I braved reading the first line of the previous post; definitely not my strongest, most bold hour...but, I am pleased to say that things are looking up! Since then, last week sometime, much has transpired. The highlight must have been a pretty intense 36 hours, including a somewhat spontaneous trip us Sani Pass, and an overnight location recce in Loteni.
Sani Top was magical. The place has an ethereal quality, which I now more than ever cannot wait to capture on camera. What is exciting me most is how the contrast between the two worlds, that of the "Low Lands" (literally Loteni) and the "Highland Plateaux" (Lesotho), will read so strongly on screen. Furthermore, I think that shooting up there will truly create the mythical, archetypal energies I was always wanting to explore in this film. So, in essence then, we've found our "Old Man's Hut", which was always going to be a crucial location to secure, and there has been no compromise on securing this one.
The following day, which was Wednesday 12th September, we re-scouted Loteni, securing and consolidating the locations I'd already set down as potentials. Shooting on location as we will be, is going to provide many new challenges. But I also feel it will free us up in some ways, as the shoot will become a "shoot of essence". We can only use what we can carry with us over a distance of roughly 3km's (the average distance to most of the locations), and as such will very often be shooting almost on the way to another location. Nonetheless, being there at first light (we stayed over there), was fantastic, as the hills literally "come alive" for the first hour after sunrise, with a stunning, intense contrast being created by the long shadows, never mind the usual richness in terms of colour, provided by golden hour. So, much of the shooting will be done at these times, which will mean a very early call time for the crew....sorry guys!
Otherwise, we're at that stage when the final consolidation of all the planning needs to happen. Quotes are still coming back, (much to my dismay, as I tally figures), so now all remains is a few more rehearsals, collecting the gear, collecting the catering, heading off, and shooting the movie! HA! I make it sound so easy.
Perhaps one cause for my current optimistic disposition, is the rehearsal I had today. I met with Cobus and Bohyi, playing Reitz (the protagonist) and "The Old Black Man", respectively. It was really awesome to see the script take on life. It was suddenly real. No longer a concept in my head, or ink on a page. There before me were living, breathing people, undergoing real lived experiences. Now all that remains, in this magical process that is filmmaking, is to capture it on camera. But an additional element to the excitement, is that I'm finally beginning to do some of the creative work. Well, that's not entirely true, the entire process is creative. Even the "producer-like-deal-getting" phone calls are all a part of the process of turning the intangible into the tangible. But the point being, in a more specific sense, my creative choices were called into play, as we approached the scene from varying angles, trying different adjustments, working through motivation, etc, etc. Fantastic fun.
So, 9 days to go...but I now know we'll get there. Exciting.
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