“Don’t Make Waves While Approaching People…”

The seminar of Internews Armenia on TV production and filmmaking held in June was not a typical one. Conducted by Paul Baird, a filmmaker and consultant from Great Britain, it focused on the human aspect of filmmaking without sticking to traditional boundaries and rules of television. The 12 participants from various regions of Armenia learned not only the technical elements of filmmaking but also the ways of approaching people. As Paul Baird said, “I sometimes spend hours in the street just looking at people’s faces. Sometimes, they may not even become the characters of my film. I just try to understand them better.”

The seminar resulted in a 16-minute feature film “Big Brothers” on the relations of animals and people. The groups of participants worked separately, producing the documentary components that were later combined into one film.

As one of the participants stated, “The most essential thing that we learned was dealing with potential characters of our films. Paul taught us to approach people “without making waves” so that they can open up easily.”