Sneak Preview

Today I had the chance to preview my work to Andrew Reeve and Mike LaRosa, via projection. I found this really interesting and exciting both at the same time. This was the first time I had really shown anybody my finished movie and was nice to see on the big wall. I was interested in what they both had to say about my piece. They both picked up on the quality of my audio which I was pleased about. They both likes the clash in personalities between my two subjects. They found the simplicity very good also and even said on some places they thought it went to quickly, I had worried about the tempo of my piece. I am really glad they both liked it and am really looking forward to showcasing my work in the nearby future.

For me this module has been really interesting to see how I have worked as an individual and not part of a group, whilst still maintaining a group environment with other projects. There has only been me working on this project which I have really enjoyed. It has been a great chance to trial my strengths and weaknesses in terms of film making. I feel I have found what id ideally like to do in the future and this module has given me the key to do this to a high quality level. I think that the more that I have put into this module then the more I have gained in experience and knowledge. I am very much looking forward to further developing my documentary into a full feature length documentary in the near future.

Final edit

After a few days of editing my piece putting different footage it different places I have finally come up with my final edit. I have decided to put the footage in a sort or chronological order, starting from their first experiences of the war until the present day and their thoughts on it now. I feel that this edit works really and will keep the viewer entertained and informed. After completing all of the credits I feel that fit in nicely with the tone and feel of the film. Also I have shown some friends and family my final film, I have had some good feedback from them. I have finally done what I set out to achieve, which was to create a documentary surrounding the Cyprus divide from both sides of the island. I ran in a lot of trouble along the way, many obstacles were thrown in my way but I have overcome all of these to create a film that I am very proud of and am looking forward to selling myself on it in the near by future.

This is a screen grab of my final edited timeline.

Editing my final piece

This week I have finally started to edit my documentary. Initially I watched all the footage once through, then I re-watched me this time picking out bits that I wanted to include in my film. This was a very quick process and took nearly no time at all. I was left with about 12-15 shots fighting for around 6-7 places. I came to the conclusion not to involve my granddads piece. I feel that including this would be a tad strange, his answers to my questions were very thorough and unique. But I am finding it harder to fit three people into my film, I think that two peoples views will be sufficient. I am not going to scrap the footage all together though. I am planing into the future and a more in depth and longer documentary. In the future I will include his version of the story also, but for now and this project I don’t feel like including this in my final edit. I have put together a rough edit in linear terms, I have placed the footage as it was filmed. This is a very rough cut.

Uploaded footage

Today I have finally managed to upload all of my footage. I am very pleased with the outcome and feel of the footage that I captured. This has given me a great recap on my footage, I was a little worried about the Teken interview as I was sat to the left of the camera and he was facing me. I was not sure how it would look on film, but I am very happy with how things have turned out. All my interviews are looking as good as I had hoped. My granddads piece gave me the suspicion that the audio was not going to be the best quality, which when uploading I found this to be true. Immediately I got my music tech student friend to sort this out, he has done a great job in doing this. I am looking forward to starting the edit of my piece.

Interview 3

Today I did my last interview, this was most enjoyable again. Firstly I met this guys who seemed like a tough shell from the outset. I set up my camera in his living room using his window as my lighting. I wanted him to feel comfortable whilst being interviewed so I sat him down on his favorite arm chair. As with my other interviews I gave him a brief of the questions that I was going to ask him, this gave me a structure. He responded with a thick heavy Cypriot accent which I soon got used to. I was very intrigued into what he had to say, he was a lot more balanced in favor to the Greek Cypriots and had a great disliking towards the mainland Turks. After the first few questions he became more relaxed and I feel his true thoughts came out on camera. He is a very dedicated man to his country and very patriotic, this really came through whilst I was asking him questions. I think that somewhat he surprised himself in the topic and manner in which he spoke.

All in all this was a very interesting insight into the Turkish invasion. I am looking forward into going over the footage and whittling down my edit into the final film.

1 last final interview

My granddad has secured for my my last interview for my film. This is with his old friend from down the road, who was part of the original EKOA. This is an exciting time for me getting to ask questions to a real life freedom fighter. I have not met this man yet, but am looking forward to pitching a few questions about the war to me. From what I understand he has a great disliking for the mainland Turkish army/people, this will give my documentary more depth and feeling. For this interview I will prepare some questions around the EKOA and see how he handles these. I am set to interview him this Friday the 9th of April.

Interview 2

Yesterday I filmed my second interview for my film. This one I felt went rather well and as too plan. I chose to set up my shot as to make my interviewee most comfortable and give the shot a sense of depth and nice framing. I chose to sit him at a table, this was next to a window which meant I again used natural light which worked to my advantage. I really liked the flow of this interview, I had not previously talked about what I was going to ask him. This meant there was a nice sense and vision of him thinking about how to answer a certain question, I think that this will really add to the tone of the film and gives it some emotion and a nice pace. The answers I got to my questions I felt came from the heart and were well thought out. He gave me a completely different view on the subject than I thought I would. In saying this I could really pick up on his values on life as they are very similar to my own outlook on life, this was very nice to such similarities. It seems to me from these interviews that both sides of the island have fallen victim to the more corrupt and political ways of the world and that the people at the bottom, the everyday civilians are not to blames and have been pigeon-holed with common stereotypes. This for me feels very selfish and unnecessary in such a modern world and society.

Interview 1

Yesterday I shot my first interview with my granddad. On arrival I wanted to film in his conservatory, which let in a lot of natural light. This would have meant I did not need to use artificial lighting, this would have been the best scenario. I came across one problem whilst setting up my camera. It was raining which on a conservatory makes an unreal amount of noise and was being picked up by the microphone. I gave it around an hour before I started to film. The rain had cleared at the start of the interview but picked back up again towards the middle. I thought to myself I have a problem here, it was not to evident through my headphones that it was raining. I did however place this in the back of my mind an continued with the interview as I did not want to re-schedule the interview. I gave it a little think and am happy enough that I can remove this in post-production.

This interview I felt went really well, I had talked with my granddad before hand about what I was going to ask him. He had already been thinking of the answers. With this in mind I gave him a brief overview of what I wanted including and he more or less just went with it. Along the way I thought of some more questions that I wanted answered and he did so. I am very happy with the way this interview has panned out and am equally intrigued to how it is going to look when it comes to editing.

After the interview was over he told me he has an old friend that lives down the road that might be interested in taking part in my documentary. He was part of EOKA back when he was a young child and had lived through a lot. So would be suitable for the film.

Another Interview

Today I have secured my second interview for my documentary. This is with a Turkish Cypriot who was living in England at the time. He will make a very good interviewee, he will not only give me a balanced view but will also throw some other topics in the air to discuss. I have talked to him and his sons about what happened in 1974 and have always found it interesting to see what they have to say it. He has no hatred between towards the Greek Cypriots, for this reason I feel he is best suited for my film. As far as I know he has lost a cousin prior to the war and his family were captured by Greek Cypriot troops. I think that England’s involvement with the war might come up in conversation within this interview. I am looking to shoot this interview on the 5th of April. I am really looking forward to capturing his views onto tape and really interested in what he has to say about the invasion.

Ahead we go

All this week I have been trying to secure myself with some interviews. I have been talking a lot with my granddad about his views on the subject and what happened in his eyes. The logical question of whether or not he wanted to take apart in the documentary came up next. He has agreed to take a small part in the documentary and I am going to interview him next Wednesday the 31st of March. I am very excited about doing this interview, because it gives me the chance to really get to know my granddad and see what he thinks of the events. From talking to him initially I know that he was over here in England and that when it happened him and his mates took to the streets of Coventry trying to get some relief money for all of the families over in Cyprus. I know that his views on the subject are very balanced, so he will be a good basis and start to my documentary.