Introducing our new spring intern, Sophia!

As we mentioned before, we are lucky enough to have two interns from the UHM LIS program this Spring Semester. Below, is our introduction to Sophia Kim-OʻSullivan! Help us extend a warm welcome to her!

Click here to read about Morgan, our other intern this semester. 

I am in my second semester of completing my master’s in library and information science in the archival pathway. I’ve loved watching old films since I was a kid so I’ve always been really interested in the digitization and preservation of video and film. I’m currently into watching Soviet-made films like the Armenian film The Color of Pomegranates (1969), which is a restored film. I love Japanese-made Godzilla films, with one of my favorites being Shin-Godzilla (2016). I’m also into music, and collect vinyl for listening with some of my favorite records being a Donna Summers Album, Igor by Tyler the Creator, and city pop vinyl from Tatsuro Yamashita. Outside of my studies I also do work as a writer for the online publication UH Hilo Stories. I really enjoy this work since all my family lives in Hilo, so I enjoy getting to engage more with my family’s community by connecting with students, educators, and alumni of UH Hilo. I’m also a major chatterbox, so I like that my job encourages me to listen more as I interview people. I think both my professional work and work with ‘Ulu‘ulu mesh well in helping me engage with my interests in oral history, media, and community building. 

What brought you here to ‘Ulu‘ulu? What are some of the things you’re hoping to learn during your internship with us?

My main reason for coming back home to Hawaiʻi was to engage more both with kanaka maoli resources and Hawaiʻi’s broader local community. For me, ‘Ulu‘ulu perfectly combines my personal interest in audiovisual materials with my personal goal of being more deeply engaged with the community my family comes from. 

What projects are you working on at ‘Ulu‘ulu?

Currently, I’m working with Robbie doing quality checks on digitized footage. I’m looking at tapes from Kevin Coates, a documentary filmmaker. It’s interesting to learn terms I’ve never heard before like a “tape crease,” as I’m attempting to describe any distortions or issues with the videos. Also, it’s interesting to observe how tapes as a medium for footage works so differently from taking video today on your phone. For example, you’ll have two unrelated videos on one tape, with one type of footage cutting abruptly into the next since Coates obviously recorded over some other footage. Seeing how format affects the end product is really interesting as someone who was a kid in the 2000s and grew up with home video cameras turning into smartphones. 

I’m also doing some cataloging with Koa. I’ve started with describing footage that was taken for the “A Tribute to Dorothy Kahananui Gillett: ʻO ʻoe, e Dorothy Gillett, he kumu kau i ka hano,” documentary. Being able to watch this footage has been really amazing since it’s all about Hawaiian music and Kamehameha’s musical traditions. When my mom was a boarder at Kapālama campus, she was part of the show choir and I grew up with her talking about how serious practice was and the amazing performances they put on as high schoolers. I feel like I’m getting a better sense of what that was actually like for her watching these videos. Also, as someone who grew up singing Polynesian hymns and choral music, I love that I get the opportunity to just listen to some of the fabulous music sung in these videos by groups like the Kamehameha Alumni Glee Club. I think it’s so wonderful that the voices and thoughts of these singers and musicians can be preserved. 

Then with Hōkū I’ve been working on processing Betacam tapes from our KGMB Miss Universe collection. I really enjoy hands-on work, so it’s nice to physically handle tapes and see what they look like. Also, even though I’m just recording basic information that’s found on the cases or in the shot logs, I still see a lot of personality in the way this information is written. For example, I know that one of the camera people or person handling these tapes went by the nickname “Snake.” Every tape related to this person always has a really distinctive doodle of a snake shaped like the letter “S” either on the spine or front cover. Also, just kind of seeing how much physical space recording the pageant took up with all the different tapes is kind of amazing. It’s fascinating to get even a slight glimpse into how much effort recording these kinds of events took. 

Is there anything about the items you are working with that is surprising or unexpected?

Among the footage I’ve been cataloging with Koa there was one video where it was clear the tape had been recorded over. I kind of got surprised because the video went from this very quiet footage of different pictures of Dorothy Gillett to what seemed to be footage of some kind of daytime cooking or talk show. Also, the remaining clip of that previous video was really random with a woman saying, “Aren’t these grapes just delicious?” or something like that. The contrast between the more quiet historical footage with the scene about grapes just made me laugh. 

Have you come across any particularly interesting or charming items or footage as you’ve been working these past couple weeks?

I got to watch some practice footage of the Kamehameha Alumni Glee Club from 1996. I was just really impressed by how even just in a practice this choir of men could produce such beautiful, precise sound. Especially considering the complicated harmonies and rounds they were singing. I also loved seeing the men in practice since they’re not in performance attire, just wearing everyday clothes. You can really see a diversity of personalities and lives represented in this one choir, which I thought was really cool. 

Now tell us a little more about yourself. What is your favorite pastime  when you’re not at work or class?

I like chatting with or hanging out with my friends. We’ll do things like go out to see a movie or cook together. I usually follow some shows onNetflix and analyze them with friends. I’m really into shipping culture since I love how creative people get with video edits and fanart. Some of the fanmade art that’s come out of the Arcane fandom–whether that’s Wisdom Kaye’s styling video or short animations–have been super high quality, it’s actually shocking. Recently, seeing a lot of well-made edits has gotten me into watching Transformers cartoons again and I’m now a huge fan of Starscream. 

How far along are you in your courses? Are you looking forward to any other upcoming classes?

I finished three courses last semester and have three courses this semester. I really enjoyed my oral history course taught by Kumu Keahiahi Long last semester as well as Introduction to Reference taught by Dr. Gazan. A lot of what I learned from Dr. Adam Jansen’s Digital Archives course has actually been super applicable to what I’ve been doing at ‘Ulu‘ulu, so that’s been interesting. I’ve really been enjoying my Hawaiian and Pacific Librarianship course taught by Kapena Shim. We’ve had some very profound, productive discussions on how to structure libraries for our communities. 

I think that’s it!