Well I guess I'll start this whole thing by providing some introduction to the mess that is myself. I've been at UNC-W for about four years and have attempted to keep a low profile. Whether I was successful in this endeavor, I do not know. When it came to my senior seminar I decided to pull out all the stops and applied to direct my senior documentary. I admitted that I had little experience directing documentary and was partnered with the awesome Brittany Edwards. She has kept me on track so far and I am extremely grateful for that. I was also grouped up with Taylor Doss, who has worked with me before, and Cody Cannon. Both these guys will help me get the aesthetic and auditory traits I wish our film to have. They're also super fun to hang out with.
The documentary subject I choose is extremely close to home for me. In 2008 Irina Yarmolenko was found dead ten minutes from my home. Two men were brought in for her suspected murder, Neil Cassada and Mark Carver. Cassada died of a heart attack before the trail and Carver was sentenced to life in prison based off only one piece of evidence. I remember how deeply the tragedy affected me. I was used to personal tragedy's and the process of grief, yet I had never witnessed a death like this. It felt sudden, meaningless, and there was no time taken by the community to grieve. Irina was seen as a stranger, the trail was rushed, so that the status quo could continue (that was my interpretation of the events at the time).
So now seven years later I have decided to go back and make an effort to understand this tragedy that was forgotten about by the majority of the communities I lay claim too. Now there are those like me that couldn't help but speculate on the true events of the day that Irina died. Through the years of speculation I noticed one thing. Through this speculation the humanity of the victim was lost, Irina had been reduced to a mystery in the larger narratives eye.
From there I got my direction with this project. I intend to discover and understand Irina as a person. I want to understand this crime by understanding the victim. So the concept of the project in my eyes is a true crime documentary that becomes a portrait of a woman lost to the ravages of time and a violent act.
My research for this project will mainly be building contacts for interviews and verifying Irina's timeline and the claims people make about her life. Now I don't plan on asking the family and close friends for interviews right off the bat. It would feel wrong and I think I need to gain their trust first by showing that I am willing to put in the work. So I have been studying and contacting the attorneys, community leaders, and reporters who covered the case. So I'm starting with the outside and working my way into Irina's inner circle.
I've already conducted my first interview with one of the defense attorneys. David Phillips, the dailys will be posted to my google drive shortly. Next I plan on interviewing the reporters while getting more attorneys, and professors at UNC-Charlotte. The research for the project will have to be fluid, and will have to allow multiple paths of inquiry. For that very reason I will not resort to a strict path of research.
I have also been collaborating with a independent researcher who runs the website freemarkcarver.com. While I do not prescribe to her agenda (seeing as to make this documentary I have to remain impartial) her research is extensive. I am working to verify her sources but so far most of them are verified by public records. I will attach the link at the end of the post.
In the end the path forward is vague, but I will not let that deter me. Once I obtain more interviews the path to finishing this documentary will become clear. I am optimistic for this projects future, precisely because I believe the subject matter is worth telling and I have an excellent crew backing me up.
With much consideration,
Knox Gray
http://freemarkcarver.com/
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