TRT Director Murat Ocak: "The problems you encounter on the road feed your creativity"

Üsküdar University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema held the event "Another Novel Documentary Screening & Interview with Directors". The event was hosted by Murat Ocak, the successful director of TRT, who took part in various projects in the cinema industry as a Producer and TRT Director. Murat Ocak, who informed about the shooting processes of the documentary, pointed out that the official procedures in drone flights are very difficult, and emphasized that the problems encountered on the road in the documentary feed creativity.

The event was held at Üsküdar University South Campus. Moderated by Faculty of Communication, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, Lecturer. The event, which was undertaken by Instructor Zafer Sevener, was attended by the Head of the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema Assoc. Prof. Esennur Sirer and Department of Radio, Television and Cinema Asst. Prof. Denizcan Kabaş.

"The beginning of my film story was when I went to Fevzipaşa District"

Producer and Director Murat Ocak talked about how the idea of Another Novel, which is his second documentary after the documentary 'Man and Tower', was born and his experiences in the production process of the documentary and stated that "The documentary Another Novel was a story that was recommended to us. We had limited information. It was newsworthy for us. It was not documentary, but we wanted to see it. I went to Çanakkale and met with the person who made this offer to us. The beginning of my film story was when I went to the Fevzipaşa neighborhood of Çanakkale. We went to a different neighborhood in the morning and another neighborhood in the evening. I went to Çanakkale a few times after I decided to shoot a documentary in Fevzipaşa District. I tried to get to know people. We entered a criminal neighborhood. I went to the neighborhood three or four different times and spent time there because it is not easy to impose yourself on people there. I spent time with the locals until the script took shape in my head. If you are shooting human stories, if you do not spend time with those people, if you make them feel that you are with them just because you are doing a job, you will never get that sincerity. It is not reflected in the camera. I stayed in the neighborhood at night and spent time with people in the cafe shop during the day. I ate with them, drank with them, made them feel like they did. After a while, our existence turned into a neighbor's existence."

"Six months after filming, we were able to lift a drone"

Explaining what they went through during the shooting processes of documentary films and mentioning that it was very difficult to get permits to fly drones, Murat Ocak said that "It is very difficult to fly a drone in Türkiye because there are a lot of bureaucratic procedures to fly a drone. Sometimes we miss our shots that need to be taken with a drone. In the documentary, we were able to lift a drone six months after filming. DJI receives the codes from the state for drone flight, and you can remove those codes when you get permission. We contacted DJI and China directly. We sent them our bureaucratic papers and positions. After we were granted a drone permit, we were able to shoot with drones as much as the weather conditions allowed."

"We needed to see every aspect of the story"

Referring to how the script is shaped while making a documentary film and stating that the documentary can be looked at from different perspectives, Murat Ocak expressed that "We are making a documentary, and we are going through the document. We are in pursuit of the truth. No matter how objective documentarians think they are, they can do subjective work. We are human beings, and we do emotional work. You could have looked at this documentary from a different point of view and told it in a different way, another person could have told it in a different way. When you enter that neighborhood, you have the chance to see how right and wrong some of the characters seem to you. In the documentary, my main character was shaped accordingly. There had to be a character in the story who could not distinguish between right and wrong and could not convey themselves to others. We had to see every aspect of the story."

"The problems you encounter on the road feed your creativity"

Underlining that since the documentary is based on a scenario that really takes its source, the difficulties created by the instantaneous change of facts feed creativity, Ocak stated that "When you are shooting a movie, you have got your script in hand, so you are all set on set. The disadvantage and advantage of the documentary is that the problems you encounter on the road feed your creativity. An obstacle makes you daydream when you are managing a crisis, and you also want to attract things you never thought of before. It touches the audience in a very effective way in a place where you never thought about it." The event ended with a group photo shoot after the question-and-answer session.

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)