Yusuf Uz, a 3rd year student at Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) Faculty of Fine Arts (FAF), Radio, Television and Cinema Department, with his short film "Vesile", which he wrote and directed, and a short film with the theme of "goodness" organized by ORDAP (Common Mind and Solidarity Association). entered the film competition. The film, which tells the story of İbrahim, who is a paper collector to provide for his family, was selected 6th out of 85 films in the competition and was entitled to receive the honorable mention.
“If you do a good deed, it may come back and find you again. Don't stop doing good. A good deed you do can cause others to do good as well.”
Stating that he set out with this main idea while writing the script of "Vesile", Uz stated that they shot the movie during the pandemic period and this situation brought some difficulties with it. Stating that all the processes of the film were completed within 45 days, Uz said the following about the production process of the film:
“While it is difficult to make a film under normal conditions, it is of course even more disadvantageous under pandemic conditions. While browsing social media, I came across the contest poster. I had a passion and a desire. We had 45 days to submit the film to the competition. It took about 11 days to write the pre-production script, assemble the crew, arrange the cast, venues, and obtain official permissions. In this process, we made revisions about 16-17 times, we talked and discussed the film for 3-4 hours every day. Unfortunately, in line with the new prohibitions and restrictions that came with the increase in the cases in our country, we had to revise the script three days before the shooting and remove two of our scenes from the script.”
MAKING FILM IN PANDEMIC CONDITIONS
Stating that they made plans through three different city alternatives to shoot the film, as the pandemic conditions affected the production process even at the script stage, Uz conveyed the difficulties they encountered during the shooting:
“We could have shot the movie in one of three cities. Eskişehir was emerging as a very big city that always supported the arts and young people. It was a place where I had my own circle and relatives. In Antalya, on the other hand, I had more acquaintances from this sector, both as actors and behind the camera, and we could have provided equipment coverage more easily. The same was true for Istanbul. In the end, we decided to shoot the movie in Eskişehir because the cases were increasing and Istanbul and Antalya were in a much more risky situation at that time. Our most crowded day, including the technical team and players, did not exceed 13 people. Even though we had permission from the municipality and obeyed all conditions, mask, distance and hygiene rules, chose the quietest places on the streets, and worked without disturbing people without making noise, we were faced with police complaints. Like I said, we had a permit and the police didn't put any restrictions on us. We completed the shooting of our film by working 11-12 hours a day for a total of 4 days.”
Expressing that the most critical process for the film started in the post phase, Uz stated that they encountered some technical difficulties, but despite all these difficulties, they completed the film and sent it to the competition and he was happy about it:
“The editing phase of the film, which we call the post, took exactly 26 days. We shot the movie silently and made the sounds later, two of our actors got the flu and their voices were muted. We couldn't get the voices of the most important characters of the movie. We had to fight and solve it as quickly as possible. I completed the film with dubbing by having my own family and relatives voice over. It wasn't enough and it wasn't satisfying for us but there was nothing else to do and all of these were great experiences for us. Despite a lot of technical shortcomings, we somehow completed and delivered the film. As a result of all these events, our film completed the competition with an award. We produced, we struggled, and it paid off. In this process; The contribution of the education I received from the university and the guidance of my professors in technical application and creation, theoretical knowledge, philosophical thought and creating a narrative structure cannot be ignored. The knowledge I gained from my time as an assistant in TV series, movies and commercials also has a great impact. I would like to thank all my teammates and everyone who gave financial and moral support.”
Click here to watch the trailer of Yusuf Uz's short film Vesile.
