James Cameron’s “Avatar” caused quite a buzz around the globe when it hit the big screen last year. The film was produced using the latest technology and moviemaking techniques, and it provided, at least for many Turkish viewers, the first chance to watch a film in 3D.
Hitting big screens across Turkey this week was the much-awaited horror film “Cehennem 3D” (Hell 3D). Written and directed by Biray Dalkıran, “Cehnnem” is Turkey’s first movie filmed in 3D, and its producers are calling it a candidate to become “Turkey’s Avatar.”
3D director Erkan Cerit, cast member Tuğba Melis Türk and the film’s producers Çoşkun Tözen, Cemal Okan and Burak Saraçoğlu (L to R) pose for a picture in front of a poster of their new film, “Cehennem 3D,” which had its theatrical release Friday.
Dalkıran, whose previous directing credits include “Cennet” (Heaven) and “Araf” (Purgatory), says he didn’t have any particular goal of “keeping up with the 3D trend” when he set out to make this film. In fact, the film, whose production had been constantly postponed, began to be filmed last year in conventional 2D. It was when producers Burak Saraçoğlu and Çoşkun Tözen, to whom Dalkıran had sent the screenplay, told Dalkıran “let’s film this in 3D” that the whole 3D adventure began.
The 3D phenomenon in movies is being labeled by some in the industry as “revolutionary,” likened to the enormity of the transition from black and white pictures to color. A visit to the studio behind “Cehennem 3D” during the film’s post-production process proved just that; the final cuts on the film were being made while interesting memories of the whole filming process were being shared with enthusiasm by those on the crew. The most difficult and demanding part of the process is now finished for the filmmakers, and the rest of the journey lies with moviegoers.
It was not easy to make Turkey’s first 3D film since there was almost no one in the local film industry with the required level of know-how. But now, the crew can look back and really say “We did it!” in all confidence.
As for Dalkıran, he took the helm for “Cehennem 3D” with the sense that he was “almost directing [his] first-ever film.” Dalkıran says that while filming, in a sense he forgot everything he knew of filmmaking. At first it was much harder than conventional filmmaking, but “in time,” Dalkıran says, “It got easier as I became more familiar with the technique.”
“Cehennem 3D” follows a family who are embarrassed to have a handicapped child and commit murder to save themselves from the embarrassment.
The director explains, “There is a special reason that [Turkey’s] first 3D film is a horror film.” He notes that it is easier to elicit reactions from viewers with horror, fantasy and action stories than it is with comedies or dramas, simply because of the sheer amount of material used.
We ask “Cehennem’s” producers why they’re calling it “Turkey’s Avatar,” because in the end, “Avatar” was shot on a budget of $500 million, while “Cehennem 3D” has a modest budget of just $2.5 million. The response came from Burak Saraçoğlu: “The budgets of the two films cannot be compared. We shot this film with what we had in the way of budgetary means. But we are changing the dimensions of our own cinema culture. Turkish people need to support and embrace what we’ve made. So let’s hope the fortune of this film is good.” Yet the producers don’t fail to adopt a slightly more modest tone, either, saying, “This is just one of several decent horror films in Turkey.”
10 seconds of screen time filmed in 12 hours
Of course, when you do something for the first time ever, there are certain difficulties that present themselves. There were many questions already swirling around in people’s minds, even as the set for “Cehennem 3D” was being created: “How will this film be shot?” “Will actors play their roles the way they normally would?” and “What really is the difference between this kind of a film and a typical 2D film?” No one really knew.
When, after the first shots were filmed, there were some perceived deficiencies, 3D technicians and special cameras were brought in from Spain. Everyone on the crew, from the tea-makers to the director, was excited. When the equipment brought in from abroad was set up on the set, everyone gathered around to inspect it up close. Then filming got under way. The first 10 seconds of the movie took a total of 12 hours to shoot — easier said than done.
The producers recount the rest of the story: “Before we had even started filming, we had already spent $300,000 of the film’s entire budget. We were both afraid and overjoyed at the same time. We all gathered in a movie theater to watch the first takes from the film, and after watching the raw scenes, we literally cried and hugged each other. We said to ourselves, ‘We did it.’ The test filming alone had lasted for six months.”
In reality, work on 3D films has been under way since the 1950s. Nine countries had used this technology, with Turkey now the 10th country to make a 3D film. However, in some countries, there are even entire film festivals devoted to 3D films.
Erkan Cerit, the 3D director of “Cehennem 3D,” is one of the rare people in Turkey’s movie industry who works specifically on 3D. Cerit became interested in all this when, during the 1990s, he saw the United States’ space photographs. He then took photographs of a flower from several different angles, and, using a program that he designed himself, made the image into 3D. Of course this took much research and effort. In other words, he learned about 3D through his own trial and error.
Currently there are only 14 professionals working on 3D around the world, and each of them uses a different technique.
We ask Cerit how 3D is filmed. He explains: “Well, there are two cameras on the set, just like the two eyes that humans have. The film is shot normally, as it would be in a 2D movie. But rather than having one recording, you have two recordings. We make sure the distance between the two cameras follows the laws of physics, as the distance between our own eyes does. Try to think of each frame not as a normal frame, but as an aquarium. Everything is live. But it is the director and the 3D director who decide what the viewer needs to see. So this is how the film is shot. And then it’s edited using a special program. When the two recordings are placed one on top of the other, it is then that we get the extra dimension.”
Tuğba Melis Türk, the leading actress of “Cehennem 3D,” recalls how she underwent an enormous change after nine hours of makeup application, and when it was all done, she could not recognize herself, and in fact, was even scared when she looked in the mirror.
Cemal Okan, the owner of Fono Film, which is one of the co-producers of “Cehennem,” says he believes the 3D industry will continue to grow. The company has already started work on a new 3D movie that will be a Chinese-American-Turkish co-production.
“Cehennem 3D,” which opened on Friday in Turkish theaters with 150 prints, is set to hit the big screen in 11 other countries in three weeks’ time. A joint production by Fono Film, Hayalet Filmevi and Oskar Film, “Cehennem 3D” is expected to surpass 1 million in attendance at the national box office. We’ll have to wait and see, though.
03 October 2010, Sunday
AYHAN HÜLAGÜ İSTANBUL
original post: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-223301-turkish-cinema-gains-new-dimension-with-cehennem-3d.html