37 Uses for a Dead Sheep R: Ben Hopkins   Land: Großbritannien/Türkei 2006 Drehformat: 16mm, 8mm, Digibeta, MiniDV Vorführformat: Digi Beta PAL, Farbe, s/w Länge: 89 Minuten Sprache: Kirgisisch, Türkisch, Englisch mehr Informationen

Die Pamirkirgisen sind ein etwa 2.000 Menschen umfassender Stamm aus der Pamirregion in Zentralasien. Die vergangenen 27 Jahre haben sie im Osten der Türkei verbracht, der letzten Station ihres jahrzehn­telangen Exils. 2005 begab sich Ben Hopkins mit einem englisch-türkischen Filmteam in ihr Dorf, um sich von ihnen ihre Geschichte erzählen zu lassen: wie die Ablehnung des Kommunismus den Stamm aus der Sowjetunion über das maoistische China in das von der Sowjet­union okkupierte Afghanistan und von dort in die Türkei verschlug. [aus dem Forumprogramm]

How would you describe the aesthetics of your film?
A melange of different formats. A multi-flavoured sheep soup.

Why did you choose to shoot on a digital format (was it solely for financial reasons, or did aesthetics play a role)?
We shot on 16mm, 8mm, Digibeta and MiniDV. We used the MiniDV to cover the process of the shoot as a kind of "goat on the wall" making-of-a-goatumentary kind of goat-filter cam thing.

What was special about shooting digital (e.g. compared to 35mm, was it your first time with dv or are you used to it ..)?
I've shot everything from Super-35mm downwards or upwards and livestock, I have ascertained, prefer digital formats.

Which format exactly did you choose (MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, HD...), and why?
We chose MiniDV because it fitted the camera we had (a PD170). And I like to keep things simple.

What was your shoot-edit ratio?
On the mini-DV it was very high, something like 60:1. This is mainly due to the influence of our production manager, Cem, who enjoyed shooting endless footage of sheep, goats and shadows on walls. Some times I requested certain precise shots to be taken on Mini-DV, but most of the time the PD170 was there for whoever felt like shooting on it - and so we have footage there from most crew members...

One good word about dv (or two):
It gives a sense of freedom, which is good. And livestock respond well to it.

One bad word about dv (or two):
I have nothing bad to say.