village (HPV) office as well as Dr. Pia Arboleda, a professor of Philippine Culture at Manoa. I have reached out to a recommended docent at HPV but have received no response. I have also reached out to renowned Hawaiian storyteller Lopaka Kapanui and the Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Museum on Maui. As of this posting, correspondence with Lopaka has begun and we are working on setting up an interview date. The Sugar Museum on Maui, while slow in responses, has suggested to check out their archives the next time I'm on island or can arrange to send me digital files to peruse.

Dr. Jayson Chun at UH-West Oahu reached out to Dr. Yoshiko Okuyama at UH Hilo for me. Her areas of expertise are Japanese mythology, folklore and religion, and would be an invaluable source of information for the project.

Through my community outreach on Facebook, I was able to connect with a Hawaiian man that grew up on the Del Monte Plantation on Moloka'i and has expressed interest in being interviewed. Interview will be over Zoom on February 16.

A friend of mine from high school recently moved back to O'ahu and will be checking with her Chinese-Hawaiian father to see if he is interested in being interviewed. He grew up on the Hamakua coastline of the Big Island and has stories about Night Marchers as the Plantation they lived on was on an ancient trail. That will be an incredible source.

I reached out to my Haunted Plantation boss, Noa for his artistic viewpoints and possible usage of mask/footage of his version of the Faceless Woman. He suggested to meet up in person to discuss more. After about a week of scheduling conflicts, we were finally able to meet and talk story about the project!

Master of Horror, Noa!

Whatʻs coming up for the next 2 weeks? 

The next two weeks are heavily centered on "boots on the ground" production:

Equipment & Logistics: Finalize dates for filming with UHWO.

Interview Scheduling: Locking in dates for subject matter experts (Dr. Cook and Dr. Chun) to provide the historical backbone of the narrative. As of this posting, interview with Dr. Cook occurred on February 10. Dr. Chun's interview is scheduled for February 17.

Community Narrative Collection: Continuing to vet family stories from plantation descendants found through community outreach.

Hiccups/Hurdles/AHA moments 

A major AHA moment came from a conversation with a local paranormal investigator who noted that their Chinese Aunty once commented that early 1900s plantation life was often so "boring" that ghosts became a form of social entertainment. This has given me a new narrative thread: folklore as a community-building tool rather than just a source of fear.

A hurdle that I am currently dealing with is Dr. Okuyama currently being in New Dehli as a Full Bright Scholar until the summer. Great for her, not so great for my project if I want more info on Japanese folklore. Though she did recommend scholars Michael Dylan Foster or Noriko Reider. I have yet to reach out to them.

A hurdle that I had to overcome was the recent storm that Hawaii experienced. I reserved a space in the Creative Media building at school for February 9, so that I could have time to dress up the set for my shoot on the 10th. However, because of the high winds, school was cancelled that day and so I had to rush to build everything right before my interview with Dr. Cook. Also, there was a man (professor? never seen him before) in the space I reserved working on some sound equipment and I didn't want to tell him to leave because he was there before me and that would've been rude, so I had to wait until he left and that took up a little bit of set up time too.

I have a feeling that I will have to be doing a lot of this throughout the semester:

A current hiccup is that I don't know where my external hard drive is. I had a very complicated living situation where I was staying at three different places and now I don't know which house I left my hard drive at. I don't like having all my projects take up space on my computer so I use that hard drive to store everything. Since my birthday is coming up on February 11, I'll just ask to get a new one as a present to help minimize the costs for this project. With my luck, as soon as the new hard drive comes in, my old one will reappear.

Any deliverable drafts to share? 

No drafts or anything yet, but I do have some pictures of Dr. Cook and I from our February 10 interview!

Dr. Cook and I!

Where you are on your timeline? 

I am currently transitioning from Pre-Production into Active Production. My outreach is 80% complete, with my first day of principle photography completed as of February 10. I am on track to have sufficient footage for a preliminary "Rough Assembly" phase in March.

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Capstone Update #1

The beginning of the semester hasn't been as productive as I would've hoped. After my pre-capstone presentation I spent much of winter break dissociating and trying to recover from writing that 19 page research paper. As mentioned in my intro post, this project is starting to turn into something big and it's honestly a little terrifying. I know I am capable of doing everything, I just need to lock in and believe in myself!

I had a bit of a slow start this semester, just trying to get back into the groove of being back at school. As of this writing (1/25/26) I haven't finished developing my online Workback Plan, but I do have a physical copy of some notes and things that I have to work on in the next couple weeks. I also researched possible filming locations and what some rental costs for gear would be. Not included in my notes is the cost for attending a ghost tour with Lopaka Kapanui, which runs at $40/per person. This could end up being an expensive project -_-.

I also started re-reading Obake Files and Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawaii by Glen Grant just to get an idea of what I can talk about with the people I interview.

I reached out to my film professor Samantha Farinella for some advice and we had a nice phone discussion on Sunday (1/25) about the project. I expressed my concern about finding people to interview and she suggested to start off with 3 people in different fields (one descendent, one practitioner, one historian, etc.) and that everything else "will steamroll from there". While it was a short conversation, I felt re-energized and appreciated the support and encouragement that she gave me.

It's time to get this project going.

Goals by next update:

Find three people to interview, with consent forms signed

Workback Plan started

Reserve a place/time to film

[heathergalbreathcapstone]

Aloha!

Hi everyone! My name is Heather and welcome to my capstone blog! I am excited to *finally* be near the end of my academic journey and am looking forward to working alongside my peers as the semester progresses.

As a longtime lover of all things creepy and a fan of mythology/folklore, this project began as a passion project and has quickly evolved into something big! After conducting my research last semester, I’ve realized that folklore often serves as a "shadow history" of a place, reflecting the cultural adaptations and shared experiences that traditional historical narratives might miss.

What started as a curiosity about childhood "chicken skin" stories has transformed into a deep dive into cultural syncretism. I’m interested in how Japanese and Filipino legends didn't just survive in Hawaii—they blended with the environment and Native Hawaiian traditions to create something entirely new.

Throughout this semester, I’ll be documenting my research process, from archival deep-dives to (hopefully) some fascinating interviews. This blog isn't just a requirement for my degree; it's a space where I’ll be exploring the "why" behind the "who" in our local ghost stories.

As I began my own journey into Hawaii’s plantation history, I spent some time looking back at past senior capstones to see how others have navigated the "Local" identity. One project that immediately resonated with me was Janalene Tumaneng's Fall 2022 research on the influence of cultural artifacts from the plantation era on modern local culture.

Tumaneng’s work highlighted how the physical items laborers brought with them across the Pacific acted as anchors for identity in a new and often harsh environment. Her analysis of how these items evolved from survival tools or personal mementos into symbols of a shared "local" heritage provided a perfect framework for what I am trying to achieve. While Janalene focused on the tangible,I find myself drawn to the intangible. If her research was about the items people carried in their trunks, mine is about the stories they carried in their minds.

I’m thrilled to have you all along for the ride as I navigate the intersection of history, hauntings, and the stories that define our community. Let’s get spooky!