(Turkey Phase 3 2001)

Roast Turkey

Tuesday April 17
th


Izmir is Turkeys third largest city with a population of two million, but with the benefit of a Medi-
terranean ambience. Its setting is dramatic; a huge bay backed by mountains to the east and
south. It has had a long and eventful history, but most of its historic past has been swept away by
fire, wars and earthquakes. My hotel was right on
the sea front, overlooking a fairly workmanlike
harbour with naval boats, fire tenders and ferries,
making an interesting change from the bleakness
of wintry Anatolia.

Ebru met me and I was taken to the managerial
building, some distance away from the TV studio,
where I met Izmirs Head of Television. Introduc-
tions and pleasantries over, we took a short in dis-
tance but somewhat circuitous journey around Iz-
mirs one-way system to the studio building
nearby,
which is situated in a huge park. It really was a rather
nice setting for a TV studio, fountains, green grass in
abundance and trees. Green is not an Ankara colour in
winter, but certainly was here.

The inside dimensions of the studio are about 25 metres
by 15. There was a comprehensive barrel system, a bit
widely spaced, but quite serviceable, although it was
sporting some rather ancient lamps: theatrical type non
pole operated 2Ks, scoops, and soft lights without egg
crates. The cameras were Hitachi SK110A tube cameras,
which had been ubiquitous at TRT and are now gradu-
ally being replaced. Everyone was extremely welcoming and keen to make me feel at home.


The view from my Hotel window on arrival.
Izmirs studio is set in a spacious park
Wednesday April 18
th


Cloudy and rainy. Well, at least that made me feel at home. I
had wondered whether I would wake up on time, but a large
alarm clock in the shape of a fireboat moored just 20 metres
from my bedroom window must have woken half the city when
it blasted its hooter at 7 a.m.

I was taken in to the Design office, which had a rather nice
view over the extensive park. The Design staff comprised three
girls and one guy. I was shown a scale model and plans for new
set. I could feel all eyes on me as I was asked for my opinions.
The plans were all done properly, with lighting barrels shown
dotted! Now thats a first. Excellent. I sat down in a corner and did a workable (I hoped) plot in pen-
cil.

Later we went down to the studio and I did a portraiture workshop for about 20 people. It was a mix-
ture of lighting people and designers. Once again, I started with a comparison of the different light
quality and control of their different lamps. I managed to find a redhead, Mizar, 2K fresnel and a soft.
During the session I built up portrait lighting whilst describing each step and what the various possi-
bilities were.

No restaurant on the premises so it was back to the main building for lunch, followed by a lighting
workshop on the new set for a discussion programme, which was being built.

A closer look at their lighting stock showed
an urgent investment requirement.
2K scoops, no rolling pantos or drop arms, no
dual filament lamps. O.K. Where to start?

An early task was to get over the concept of
having a norm of running lamps at 70% on
the fader and all the advantages that it would
give. It was whilst I was diplomatically talk-
ing about the short comings of some of their
kit that my eyes alighted on a large box with
many pipes and cabling connected to it over
one end of the studio. My Turkish colleagues
saw my eyes narrow as I
tried to work out what it
was. Its a laser, Mr. Mike!

Its a what? I said in some disbelief. You have these old lamps that desper-
ately need either maintenance or replacement, and you have a permanent laser?

I remember, as no doubt many of you will do, of the time (was it the mid
1980s) when lasers were in in rock lighting in studios. My heart used to sink
when the Director would ask me if there were any potential problems. Well,
apart from the large power supply requirements, the equally large cooling re-
quirements and the safety requirements the size of Genesis (the book, not the
band) no real problems to speak of. Oh, and the time to rig and the cost. Thank
God for nice safe moving lights. At least they dont burn a hole in the cyc from
20 metres. Dont ask.

Izmir Studios, not exactly Shepherd
Bush
Theres a laser up there somewhere..
For the benefit of
younger readers,
this is a 2K scoop!
I took the opportunity of the remaining daylight to have a walk around the town and enjoy the nice
late afternoon sunshine.

That evening, I went out for a meal with Mert, one of the
lighting men who was also making a good stab at learning
English. A dramatic drive up into the mountains to a splen-
did seafood restaurant Mavi Yesil. (literally Blue-Green) I
got the impression that Mert was keen to learn and to im-
prove his skills as much as possible. He was young and very
keen to become a Lighting Director. Our pleasant evening
chatting about TRT, and this and that was given a dramatic
turn when Mert was breathalysed on the way back down the
long and winding road some miles out of Izmir. Fortunately,
I didnt have to walk the rest of the way, either Mert was under the limit or he knew the policeman!


Thursday April 19
th


Ebru and Ahmet informed me that we were to visit an outside
broadcast that was to record a music show, with folk dancing
out in the open air in the grounds of a large Hotel, just a few
miles up the coast. There we met a very nice producer speaking
perfect English who showed me what he intended to do, where
the cameras were going to be
and then asked me what I
thought about his plans and
would any lighting make it
better?

I took a deep breath and gave him the benefit of my thoughts on
location lighting in intense sunshine knowing full well that TRT
Izmir didnt have the means to fill using lamps or even to reflect
sunlight at that point in time.

After a pleasant lunch and a walk around the grounds, we didnt
have the time to stay and watch the show, so we returned to the
studio where I was to give a seminar to Producers and designers. I
did it from my laptop via an RGB converter to a Plasma screen, which
was not at all satisfactory. Fuzzy, incomplete pictures meant that the 50
or so people who turned up were not best
entertained.

However, Ahmet and Ebru seemed very
happy with the way that the session went.
Perhaps I was being too fussy.

It was a calm, spring like evening and later
we went by ferry to the other side of the bay
to take a rather nice seafood meal on board a large boat with lovely views
of the sun going down over the Mediterranean. This was more like it! An-
kara may be the centre of the TRT Empire, but Izmir is where I would
want to work if I were a humble lighting man. Quality of life and all that.


Location planning meeting, me, the
Producer and Ebru
This was about as near as I got
to lighting on this particular trip!
Ahmet and Ebru sailing for
our supper.
Well, a chap has to eat.
Friday April 20
th


Warm and Dry, again. I
could get used to this.

We checked out of the
Otel Kilim and went
to the studio to advise
on lighting a kind of I.
T./ computing pro-
gramme. I also asked to
look at a tape of yester-
days programme,
which looked quite good, in spite of my interference! This
was followed by lunch with the Head of Izmir Television.
We said our goodbyes, and headed for the airport. I think
Izmir has got a lot to offer TRT in terms of enthusiasm and
professionalism.

An uneventful one-hour flight to Ankara and that was the
end of another working day. I unpacked in my usual room,
114, and went to eat in the restaurant. Without exception,
all the waiters came to see me as if I were a long lost
friend. My musical friend, Orhan came over to tell me
that he was off to the States on Wednesday to do a Turk-
ish Evening for someone. All expenses paid and some free time as well. Nice one.

Saturday April 21st

Warm and Dry. I am getting used to this.

A free day. To minimise knee damage, I took a bus (500,000
lire about 30pence) for the six miles down to Kizalay, one of
Ankaras main shopping district. The most amusing part of
the journey was when the bus driver ordered standing pas-
sengers to crouch down when he saw a parked police car.
There is a law about the number of standing passengers per-
mitted; it was just so funny seeing some ten people of all
ages crouching in unison and then standing up again a min-
ute later.

In the afternoon I spent some time putting the Izmir studio
on the computer using Corel Draw. I was later to e-mail it to
Mert only to find that he didnt have the necessary software
to read it! (He has since got it) It will be interesting to see if
this encourages the guys there to change the way they do
things. There didnt seem to be a corporate interest in going
down the computer lighting design just yet.

That evening, the restaurant was absolutely packed. Orhan
came over and had a chat, and we discussed his American
trip. His English is infinitely better than my Turkish but it
was still a fairly stilted conversation. Later, lots of people
Plasma screens and on line contribution from viewers feature in this Hi-Tech
looking set. Note the grey scale!
Izmirs Lighting and Vision Control Gallery
My attempt at plotting Izmirs studio on
Corel Draw.
danced on the small dance floor, and my thought was that if the happiness from the people there to-
night was distilled and sold at 5 a bottle, Turkeys economic crisis would be solved at a stroke.

Sunday April 22
nd


Wet. Ah well.

To the big studio in Irkut. Another set
was being constructed for a music pro-
gramme. I met the lighting men and I
asked them what they planned to do.
There wasnt a consensus, and I was told
that they wanted me to show them what
I would do. I took a deep breath and
once again explained that I would never
normally be in this position of having to
light a large set without the normal (to
us) process of planning and preparation. I felt that it would be more useful to watch them and advise
on lighting tweaks and hints where appropriate. The
set had a series of arches so I suggested under lighting
them in a different colour whilst always remembering
to use as few colours as possible. To the designer, I
suggested avoiding using shiny materials and bare
neon tubes which seemed to be very much in vogue.

Sami was impressive in his setting of lamps and barn
doors. He still needs to pay attention to angle of key
lights. Halil took my suggestion of under lighting the
arches to heart and was gesticulating and arguing his
case for floor lamps with the Special Effects lighting men.

Todays surprise was that someone at TRT had ordered and given them some new
gobos for the Martin 1200s, but they didnt like them and, having tried them, were
in the process of taking them out. I explained how an L.D. in Europe would choose
appropriate gobos and order them for a particular programme or series. Their
smiles and body language told me that they clearly understood and appreciated the
logic, but Mr Mike, this is TRT!

Ebru met me for a meal afterwards in a very smart restaurant near to the American
(V large) Embassy. This was not a meal for the cholesterol watcher; a plate cov-
ered in thin slices of succulent meat was then deluged in hot molten butter.
Kucuk (little or small) I offered to the waiter as he poured. With a smile he
obliged giving me a teaspoonful less than the quarter pound or so that he had put
on my companions meal.

Monday April 23
rd


Bright and sunny, but very windy.

This was a public holiday in Turkey: Childrens Day, an
institution initiated by Ataturk to celebrate the fact that
Turkey was a young country and that children were the
future of the country.

Rigging for a Classical music programme.
Underneath the arches..
TRT likes to do things on a grand scale
I went for a walk, down to the lake and took a left turn
for a change. Clouds started gathering and looking dis-
tinctly stormy. After a couple of hours I was back on a
tarmac road and heading up a long hill by some old brick
works. Big drops of rain started to fall from a very black
sky. There was nowhere to shelter, so I admitted defeat
and hailed a lone tacsi that brought me back to TRT to
dry out.

Tuesday April 24th

I was devastated to hear from Tarik that there had been
three earthquakes centred on Ankara the previous day, all around 2.3 on the Richter scale. My devas-
tation was at not being aware of any of them!

I re-visited the newsroom and checked out the lighting in both studios. Working on a training basis
such as mine was a bit like one of those guest spots on a Light Ent. show when the fleet of foot and
hand artiste was trying to get a hundred or so plates spinning on long canes. I just had to keep re-
visiting studios to make sure that the message had not only got through, but was sticking. Today, I
tried to persuade Mr. Fatih, the technical king of the News Room, about the need for a proper key
light, with a lens. We agreed to do tests the next day.

Meanwhile, it was back to Orkut studio to spin a few more plates. Here, a rather nice, elegant and
classical set was being erected. It was one of the best sets that I have seen at TRT. The Designer,
however, caused considerable tension between herself and Sami, who was lighting, by moving part
of the set without first asking him if it was OK to do so. What made matters worse was that Sami had
already lit the part that had been moved. A case of Stage Rage if ever I saw one.

I tried to encourage the guys to use the Martin 1200s to produce a static effect on the set rather than
just having them forever swooping and swirling.

Wednesday April 25
th


I met Mr. Fatih and introduced a small tungsten key light
for the news presenter in the newsroom. I added a com-
bination of 0.5 CTB and brushed silk. It gave the desired
result of catchlights in the eyes and a little gentle model-
ling. We moved into the main news studio and checked
each spinning plate, sorry, lighting condition. There
were some burnt out lighting gels to be replaced, a bub-
ble had failed and was replaced. Some floor lamps
needed adjustment having been knocked since my last
visit some weeks ago.

Thursday April 26
th


The morning to myself, so I went down for a walk by the lake. Spring had arrived in Ankara. It was
warm and very pleasant; nightingales singing, swallows swooping, spring flowers everywhere and
even a wild tortoise!

Then it was a Tacsi down once again to the large Orkut studio, where Sami was lighting a pro-
gramme with a chat area, music and dancing. I suggested two sidelights for the dance area. There was
a large centrepiece to the set, which was translucent. I suggested various ways of lighting it from the
floor.
Anyone fancy a second hand Turkish
Brickworks?
I get my proper keylight at last!
I also persuaded him to use a different pattern in one of the Martin lamps, and to rotate it only very
slowly.

Friday April 27
th


Warm and sunny.

Today has been a bittersweet kind of day. This morning, we were whisked to the magazine studio
where I spent a fraught 40 minutes try-
ing to sort out the problems of that pro-
gramme. It was not made easier by the
noise of a sound rehearsal and various
lamp problems. I felt as though the
plates were falling off and smashing
around me. There were too many inter-
twined problems to resolve in this stu-
dio The time I had in which to reap
changes was quite insufficient, and I
hated having to leave the studio without
having made all the changes that I knew
the programme deserved. But, like
many other medium sized TV studios,
there was a heavy schedule of re-
cordings and transmissions to be met.
The time for major changes should be
when a new set was planned, and that
would inevitably be when I wasnt
around.

In the restaurant that evening, I felt
quite sad, knowing that this was to be
my last meal here on this trip. I was
going to miss the exotic and tasty food,
the Yakut red wine, the music and gen-
eral ambience, but most of all the Turk-
ish people with their warmth, friend-
ship and hospitality. At a nearby table
were a group of the presenters with
whom I had worked on the costume
and make up training. No less than
three of them came over to my table for a chat. I was really going to miss them all.

Saturday 28
th
April

We visited the old studio building and left brilliant sunshine to descend to a gloomy subterranean
dungeon like room where we held a discussion about matters arising from my report. Some of the
lighting men had been less than happy with my previous report, in which I had commented on their
apparent lack of interest and involvement in the programme, which they were working on. Fingers
jabbed at relevant parts of the translated printed version and Ahmet painstakingly translated the Case
for the Defence- of me!

As always, there were things that had fallen into a black hole of communication which exists in our
own country, let alone when two languages as different as English and Turkish. Two hours later after
much passive smoking on my behalf and many cups of tea later, we parted as friends, as I promised
Setting up a quiz programme in Irkuts smaller studio. No
dedicated cyc lighting at all.
Later that day, a totally different programme. Usually just
two lighting men are allocated.
to take on board their own problems in the form of an amendment to my current report, which I
would duly have to deliver to TRT management.

Lunch was taken sitting outside a pleasant restaurant
where the inner man was re-fuelled. (Bathroom scales,
you have been warned) and we returned to the Orkut stu-
dios and held another discussion with the L.E.lighting
men. It was good-natured as ever, and I promised to do
my bit for them in the shape of recommendations for new
kit, resources etc.

Sami was rigging and focussing for the weekly Lottery
programme. How many of us would be prepared to be LD
and sparks for a big show when all rigging had to be done
with the set in place. Not usually the same place either.
Planning, what planning was the topic for one of the seminars that I ran for Design and produc-
tion staff.

A barrel system without pantographs or even drop arms, soft lights without egg crates, no colour
frames, no dual filament or profile lamps, moving lamps and pars that cant be moved, need I go
on?

So I wont.

Sunday April 29th 2001

That warm sunshine again, and an hour or two to enjoy it before competing packing and heading
airport-wards once again.

We had a couple of hours to kill, so Ahmet took me to a bar/restaurant that had been recom-
mended to him. So Raki and an excellent meze was taken a little earlier than usual in a splendidly
atmospheric place that was Istanbuls equivalent of a Fleet Street bar. Like Fleet Street, the jour-
nos had long since gone elsewhere, but the memorabilia remained to entertain. As we staggered
(due to the uneven paving, you understand) back to the main street, I resolved to memorise its lo-
cation for any future visit to the land of excellent food and drink. A few minutes later, I realised
that I didnt have a clue where it was in relation to where I was.
The lighting men of Irkut Studio
Setting up for the weekly Lottery programme
I returned to an amazing shop selling nautical memora-
bilia of the large brass and glass kind. Istanbul, apparently
has had a speciality in ship breaking for many years. A
ships PBX phone system built to survive a hurricane was
in full working order, I was assured; a huge brass search-
light, almost a metre high, with spare bulb and in full
working order beckoned at just $1000. I tried to imagine
it in the lounge at home alongside my small collection of
old lamps! I think I would have met a slight degree of
consumer resistance there.

There was even a signalling lamp with barn doors and a
fresnel lens lurking in the shadows. In the event, I settled
for a more humble ships bell which could be interesting for the airport security
mans X-ray machine.

Back to TRTs Istanbul studio centre. We arrived at eight p.m. to find that they were still striking
the previous set. This when a reasonably large set had
to built and lit by transmission time of 2310. The light-
ing men were taking a quick meal in just another of
their long working days.

Heyrettin, one of the pupils of our training course of
1999 arrived and we exchanged the usual (for Turkey)
greetings of good friends- a kiss on both cheeks. This
initially took a bit of getting used too, but its definitely
a case of When in Rome-

In Istanbul at least they have a flexible monopole system and all pole op lamps. Heyrettin had
fully appreciated the advantages of the new
digital Phillips cameras. For this regular and
popular Sunday night live Caf/Bar pro-
gramme with music, chat and dancing, he
had adopted a lighting level of 200 lux giving
him the advantage of good visual separation
of the (very pretty) presenter and her guests,
and the rather less attractive faces sat at ta-
bles in the background. His coloured gels
were lasting well in rings behind the barn
doors because he had quickly taken to our
BBC message of using a normal fader set-
ting of 70% instead of whacking everything
on at maximum as had been the philosophy
at TRT prior to our training. Best of all, he
had met with co-operation with Racks, pro-
duction and cameras in achieving the excel-
lent pictures that I was seeing.

With the new cameras had appeared some nice new monitors which altogether made the place
much more workable than previously. The guys were keen to line up the monitors, even a spot
meter was produced: the first one I had seen in TRT.

The CCU operator was working closely with lighting to achieve his objectives. Very refreshing.
Toys for boys.
Heyrettin lighting to 200 lux on the Sunday night
Caf/Bar live show in Istanbul.
Although the lenses were being used virtually wide open, the
pictures were, on the whole, very good. No Technical Directors
complaining about low lighting levels here.

We stayed for the first part of transmission and I was pleased to
note that Heyrettin was working in an interactive and creative
way as transmission progressed. Again, Istanbul does have the
advantage over Ankara of a combined lighting and vision con-
trol area. I spent a short time advising on the correct way to set
up a monitor in the gallery. It was altogether a very satisfying
visit. Istanbul television should be proud of its lighting staff and
their colleagues.

To sum up, this was the end of almost 60 days of my time work-
ing for TRT in their three major Studio centres. I worked hard to achieve some difficult objectives
and hope that most were actually achieved. In hindsight, I now realise the
enormity of the task that I undertook. Quite apart from the actual acquis i-
tion of knowledge by the lighting people involved, there was the more in-
tractable problem of their status and position in the structure in which
they work. I made various recommendations in reports to programme and
management departments at TRT.

Along with my Design, Make up and Costume colleagues I continued to
stress the importance and benefits of planning in the programme making
process. Curiously, I noticed that TRTs satellite studio centres in Izmir
and Istanbul were actually further down that road than TRTs main centre
in Ankara. Im not sure why this is, but I think it might be that smaller
studio centres generally function better because of the smaller numbers of
staff involved. They meet up informally more often and communication
generally can be better and easier. The test will be how much has changed
if and when I am invited to return!

Monday April 30
th


Just time for a walk in the park before the great car chase, sorry,
transfer to the airport. Eyes partly closed and grasping the seat
belt for re assurance as we sped, braked and wove through the
city that makes London look like a country village. Finally into
the cool and calm of its new and very handsome airport. Istanbul,
that is!

Today its a Boeing 737 and apart from no in flight mag, no Eng-
lish papers, no sound coming out of my earphones, and no in
flight info about how cold it is outside at 31,000 feet, all was well.
I just hoped that the important electric bits were OK.

Oh, in case youre wondering, the in flight meal was Roast Tur-
key!





200 lux and differential lighting
enables the cameras to get vi s-
ual separation between guests
and audience.
Tramsport of yester-
year!
Sunset in Izmir
Thanks are due to all those at TRT who made my stay in Turkey comfortable, especially Ebru and
Ahmet, my intrepid interpreters, but most of all, Tarik Baykur who, as head of training at TRT
was instrumental in setting the whole thing up.

Once again I have to say, that of the countries that I have been to, Turkey really steals the show;
its people are so friendly, kind and hospitable.

Thanks also to some of our Sponsor companies, ARRI lighting, LEE Filters, and ROSCO lighting
for providing me with samples and Gel cutters, all much appreciated by the lighting men of TRT!






Mike Baker January 2002