The SLOT team usually produces content that brings out daily but also different topics in life to the audience. The team, who has signed documentaries such as ‘Save Me From Myself’, ‘Colorful Veli’, ‘Spotted Ayhan’, evokes the feeling of ‘what will he do this time’ after every job they do.
It is certain that they will be talked about more with these documentaries that were released on September 15. Because they look at the consumption habits of people from the wastes that come out by mixing the garbage in Ataköy and Şirinevler districts. Although Ataköy is a more elite district compared to Şirinevler, it is seen that sometimes they consume similar food products with Şirinevler. The team is trying to understand the economic crisis from interesting data like this. Director Ümit Oktay Aymelek told Webtekno the details of the neighborhood analysis documentary from garbage and the questions about documentary making. Here are the director’s answers…
In fact, as SLOT, we are planning to make various productions in all areas of life.
These documentaries have the following significance for us: The known economic crisis makes itself felt very strongly in people’s lives, social lives and family relations. In fact, in this documentary, we can clearly observe the changes in people’s consumption habits. However, we chose to examine it within the framework of the economic crisis. We tried to record how this crisis led to changes in people’s consumption habits. That’s why it’s important to us. In other words, we have made many videos that examine this crisis issue before. We will still do more.
However, as SLOT, there is a difference in our editorial preferences and narrative style compared to other productions: We are concerned about what kind of editorial process we can develop and present to the audience.
When we deal with any subject, we want to evaluate it from a different angle. For example, when there is an economic crisis video, it is very valuable to go to the arrangement tents and interview the people there. It’s doable, and they’re already doing it. There are even good ones. In this way, there are publications and media organs that share the existence of the financial crisis with the public. How can we explain this crisis to people, that is, we have created an agenda within ourselves such as “we can examine this crisis about neighborhoods made of garbage”.
Of course, it is difficult to process a subject, video or documentary in this way. So what does this reflect in this work? For example, it causes the time between the end of our shooting times and the time to go on air to be extended and delayed. Because there is a serious dating traffic, it becomes fiction and then it goes on the air, so when you look at it, it takes a long time compared to other productions.
Therefore, we are currently experiencing a serious crisis and we would like to say something about this crisis. We want to make tests. We want to do research. Neighborhood analysis from garbage was one of these tools for us. That’s why we, as SLOT, attach great importance to it.
Actually, our ultimate goal is not to raise awareness here. First of all, why do we mix the garbage when we analyze the neighborhood from the garbage? We are trying to explain why garbage is important in order to have an idea about a person or a region.
We say, look at it with this eye. Because these determinations, this study was made by a professor at the University of Arizona before. When our friends who did the research did a search on the internet, Dr. They get to the name William Rathje, that is, the name of this professor. In fact, the things the two of them do are similar, they notice it. So, as I said, we do not have an agenda to raise awareness here. Here, we just say, “Look, there is such a research method, and it is a very effective research method.”
Because this is the output reference; The researchers, who decide that the surveys and face-to-face interviews do not reflect the truth most of the time, say, “We can actually get this real information from the garbage.”
Because people can often lie or give manipulative answers in face-to-face meetings. They can be afraid, they can scare, it can have a lot of dynamics. Alternatively, the researchers think that the garbage will tell the truth because they are convinced that garbage is evidence from the private to the public domain. Likewise, this is the main motivation of the work done by Umut and the professor at the University of Arizona.
Neighborhood analysis from garbage gives serious data about the research area and offers serious ideas to the curious.
Here we observe the economic crisis, not as spoilers, but let me share such an intricate, brief information. They have tried before, for example, we saw this in Ordu as well. But this work we did was different from the others as follows: Yes, we knew, we will see this crisis. But that was too much for us.
Because the districts we work in; one is Şirinevler, one is Ataköy. They are in the same region, built on the same soil. Just a road runs through it.
An overpass connects these two districts. So maybe there was a hundred meters or so separating them from each other. As you can see in the visuals, there is a serious difference in the documentary. There are both social and economic differences. But we saw that the scissors narrowed a little more. This is a little surprising to us as well. As I said, of course we were waiting. We expected that both sides would be seriously affected, but it was a little more than we expected.
In fact, rather than sharing an astonishing result on this subject, which clearly and specifically hit SLOT’s radar, our personal observation was this: There is a serious case of skipping meals. In both districts, we encountered very little garbage leftovers for breakfast.
This surprised me. There are natural reasons for this. We also give them in the video. But when we first heard about it, it was a little surprising when we saw it.
While shooting the documentary, we did not experience any difficulties in the neighborhoods. Our only intensity may be the weather opposition, or the municipality’s garbage teams may have collected the garbage.
Of course we can avoid this. We determine the garbage collection hours and are not there during the garbage collection hours, we are there beforehand. I can’t say that people are interested in us during the shooting, I can’t say that they are not interested. Like this; At first, when we examined the trash cans in front of the apartment, I was thinking that people might intervene because they have their own trash, maybe it was something they didn’t want to show, maybe it was something they might be uncomfortable with. It was a completely unnecessary worry. Because it’s a trash can. It doesn’t say who’s trash is on the bag. So no one showed any discomfort about it.
Other than that, they sometimes ask us in districts, for example, in Şirinevler; “Were there any safety problems for you when you were mixing the garbage?” No, it definitely didn’t.
So the only interesting thing there is someone going through their garbage, which is normal. No one is from there but it is a surprise to see that there is a camera filming it. Sometimes there are people who want to join the game. Sometimes they say that they don’t want to give an image or an interview when we want to participate in the play. But the rest, that is, our only thing, may be the weather opposition or the distance of the districts to the regions we live in. They are also not something to regret for a documentarian, we have been living this for years. So the reason why I say this is that we do not have any difficulties during the shooting. Of course, if we enter other districts, more criminal districts tomorrow, the color of the matter may change a little more.
During the shoot, we do not have a conversation with people, and to be frank, we are faced with a typical question asked to a person with a camera in hand: “What are you shooting, friends?”
Most people don’t understand when we say, “We are making a neighborhood analysis out of garbage, we are evaluating Şirinevler and Ataköy neighborhoods”. They do not ask a second question in order not to show that they do not understand. Very rarely, that is, it is one, two, but not five, not ten. They’re trying to understand, like, “What kind of analysis?” The people we meet and get along with the best here are the single, single friends who collect materials for recycling from the garbage.
Friends who collect plastics, papers, iron, etc. They can understand very clearly when we say “We are doing a neighborhood analysis” and they start a dialogue with us. They try to provide as much information as possible. They may have special complaints within the framework of what they see and feel in their own emotional world, and they express them. Indeed, they can sometimes make observations that document the research we have done. Other than that, I can say that people generally do not understand what we do.
As SLOT, we will try to include such studies frequently.
Umut accompanying us in this video is an academician, a researcher. We will carry out various studies in the company of such professionals. As for the interesting part, we want to examine the issues in a different way, as I answered in the previous questions. As I said, there is a crisis, there is a way of expressing the crisis. How can we achieve that narrative style differently, how can we make the video watchable?
Because at the end of the day, you are doing a job, you are spending a lot of effort, you are making a production. You want people to watch this. Look, we did a job. We have obtained very interesting results. Or we witnessed the story of a very interesting person. Have a look if you want. This is our main aim. Therefore, we want to tell them in different ways and stay in touch with the audience.
We have more beautiful topics, very beautiful formats.
Since these are at the stage of taking on flesh and bones, it would not be right to share them in advance. If I need to give one such a front soufflé, we’ll be making a purchasing power video soon. In fact, we can say that it is a research video again. Two Roma twin brothers live in the Roman neighborhood of Çatalca: Cem and Can. But one of them; Cem meets a woman, falls in love and gets married. The girl lives in Frankfurt. Upon his wife’s proposal, Cem goes to Frankfurt and settles there. With this economic crisis, we are trying to see the standards between the two brothers.
We will record them and present them to the audience. One is incredibly affected by the relative crisis, while the other claims to have pushed their living standards way up. We will go to observe whether it is so or not. My guess is that it will be a video that we can go on the air like October. This might be the soufflé I can give for now. But as I said, we have started the new broadcasting period. We want to meet the audience again and more strongly with new formats, new stories, new file topics.
You can watch the 1st episode of the documentary “Neighborhood Analysis from Garbage” here:
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