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Kaan Çakır

Process

From the first idea to the finished film: how I produce, with examples from my own work.

Through the salon window: a camera assistant holds up the slate (“Brazilian Blowout”, scene 51, take 1), actors behind.
Set photography: Alice Orio

How I work

  1. Mira, smiling and looking down, tends herbs in a balcony planter at dusk.

    Development

    Exhale

    A pitch for an MA observation brief, notes on the first drafts, and research questions for interviews with people who had moved to the UK.

  2. Two stylists stand over a seated client by the salon window; Lydia waits in the background, reflected in a mirror.

    Financing

    Blowout · Punk Politics

    Two films crowdfunded on Kickstarter, both over target: £6,050 of £6,000, and £1,101 of £1,000.

  3. Ashwin looks at his phone at the table, seen over Mira's blurred shoulder, with soft pink flowers in the foreground.

    Casting and contracts

    Exhale · Exactly the Same

    Casting briefs and sessions, an Equity contract, and contracts for student crews of up to 17.

  4. The shoot map: the Goldsmiths campus marked with the unit base, the shooting location at the Curzon Goldsmiths cinema and the actors' pickup point.

    Schedules and shoots

    Exactly the Same · Blowout · Punk Politics

    Call sheets and shooting schedules; shoots in a working cinema and a working hair salon, and two interview shoots in Manchester.

  5. Alison in front of floor-to-ceiling record shelves, smiling and looking off-camera.

    Recces, safety, releases

    Punk Politics · Sustainable Fashion

    Recces, risk assessments and contributor release forms.

  6. A board covered in punk band badges beside shelves and a framed print.

    Post-production

    Punk Politics · Sustainable Fashion

    Interview transcripts, and clearances for archive images, footage and music.

Development: Exhale, from idea to shoot

  1. Oct 2023

    The MA brief, “Drawn from Life”: make a film from something you saw in London. My pitch was a man on the Tube, texting in English with someone who wrote to him in Turkish.

  2. Nov 2023

    I wrote notes on the group's first drafts, and research questions for interviews with people who had moved to the UK.

  3. Jan 2024

    Anna Solomko and Sunalika Jain take the script through six drafts. Casting runs 15–19 January.

  4. Feb 2024

    Two shoot days in a flat in New Cross, 10–11 February.

The film:  Exhale

On set: Blowout

Set photography: Alice Orio

Meet the crew The crew’s Kickstarter video, with captions, is on the Blowout page 

Recurring collaborators

Writer-director of Blowout and Exactly the Same; script supervisor on Exhale.
Sienna Jacob
Sound recording and design on Blowout; boom operator on Exhale.
Andile Msomi
Co-producer and production designer on Exhale.
Maya Mandell
Cinematographer on Blowout.
Si Tong Chen
Cinematographer on Exhale.
Aidan Schramm
First assistant director on Exhale.
Lily Kennedy
Second assistant director on Blowout (and on screen as a customer); runner on Exhale.
Jade Barnes
First assistant director on Blowout; kit driver on Exhale.
Anmy Pazos
Electrician on Blowout; second assistant camera on Exhale.
Prachi Chandna
Foley artist on both.
John Fewell