Raiden

Raiden is a local drummer/gonna-be film-maker/skater yf who is helping me promote Hugh Holland's merch online (Instagram, etc. I also manage HH's website), by letting me take photos (in public settings) of him skateboarding. He's a big fan of the 70's Dogtown skater, Jay Adams. Says skaters nowadays are all stuck up and not friendly.
I've known him for almost over a year now.
He's very intelligent but think he may have his big toe on some type of spectrum (savant?). I'll bet if his IQ were measured, it wouldn't surprise me if it was above average.
He lives on a quite neighborhood street nearby, which I take as a parallel Uber-route instead of the 'beach road', which has umpteen ped crossings, traffic lights, cyclists, joggers, jay-walkers, left/right turners to beach parking lots and/or shops/eateries - in other words a snail's way to go.
A year before the pandemic hit, I first noticed Raiden one day sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk alongside of a dog-park with drumsticks, drumming on a small metal inspection plate in the sidewalk grass. I thought he might be 'pan-handling' for cash, but saw no 'collection tin', only a skateboard. He was wearing headphones while practicing drum beats; obviously, I assumed, listening to drum tracks. He'd be there everyday at about the same time.
When the pandemic came, everyone disappeared, and I didn't spot him again until almost a year later. Same place, same time, doing the same thing, but wearing a mask now.
This time I started waving him the Hawaiian 'shaka' sign ( 🤙 ) as I drove by, and he'd always shaka back.
Then last year, on Halloween, he was there again but wearing a 'Scream' mask. I pulled over and said Happy Halloween, he lifted up the mask and said Trick-or-Treat?  I said give me 30 minutes, I'll be back with the treat. I went and bought a bag of Halloween chocolate form a nearby store and drove back, thinking he'd be gone. But he wasn't, so again pulled over and said Treat. Gave him the chocolate, and my name and asked his. Raiden.
Over the past year, I've occasionally parked in the dog-park lot and walked down the sidewalk to say hi to him and ask him about his drumming. I rattled off some drummers' names from the 60's/70's that I knew of and for every name he'd give the band they played in.
He certainly knew his stuff alright.
This was not some unserious person.
At other times he'd tell me, at long, long length, about some aspect of Hawaiian history, or the Phoenician wars, or the Iron Curtain.
One time he started talking about horror films and showed me YouTube clips of such on his phone and explained how the film was shot for not that much money. He also knew a heck of a lot about a horror film studio in the UK called Hammer Films. That's when he found out I used to be in the industry.
He wants to make a horror black-and-white 16mm film in the same way the silent films were shot back in the early 1900's, with title cards for dialogue and a piano music track. Could I help him?
First piece of advice I offered him was 'what's the story?' If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage. 
Next piece was had he heard of the 'Film Production Triangle'? Nope, what's that? Each side of the triangle has a word: Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick any two and it won't be the third. Right away he picks Good and Fast. So I asked how much money did he have? None. Okay, then it has to be Good and Cheap, but it's gonna take a lotta time.
Third piece was that Hershey's chocolate syrup makes great looking blood on black-and-white film. Check out Hitchcock's 'Psycho'.
I mentioned a film can be shot on video, even on a good enough phone, and made to be black-and-white in editing on a computer.
Nope. Nada. No way.
It's gotta be on 16mm film.
Oh, hello, I thought, this is a purist channeling Speilberg, Scorsese, Tarantino, et al.  I emailed a DP friend in Hollyweird and asked if he knew the make of any 16mm camera that was adequate but not expensive. The K3, he later wrote back. Inexpensive, reliable, good lens. Used to be made in the USSR back in the day, by the Krasnogorsk company, outside of Moscow. May find one for sale online in any of the former Soviet countries.
Next time I saw Raiden, I mentioned "K3", right away he says: 'Ah, the Krasnogorsk. Yeah, it's pretty good'.
DAMN, what doesn't he know?
Speaking of which, last March 14, I gave him a small hand-sized cherry pie from the supermarket and told him 'Happy Pie Day', he said 'Three-point-one-four! Cool, thanks.'
He hasn't mentioned siblings, or a mom, only 'dad'. He says he was born in LA but doesn't remember anything about the place so assumed he got to Maui at a very young age. By all accounts, dad seems to be a bit overly strict but no mention of anything untoward.
A few weeks later, I managed to get him a storyboard book. A book with page after page of blank rectangles, on which he could draw (stick-man style or Leonardo da Vinci style) his film story in picture form. This way his story gets 'on the page'.  From there I explained that's how the budget, the shoot schedule, the prop list, the costume list, the characters' list, etc.,etc., are all created. I've noticed him since sitting on the sidewalk occasionally drawing in the book.
I do know of a local cameraman who is currently shooting a comedy series called "Moku Moku", in and around the old Hawaiian cowboy town of Makawao in upcountry (localese for up the side of the Haleakala volcano). He'll probably know how to get lights, small studio space, actors,... yadda, yadda, yadda, when the time comes (which probably will be never). However, not to dash Raiden's hopes, I mentioned high schools may have AV teachers, who could help out. He's another year away from high school but it gives him something to hold onto.
Haven't seen much of him over the summer, which is usual. Now that his last year of middle school has begun, he's also not been around that much. Suspect the homework is getting a little more intense in prep for high school next Fall.
Oh, the numbers 0103? His birthday is in January.

To be continued...