CHIEF OF WAR

An epic adventure about the origin of Hawai’i and its people. Jason Momoa stars as Ka’iana, a fearless warrior on a mission to unite his homeland, as a monumental power struggle erupts among the four kingdoms. –Apple TV+

In the beginning...
Bringing this epic history to life, for the first time from the indigenous point of view, the unification of Hawai’i and the dedicated people who made it happen...
Set Decorator Daniel Birt SDSA and Production Designer Jean-François Campeau give us firsthand accounts of the depth of commitment to authenticity in portraying the individual island kingdoms and their cultures, as well as the beginning of their unification.

Production Designer Jean-François Campeau [aka JF]:
“I met Pa’a and Jason and Doug Young, [Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, Jason Momoa, Doug Yung] who were writing the show at the time. I pitched a preliminary vision...and was in Hawaii two weeks later! “
“They originally thought we would try to shoot the whole project in Hawaii, but we realized it didn't really make sense for numerous logistical and geographical reasons. This is a story about the Hawaiian civilization, not just about Hawaiian people and nature, so we needed to build substantive sets in pristine locations and along unspoiled coastlines.”

Boat-builders hut in foreground with fish drying, weaver’s hut in background with gourds drying. Courtesy of Apple TV+

Inter-island travel and sea fishing is possible with these sled-style canoes, which were created in the traditional method with traditional materials. Courtesy of Apple TV+

“New Zealand became an obvious choice, not only for the settings, but also for the cultural aspect of being part of the Polynesian triangle. It just made a lot of sense. And then, of course, Dan was the best guy in the whole hemisphere.”

Set Decorator Daniel Birt SDSA [aka Dan]:
“Working with JF and the team, and telling the Hawaiian story, was really cool in itself...and then, to work at home in NZ and do something that momentous, was a dream.”

“Chris Carlson was handling the Hawaiian set decoration, so I caught up with Chris and the team over there, and did an assessment of what we needed to do to bring the job to New Zealand.”

“We have the advantage of all the cultures—the Māori and the Pacific Islands...Tonga, Samoa, New Guinea, Fiji. We have the crafts people that live in New Zealand. We grow up with the culture at school. So, I was very lucky to have that background when we did our research to be as accurate as we could to tell the Hawaiian story.”

JF: “We knew, of course, that we were making a mainstream epic show about Hawaiian culture. It's not a documentary, but we were concerned about authenticity. We did a deep dive into the Hawaiian culture, and agreed we had to have a completely naturalistic approach and build as authentically as possible.”

Kualoa temple, King’s chamber. Note the intricate designs in the woven mat/carpet and king’s throne/mat. Courtesy of Apple TV+

“For me, what drove the conceptual approach was the contrast between the Manna and the Kapu. The ancient Hawaiian code of conduct, where one sees God flowing through all entities, especially through nature, Kapu is a very polite philosophy of life. Mana, is man-made structures and man-made rules, power. It's like a mix of poetry and violence at the same time, which I think we really feel when we watch the show, and which I think is close to what their reality was.”

Dan: “It's really interesting, because the Māori, the indigenous tribe of New Zealand, are descendants of the Hawaiians. It's actually to the point, now,  where the Māori are teaching the Hawaiians their own arts and crafts, because interest had diminished over time. Whereas, in New Zealand, the crafts have always been treasured and looked after, and people are still taught them at school, including Māori carving. And those people who are teaching the Hawaiians were actually on our job. So, we got the real deal. The tiki statues and other elements (with the exception of the Bone Temple), the indigenous props and set dressing...those are hand-carved by real craftsmen.”

JF: “Lyonel Grant, a famous Māori sculptor, oversaw all the tikis sculpting. And, as Dan was saying, he teaches traditional sculpture in Hawaii, and he had some of his top students come to his workshop in New Zealand. The sculptures were all hand-carved there.”

“If you look at the Kualoa temple, the Ku God, for example, we actually sent an ancient tree trunk from Hawaii for them to carve.”

Kualoa temple, tikis, center: KU God of War, altar with blessings & prayers inscribed on sheets of kapa/barkcloth. Courtesy of Apple TV+

Editor’s note: According to Pa’a Sibbett, in a behind-the-scenes video, “The wood for that carving was taken from Ōhi’a lehua, from Hawai’i Island, where this temple existed...Based on its size, that tree we carved would be at least 200 years old. That means that specific tiki is a relic from the actual days of Kamehameha...It was amazing to see it on set, because it has that mana.” Because of this direct tie, and because “It was representing a tiki that actually existed in that temple that we were trying to re-create, we needed to bless it. When we erected it, it was blessed, and that made it real.”

JF: “All the blessings and the cultural meetings between the Hawaiians and Māori...that was so special. It was really a significant experience.”

Weavings, from thatched & plaited houses to intricately designed symbolic mats, covers, textiles...

Dan: “Every different kingdom, every king and chief and tribe had a different design. With the historians and the cultural advisors, and the local Hawaiians, we came up with designs and color palettes for the tribes. I know when you're watching the first couple of episodes, it's a little bit confusing, and you're kind of saying, “Okay, who's who? Who's from which tribe? And where are we?” But pretty quickly, the designs, especially the costumes and the capes, and architectural detail played a huge part in defining who and where. The mats definitely gave clues as well."

King Kalani’opu’u, King of Hawai’i, the Isle of Hawai’i. From Set Decorator Daniel Birt SDSA: “This is an important photograph, He is holding Captain Cook’s sword, the uniform from 1779 when Cook was killed, is on either side of the king’s mat. It was really interesting to determine how to display this, because they don't have shelves and they don't hang things up. So, basically, they keep their prized possessions close to their mat, often wrapped in kapa cloth.” Note the king’s feathered helmet/mahiole is the keystone of the mat, his full length red feathered cape/ahu’ula has a shark’s tooth design of yellow feathers, signifying this is a powerful king. Courtesy of Apple TV+

The king’s seat: King Kalani’opu’u, King of Hawai’i. Red feathers and yellow feathers were considered top hierarchy. Note, the king’s mat has both, plus a highly refined woven pattern. Courtesy of Apple TV+

“Everything, basically, had to be woven to size, as well as incorporating the designs...and then, because we were sometimes on stone and rock and different hardscapes, we ended up adding an EVA-backing on some of the mats, then putting foam underneath them. I mean, these people didn't have furniture and chairs, so when the actors are playing out these long scenes, they're on those mats for hours. We could see some of them were struggling, because it was like doing endless yoga, sitting in position in those big meeting scenes. So, we had to come to up ways to help them out, which was a fun challenge.”

“We had a massive textiles and drapes department, weavers, and leather workers. Everything was super refined for the royal family. We actually had a lot of the weaving done throughout Samoa, because the Samoan contacts we had were the only ones that could weave that finely. When it comes to royalty, anything to do with the royal family was just unbelievably detailed. And it was amazing.”

King Kalani’opu'u Funeral Mat: The king’s shroud is wrapped in black-dyed kapa cloth and placed in the center of the mat. Courtesy of Apple TV+

Dan: “Another subtle differentiation was  the architecture, which was super interesting. JF and the art department just jumped right into all the traditional building techniques. Each island had somewhat similar basic style of structure, but different wood and stone. So every structure you see throughout the movie is definitive of its tribe and from their island.”

JF: “We basically use one set as almost like a geopolitical landmark for each island, which was very character driven, and that gave us the direction for each. Because the huts are most of the time created of similar material, we really exploited the open gable of the hut structure. We could utilize different designs and get more graphic within that structure."

Stronghold of Ka’u, Hawai’i. Keoua becomes king after the death of his father. Note the similar design in the gable and the dramatic lighting it affords. Courtesy of Apple TV+

JF: “Also, the more royal or higher warrior, the more important the occupant was, the lower the door would be, to limit the access. So, you had to bend down to go in their dwelling, which made you totally vulnerable.”

Dan: “Yeah, the importance of the doorway was massive and that was because of protection, you know, where they sat on the mat in relation to the doorway, who sat beside them. That's the same with Yakuza and Japanese cultures.”

Spectator hut of King Kahekili, King of Maui, where he sits to observe his warriors’ training, while shaded, served and protected. Note the different design motif of the crossbar eaves- from that of King Kalaniopu’u of Hawai’i. Courtesy of Apple TV+

JF: “So you have King Kahekili, King of Maui, who invades Oahu, and then the Bone tower, where he offers the bones of his victims to the gods. In general, we try to be faithful to what the Hawaiian temples were, in their structure, in the way they were built, in their function. But, always, character driven, like for this, which is a 'Spectator' hut, if you take it literally. These structures were basically just for a chief to oversee his warriors training, somewhere in the shade, a little bit elevated."

"But, you know...it's the opening of the episode. We really want to establish King Kahekili as someone very powerful and dangerous, and influential...and establish the fact that he's overseeing a civilization. So, that's why we elevated him a little bit, the exterior staircases are higher than the usual platforms...but in general, this was all built based on the way those temples were usually laid out.”

Kahekili’s bone tower represents his evil madness for power...he has lost all sense of Kapu. Courtesy of Apple TV+

Editor’s note:
Come back next week for CHIEF OF WAR, Part 2!