quote:
Originally posted by XS650:
You obviously have the writing ability to do it right. I think the way to go would be to put it on a website with pictures and link to it here and other places.
I've been meaning to do that for years. While there are many photos on the net there is, as far as I know, no video of the places I've been, especially in Pripyat and the outlying areas. The problem is I'd need to edit all that footage down then convert it to something smaller in file size. That takes time, computing power, and hard disk space I don't have. Then I'd have to find someone to host it.
I put a CD of some raw footage on Ebay a year ago. The response was good so I know there are folks out there interested in the subject. But I felt bad making a buck off it so I donated much of the footage to an independent filmmaker working on a 20th anniversary project. The documentary should be released next year after we return to Ukraine in April. I'd be satisfied if people simply learned something from it and paused to remember. It's been a long time and many remain uninformed about the event, that's obvious from the misconceptions I've heard.
My writing ability? I dunno. I think I write as bad as I film. The vidoes are not professional because I wasn't there with that purpose in mind, although they were done with a decent 3CCD camera. I had no crew on the visits either, just one escort and myself. Think home movies. Plus there is some behavior that needs to be cut, both for security reasons and because sometimes strange things happen in a place where the security people are bored and tend to drink. Lol, there is nothing like mixing vodka and AK-47 carbines to make life in the Zone interesting.
I enjoy writing but I've no real skill at it and, as you can see, I tend to to be long winded. I may put something up here as a test and see how well it's received. A few members have offered to host photos.
Or I may fade away. After all this time I'm in the winter of my association with Chornobyl and it's getting time to move on. It's strange how the place can get into your blood though. Do you remember how Richard Dryfess was compelled to go to Devil's Tower in the old Close Encounters movie yet didn't know why? Lol, that's how it was for me with Chorno. And the first time I went a guy who works there told me: "You'll miss the Zone after you leave, once you've been here you'll want to come back". He was right but I never did quite figure out why.
I dunno. We'll see. My interest over the years is partly due an exposure to the people and culture. Without it the reader/viewer is left with little more than a passing interest in a faraway place long ago forgotten by most, even if it's a place unique on Earth.
[ October 22, 2005, 12:31 AM: Message edited by: chenobylite ]
