The right shot

Torry Tukuafu was in his elements Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Volleyball and filmmaking are his passion and paycheck. Both fit snugly in what turned out to be one of the most memorable nights in recent University of Hawaii sports.

"Hawaii Five-0" chose the final match of the 11th-ranked Rainbow Wahine’s season-opening homestand to shoot crowd scenes for this season’s fifth episode (tentatively scheduled to air Oct. 17). The combination of two big teams and a shot at mini-sized stardom drew a crowd of some 10,000.

Nearly everyone stayed an hour after Hawaii hammered 21st-ranked Pepperdine to be part of a remarkable, and remarkably loud, show. Tukuafu, "Five-0’s" Steadicam operator and a former UH men’s volleyball player, was in the middle of it all.

"It was so weird," Tukuafu said. "I was having flashbacks about being on the court. But it was wonderful. The energy of the crowd that night was amazing and so reminiscent of when I played.

"I was so happy they all got to experience that energy. Happy for the fans, whether it was random people who came to watch the game or people who came to watch ‘Five-0.’ Happy for the players and coaches and our crew. The crowd was wonderful. We were really blessed."

Tukuafu grew up in Kahuku, moved to Utah in high school, then came back to become an all-conference hitter from 1999 to 2001. After going to Los Angeles to play professional beach volleyball, he got a role as a stand-in for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the 2003 movie "The Rundown."

He "fell in love" with work behind the camera, studied the craft for three years in L.A., then moved back to work on "Lost." That led to "Five-0," where there are many cameramen but only one Steadicam man. He is the guy with the huge 70- to 85-pound camera stabilizer strapped to his body. It allows Tukuafu to move freely and still get a shake-free shot no matter what ground he is covering.

"I specialize in Steadicam," Tukuafu says. "A lot of guys can operate cameras, but not a lot can use the Steadicam because of its weight. It’s a lot like sports. You have to train."

Tukuafu calls his work the "eyes of the audience" and he consults constantly with the director and director of photography. He helps design shots and figures out coverage for scenes. During the actual Wahine match he got crowd reaction and focused on line judges.

During the staged match, between UH and fictional Rio Rancho State University, Tukuafu was all over the floor and kept his balance while slicing a diagonal path from one corner of the court to the other. Other cameras focused on closer shots of the "fake players," which included former Wahine Kanoe Kamanao (and sister Kapua), Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Sarah Mason.

After Mason launched the winning point for the fake UH, Tukuafu went into overdrive.

"I focused in on making something really dynamic," he recalled. "I started with the team, the referee, the pass, the set and the hit, the team celebrating with their hands in the air, the coach coming in. We were trying to tell the story all in one shot."

That storytelling aspect is what drew him to filmmaking. Tukuafu aspires ultimately to "work intimately in independent film and be able to be part of the storytelling process whether that’s producing or directing." He produced "One Kine Day," which won the Hawaii International Film Festival’s Audience Choice Award last fall. Tukuafu admits, without hesitation, that he works on "Hollywood productions" to make enough money so he can take time off and work on his independent films.

There is one more element to his professional life, as he is about to turn 34. Tukuafu speaks glowingly of his L.A. mentors and has evolved into one here. He started "Showdown in Chinatown" six years ago. The monthly short-film competition has taken off much like its neighborhood, and Tukuafu’s career.

"I’m fortunate to be part of a great, cohesive, independent local film community," he said. "Lots of people doing cool projects."

Something like last Saturday night at "The Stanley."