Official Release

The finished film is now online and ready for views and comments from the general public.  I encourage everyone to watch it and let me know what you think.  It is 35 minutes long which may seem like a lot, but the response from everyone has been that it does not feel that long.  I have received comments of wanting more and people describing it as “a really fun time”.

It will be entered at the Great Lakes International Film Festival as well as others once I have  had the time to do the research.

Take a look at the finished product and let me know how you feel about Life in Ruins.

 

Opening Night

The showcase could not have gone any better.  From family, to friends, to the President of the college being in attendance it was a success from the very beginning.  Alyssa Hannah revealed her work first, Woman to Woman, and it was great.  The audience was captured by her story and production and it was accepted with applause.

Life in Ruins was next and even though I was a little nervous, as soon as the Andy Borts hit play, that feeling vanished.  I was ecstatic at the reaction it was having on the audience.  I occasionally looked around to see their faces and expressions and I could not have been happier at what I saw.  The production concluded to thunderous applause and I knew that all my hard work had paid off.  The President of the college came down to the front of the theater, shook my hand, and told me I did a fantastic job.  That alone would have been enough to make my day.  My family came down and told me how proud they were of the hard work that I had put into it.  Hearing that made me feel even better.  I knew that I had made a lasting and accomplished documentary at the point when I was talking to my advisor, Mr. Bradley Weaver.  He told me how much he enjoyed it, that I should enter it into multiple film competitions, and that there was nothing I should change about it.  Hearing that made me 100% sure that my production and senior project was something to be proud of.

It is a day that I will always remember.  It was a great conclusion to my college career and with the feedback that I received from it, I am confident that it will help me get a job in the very near future.

It’s almost here…Official Press Release

Newark, OH

Drew Trifelos, a senior broadcast communications major, is a son of Jim and Melanie Trifelos and a graduate of Granville Christian Academy.  The Inspiration for his documentary, Life in Ruins, came from a number of things.  It takes viewers into the life of one of the worlds oldest civilizations in a time when the world sees them as falling apart and on the brink of destruction.

“It was a really good experience and learning about one of the world’s oldest societies and how they are dealing with one of history’s most difficult situations was really eye opening and helped me understand the vast differences between the world’s cultures.  It was a journey that I will never forget and I hope everyone who sees it will never forget it either.”

The Secret Ingredient

Imagine your favorite movie. Now picture the best scenes of that movie and what was going on at your favorite moment.  Chances are it was either an action sequence, a romantic moment, of something that affected you personally.  At that moment or scene, I guarantee that either leading up to it or during it, there was something that helped set the mood without you even realizing it.  That something, was music.  Without realizing it people are put into the moods that the filmmakers want them to feel through the use of music.  It is quite possibly the most underrated aspect of films and the like.

For my documentary I am definitely going to use music.  I have had experience and success in the past with music and setting the mood and I feel that any successful production is not complete without the right combination or arrangement of music.

My search was very easy.  I decided right off the bat that I was going to use traditional Greek music, but what I didn’t plan on was the use of tunes and beats created through Garageband on my MAC computer.  For the traditional Greek music I am using the work of the Kaikas family Band.  They are close friends with my family and go to the same church so getting their permission to use their work was not a problem at all, and I thank them immensely.

At this point in time I have not added music to Life in Ruins, but that is the next step and I am extremely excited to add this vital part to my documentary.

As of now I do not have a sample to share,  but if you doubt my theory on how much of an impact music really makes, then check out any movie trailer, or go back and look at your favorite part in any movie, and you will realize just how much music helps the scene.

Is it better to ask for Permission or Forgiveness?

Things go wrong and things happen when doing a documentary that makes you travel.  Unexpected and sometimes serious issues come up and put a halt to the project.  Things like this make you put aside the documentary and deal with them right away.  This particular situation could have put an end to my film and who knows what else.

Service Learned through “Experience”

Service learning is an educational method where service is integrated into the course curriculum and requires that the students reflect on shared experiences.  Service learning incorporates the mission of the College in the classroom allowing students to grasp “real-life” experiences in their field of study, while meeting community needs through service.

http://www.westminster.edu/acad/drinko/sl/sl_overview.cfm

The project that I am currently in the process of completing can definitely be related to service learning.  According to the Westminster Mission Statement service learning is “an educational method where service is integrated into the course curriculum and requires that the students reflect on shared experiences.”   This is a really important part of Westminster College.  It means using your education and research to benefit others.

My documentary “Life in Ruins” can definitely fit this description, as well as the definition from the American Association of Community Colleges website which states “Service learning combines community service with classroom instruction, focusing on critical, reflective thinking as well as personal and civic responsibility”.  It can tie into this definition with its culture-shock value as well as its informative nature, which will show how different environments have different and some of the same issues, as well as different solutions and ways of dealing with problems.  Other cultures have different mindsets, which help them deal and cope with their issues in different ways, ways that to us could seem weird or illogical.

There are many stereotypes associated with the Greek culture.  Some are good, bad, funny, very few serious, and it seems that people don’t really know things work in other countries.  By showing this I feel that my project can definitely be classified as service learning, as it “reflects on experiences,” and “allows students to grasp real-life experiences.”

Another Piece

Melina Efststhiou is an invaluable part of my documentary that cannot be replaced.  She is one of the few participants and interviewers that I did not know going into the project.  I knew of her through my family and friends over there as well through my father.

Ms. Efstathiou is a Greek business owner and co-owner of the Sirius Group: a company that sells high-end stereo and sound systems all over the world.  She was born in South Africa due to her families traveling for their shipping business.  Her parents moved back to Athens when Melina was a small child and she has called Greece her home ever since.  She currently resides in a northern suburb of Greece.

I interviewed her because of her background and current involvement in business in Greece and all over the world. She contributes a credibility that is unique and hard to find and her insight and expertise really move the project along the right path

She, like all of the participants in my documentary, offered everything she could to help the process along.  She even offered her car to my father and me in order to go to a location that she thought would be great footage.  This is just one example where her caring for the wellbeing of my project was shown.

Great Lakes Opportunity

The film festival I am submitting my capstone documentary to is a rather large and competitive one.  It is the Great Lakes International Film Festival.  I like to sometimes, and with the things I am highly confident in, to apply the motto “go big, or go home.”  It is not the cheapest or easiest of the film festivals that I found, but I figured that if I could do well, place, show in the final category or showing, then it will be a success.

It is owned by the Great Lakes Film Association – a non-profit organization that is dedicated to showing independent films and presenting the works of independent filmmakers.  It takes placed the last week each September.

They feature all types of genres from documentary to animation and more.  The festival has taken steps and progressed from its beginning to make itself better.  In 2009, the festival was the first in the world to offer all of its films, including full feature lengths, online in a completely secure setting.

“It awards filmmakers and script writers for Best Script; Best of Genre; Best of the Fest; Best Cinematography; Best Director; Best Actor; Best Actress, and more, the Great Lakes International Film Festival is an excellent stop on the fest circuit for filmmakers interested in having their film presented to a very warm and welcoming audience, meeting celebrities, parties, and networking with phenomenal filmmakers from across the country and around the world to the award ceremonies, industry professionals, and much more.”

Needless to say, this festival is the real deal and I feel that by doing my documentary to the standard and level that I demand of myself, I can submit it to this prestigious festival confident on doing well and maybe (hopefully) getting noticed on a bigger scale.

Is it for sure 100% that this is the film festival I am entering? Probably not, things could change as time goes along but as of now this is where I want to showcase my documentary after it is presented in my school portfolio.

Here is a link to the page containing the winning documentary from last year folled by the link to the festivals website.

http://www.greatlakesfilmfest.com/Film%20Festivals/2010%20Great%20Lakes%20Film%20Festival/2010%20Films/Abandoned%20Heroes.htm

http://www.greatlakesfilmfest.com/

A Piece of the Puzzle

Without the help of some very important people my project and documentary would not have been possible.  One of the most important people that made the project possible was a relative of mine who lives in Greece.

Panayiotis Milionis, or Taki as he likes to go by, is the Husband of my grandmother’s first cousin (some cultures do not differentiate between levels or layers of relation and for the Greeks it is the same, but it is easier to draw a picture if the closeness of the relation is known).  He is an entrepreneur and an accountant.  He resides in Athens Greece and is semi-retired.  He lives in the city with his wife and daughter and has lived in Greece his entire life.

The reason that he is such a huge role in my documentary is because he has lived there his whole life, has seen many changes in the society, and has a willingness to help that is rarely seen anymore.

My father and I stayed at his place for a majority of the time that we were over there and without his generosity, the project would not have happened.

He loves his country and his family and will do whatever he can to help both.

He is a great person who lives in a society that is completely different of our own.

My uncle Taki did everything he could, and continues to ask if there is anything else he can do, to help my project.

That is only all for now…

The Plan

This idea came from a collaboration of thoughts.  The initial base concept was brought up when my father and I were talking about taking a trip.  He said Greece and I said “let’s make something work.”  The idea went through many phases and ideas but it rested on the fact that people don’t see Greek people or the life in that country the way that it actually is, especially recently.

I will show how life in a society that the media has made seem to be in turmoil and ruin is not as bad as the media makes it seem.  A variety of shots will be used to show this.  The music will play a major role in the emotion that the audience will feel at different parts of the documentary.  The narrator will take the role of the reporter, inquiring and making references about the subject to the characters that will be in it.  I will support my topic through facts and what is said in the interviews of the people that are living there.  I will show the markets, common places, homes, everything that needs to be shown to disprove the medias false hype.  I will show the artifacts that are unique to the country to establish credibility of the interviews and location. Natural audio as much as I can get it will be used.  Images will be used from friends, family, the interviewers, or anybody who offers or I see that has compelling or relevant pictures that I want to use.

I will first show how the media is making the country seem to be in turmoil.  Then I will show the country how it actually is, from the people that live there.  Life has indeed changed since the economic collapse, however, everyday life has not altered that much.  The people are still the same and live their lives everyday much like we do here.  Comedic relief will come with the proving or disproving of common Greek stereotypes.  It will be emotional, thoughtful, intriguing, revealing, and comedic.

This was the initial plan going into the project.  This is still how the plot and purpose are being put together and shown but the little details that I had planned have changed a little bit.  With the process of editing and organization the project seems to be going a little differently but it will not affect the finished product.  The same methods will be used to tell the story as planned but as I said, it may not come out exactly as I have previously stated.

I will keep up to date on the status and changes of this documentary as they occur