Chaminade freshman Christopher Aldrich planned his whole day around the Hawaii 5-0 filming on the Chaminade campus.
He arrived at Sullivan Library at 11 a.m., anticipating the arrival of the show’s film crews. Aldrich left the library, at 1:20 p.m. for a 1:30 p.m. class, and promptly returned at 2:20 when his class finished. Aldrich said it wasn’t worth it to wait because Hawaii 5-0 hadn’t done anything all day. The irony of it is that Aldrich doesn’t even watch Hawaii 5-0; he just wanted to be on TV.
“I’ve never seen an episode,” said Aldrich, laughing. “Don’t judge me!”
Dozens of students filled Sullivan Family Library trying to get a glimpse of the Hawaii 5-0 filming taking place on campus, Monday, Sept. 23. Students who were lucky enough to get a spot in the library sat and waited to see the production unfold.
A few students in particular, Carter Gulsvig, sophomore, and Emily Dippold, junior, sat at the computers while Hawaii 5-0 filmed and looked up how to be an extra on the scene of Hawaii 5-0.
“To be an extra is pretty extensive, you have to sign up on a casting site and submit pictures of yourself,” said Dippold an exchange student from Dayton University.
Chaminade University spokes person, Kapono Ryan, director of Communications, worked side by side with Hawaii 5-0 liaison, Allison Smith. Hawaii 5-0 had been looking into using Chaminade as a backdrop set for a while now, but never found the right location. Ryan said that Hawaii 5-0 loves the campus. The crew loves they look of campus and the beauty. Film crews considered using the biology lab of Professor Helen Turner for a murder scene but couldn’t get the right lighting and angles.
Hawaii 5-0 then proposed an idea for a computer lab, Chaminade showed them the various labs around campus, such as Henry Hall, the communications computer lab in Eiben Hall and the library computer lab. Crews decided the Sullivan Family Library’s computer lab’s angles and lighting was much easier to film.
Chaminade University transitioned Sullivan Family Library’s computer lab into Oahu State University’s computer lab for the filming.
For such a large production, Hawaii 5-0 casts all of their own extras and no one from Chaminade was an official extra, but the first shot of the scene was from the windows of the computer lab. Whoever was lucky enough to get a seat in the crowded library will be in the background.
Students who sat at the computers were asked to carry on as if the filming wasn’t taking place behind them. They were asked not to stare directly into the camera, and not to take pictures.
This episode in particular raised questions as well as what it would be about. Ryan didn’t know too much about the episode. She did share that actress Michelle Borth, better known as Caroline Rawlins on Hawaii 5-0, or Lt. Steve McGarrett’s girlfriend runs into the computer lab with a piece of information, stopping someone from doing something, and ends up solving what she needed to figure out.
Ryan toured the film crew and directors throughout campus, showing them different areas. Two to three buses full of crew members such as the art directors, scouts, and technical directors came Sept. 20, to see where they would set up around campus for the filming.
Chaminade University’s Facebook took a big hit when it announced Hawaii 5-0 on campus. Chaminade was worried that it would disrupt students from using computers, and the library, but set up throughout the day was very subtle, so not much was affected. The feedback around campus had been nothing but positive, with students being excited for the filming.
“Hawaii 5-0 crew has a good attitude and wants to make sure the aloha stays,” Ryan said, “because they plan to keep filming here in the islands for a while.”