The 'Başka Bir Roman' Documentary Screening & Interview with Directors event was held by Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, Radio Television and Cinema Department. TRT's successful director Murat Ocak, who has taken part in various projects in the cinema industry as a Producer and TRT Director, was a guest at the event. Murat Ocak, who provided information about the documentary's filming processes, pointed out that official procedures for drone flights are very difficult, while emphasizing that problems encountered on the road during the documentary production feed creativity.
The event was held at Üsküdar University South Campus. The event, moderated by Faculty of Communication, Radio Television and Cinema Department Lecturer Zafer Sevener, was attended by Head of Radio Television and Cinema Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esennur Sirer and Radio, Television and Cinema Department Dr. Lecturer Denizcan Kabaş.
“The beginning of my film story was when I went to Fevzipaşa Neighborhood”
Producer and Director Murat Ocak, who talked about how the idea for 'Başka Bir Roman,' his second documentary after 'İnsan ve Kule,' was born and his experiences during the documentary's production process, said: “The 'Başka Bir Roman' documentary was a story proposed to us. We had limited information. For us, it was something newsworthy, not documentary-like, 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 in Çanakkale. We went to a neighborhood that was different in the morning and different in the evening. After deciding to shoot a documentary in Çanakkale's Fevzipaşa Neighborhood, I went there several times. I tried to get to know the people. We entered a neighborhood with a reputation for crime. I spent time in the neighborhood on three or four separate occasions because it's not easy to get people to accept you there. I spent time with the locals until the script took shape in my mind. If you're filming human stories, if you don't spend time with those people, if you just make them feel you're with them purely for a job, you'll never get that sincerity. It won't reflect on camera. I stayed in the neighborhood at night, and during the day, I spent time with people in the coffeehouse. I ate with them, drank with them, and made them feel that I thought like them. After a while, our presence turned into that of a neighbor,” he stated.
“We were able to fly a drone six months after filming”
Murat Ocak, describing his experiences during the filming processes of documentary films and stating that obtaining permits to fly drones is very difficult, said: “Flying a drone in Turkey is very difficult because there are a lot of bureaucratic procedures involved. Sometimes we miss shots that need to be captured with a drone. In the documentary, we were able to fly a drone six months after filming. DJI obtains codes for drone flights from the government, and you can fly once permission is granted from those codes. We contacted DJI directly in China. We sent them our bureaucratic documents and locations. After we received drone permission, we were able to shoot with the drone as much as weather conditions allowed,” he said.
“We needed to see the story from every angle”
Murat Ocak, addressing how the script took shape while making a documentary film and stating that the documentary could be viewed from different perspectives, said: “We are making a documentary; we proceed based on facts. We are after the truth. Documentary filmmakers, even if they think they produce objective works, can produce subjective ones. We are human, and we do emotional work. You could have looked at this documentary with different eyes and told it differently; another person could tell it differently. When you enter that neighborhood and get accepted, you also get the chance to see how true or false some characters seem to you. Accordingly, my main character took shape in the documentary. There also needed to be a character within the story who was caught in between, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and unable to convey themselves to others. We needed to see the story from every angle,” he said.
“Problems you encounter on the road feed your creativity”
Ocak emphasized that because the documentary is based on a script rooted in reality, the difficulties created by the instantaneous changes in facts feed creativity: “When shooting a feature film, everything is ready on set because you have the script in hand. Both the disadvantage and advantage of a documentary is that the problems you encounter on the road feed your creativity. An obstacle causes you to dream while managing a crisis, and you want to film things you never thought of before. These also touch the audience very effectively in a way you never expected,” he said.
The event concluded with a group photo session after the Q&A section.