The home stretch

The chaos of it all slowly subsiding slightly, I thought I'd take this chance to note some of the significant individuals who were involved in the creation of it all, and thank them.

But first a little news update. We've found an editor. Which is a huge relief. A pro editor from Magic Hour Productions, who has thankfully agreed to get involved in the project pro bono. But we've chatted quite a bit, and I've got a good feeling, so...needless to say, am getting very excited to see what the rough cut will look like. What's almost equally exciting, is our desire to do quite a thorough grade in the new Apple application, Colour. And no, I'm not being paid to say this. Wish I was...Anyhow, have seen the creative potential of colour grading (i.e. specific adjustments, creating a tone and temperature for key moments and scenes in the film), and am excited to see the results we create for Commando. So, basically, the rough cut will be done before the 2nd Nov. The 2nd is the provisional date for when the commissioning editor is flying down from Mnet to watch a rough cut! So...ticking clock to get it all organised.

Basically, from there, we'll have to get working parallel on the foley and sound design, in the meanwhile, Cobus and myself will be working on the score and sound track. I'll fly down after my first exam to C.T. to sit in on locking the final cut, having seen the rough cut on the 2nd. That should be about the 15th Nov. Then, we'll lock the edit, work on the grade, integrate animation and credit sequences, lay the sound track, integrate the score, do the final mix, slap on titles, export the film to tape, do a conversion to BetaSP for broadcasting...and send it off to Joburg to be judged and screened..., I'll fly back in time to write my last exam (pass and graduate...I hope) or so the plan goes. The final deadline for submission is the 20th Nov...so...yes..ticking clock. But it should all go smoothly.

Anyhow, that's the news re Commando. But importantly, I just wanted to mention and thank the people who have given significant help and contribution to the project.

They are, in no particular order:

Sarah Dawson, my source of sanity and solace through preproduction, who fulfilled her duties as Production Manager with fantastic passion and enthusiasm.

Janet van Eeden, the project supervisor, for her continued support and belief, in both me and the story. And for wisdom and general encouragement.

My parents, Dave and Clodagh de Villiers. For not only entertaining and putting up with my mad ideals of filmmaking, but for actively encouraging me. Not to mention for helping out financially with cash flow and in a sense saving the project! And for accommodating and feeding all the crew that took over the home for a while.

Jacobus van Heerden. For internalising Reitz, for becoming a product of that time. For letting us throw freezing water on you in gale force winds and for making the film what it is going to be!

David Willert. As usual, for taking the project on board, for believing in me, and sacrificing so much to ensure the project's success. Not to mention for your visual creativity and experience as DOP, and for making the footage look so darn good!

Nik Kostic, my voice on set, my creative counsel, for containing and providing order and sanity when it all looks like it's going downhill. Not to mention, for validating the entire mad ordeal with fantastic, reassuring humour.

Christoph Hagen, for awesome work as (super)steadycam operator. Nice work man, and for "Autobahn".

Ant Delport, for trekking ridiculous miles as we explored and discovered the world of the film together, when it was all in its infancy.

Mbo Mtshali, and Kerryn Poole, for hard work and instant solutions in the costuming department...not to mention hot chocolate...thanks.

Luke Pallett. For more energy and commitment than I've ever seen. And for being two steps ahead of us all at every stage.

Ryan Maine. For Running back to camp to get the boots...wow! And an awesome death! Nice man!

Tom Hart, for carrying the mixer, fighting cables, and filming Sarah in the "making of". Nice.

My other parents, Marigold de Villiers and Tony Welch. For the usual support and for putting up with the usual angst, jubilation's and tribulations.

Sally Swart. Your experience and control over the horses made this film a possibility. You were utterly invaluable on set. Thank you for all the hard work.

Kate and Rowean Aldos. For great logistical coordination and for Kate's great make up skills. Super authentic...nice.

Gavin Sleyter. For making it possible to have the Dundee Diehards on set. You guys looked great. And for your historical advice not to mention saving it all in so many ways by generously providing the odd props we were needing.

Leon Bruitenbach, for coming on to set, making the trip and giving us the time, and for really exciting Special Effects. Always a pleasure working with you.

Jeff Gaisford, from KZN Wildlife, for giving us permission to shoot in the really epic locations we found at Loteni, and for understanding our budgetary constraints, but accommodating us anyway!

Jonathan Aldous, for likewise understanding how tight our budget was, but for making making it possible to stay at Sani Top Chalet. It was all awesome...and shooting in Lesotho, makes this film pretty special.

And to Chris Hurst, Dave Burch and Bhoyi Ngema, for likewise entertaining this mad filmmaker and his vision, and for inhabiting your roles so professionally. It was really a pleasure working with you both. I trust there will be more in the future.

And to Ian Roberts. For making the time and the trip to work on this relatively humble film. It was a fantastic having you on set, and again, I hope there will be more opportunities in the future.

If there's anyone I haven't mentioned at this stage, apologies. The credit list in the film itself will be fully comprehensive. However, your contribution was in all cases greatly appreciated.

So, that's that essentially, but on a different note, I began this blog with mention to my other film "Three Cigarettes", which is likewise in post production, but, given its entirely independent nature, and the advent of Commando, I had to put it on a back burner. However, just this last week, I essentially finished the rough cut to a semi-decent screening level. So, now what remains to be done is to finalise the sound track, work on the grade, tweak the edit, and get the film out there! Really exciting having two films coming out at similar times.

Post Shoot Blues

So, it's been a month since my last blog entry. I've been meaning to write and update for a few days now, as some of the most interesting emotional moments have been going on now, as the largely overwhelming experience of shooting begins to get processed and internalised. But, again, given the enormity of trying to encapsulate such metaphysical and transcendent, fleeting moments into words, or this blog, proves too daunting to begin, even an attempt. Beyond that, I've once again been, simply too busy and preoccupied to devote time and energy to writing.



But here I am, and am somewhat freed up, even though I'm thoroughly preoccupied trying to salvage my degree in the last two weeks of semester, and pending my passing, my degree. Which is exciting... I say freed up, as, in a sense I've now given the project over to new creativity, and to new collaboration. Which is both terrifying and relieving. Suddenly, for the first time in the projects life, I'm no longer carrying the majority of the responsibility. Well, I am. As producer, you're always first one on, last one off...so to speak. But, as of this morning, I've couriered the tape duplicates off to C.T. so the editor can get cracking on the rough cut ASAP. This is in some ways a little what the work flow system is like in the big budget world, i imagine. Wherein, post wrapping, the director takes a much needed 2 week holiday, and by the time he's back in the real world, the editor has a rough cut ready, and they can tweak the final edit together. So, in about 2 weeks, I plan on heading down to C.T. to do just that.




But, I guess the real news of the hour, is the shoot, and how that all went down. I don't know where to begin. Any words I write here will sound trite and be meaningless. The photos are quite nice, and give a sense of the adventure, the magical ride we all went on. But otherwise, I'm stuck as what to write. I could use adjectives, saying it was "epic", which it was, but you'll never know what it was like, being on set on day one, having very nearly not left Maritzburg, almost calling off the whole production because of major set backs that morning. How being up there, with Reitz in costume, a Mauser and bandoleer habitually and casually strung across his back, on horseback, with his felt hat somewhat arrogantly turned up on one side, I looked at him, with late afternoon sunlight streaming through patches of charcoal-grey, recently depleted rain clouds, casting a most beautiful backlight, and I realised....shit...we're making a Boer war film.



Or if I told you it was frustrating, could you comprehend what it was like having had a generator fail on us, with the result being that we had to leave for set with semi-charged batteries, as our schedule simply didn't allow for waiting around as they charged. The consequence of this being that when the batteries did eventually die, and the back-ups which were left on charge back at camp, didn't arrive at the arranged time, and the camp being out of walkie talkie range, and the whole shoot being brought to a destroying halt as we sent someone, the 4 km's back to camp to see what the situation was. And in terms of frustration, I could spend hours talking about what it was like working with untrained horses, and trying to cover and block already tricky scenes, with horses that refused to hit and stay on their mark.




But any narration of the shoot would be incomplete without stories of collaborative creativity, and comradeship because of, not in spite of the arduous and antagonistic environmental conditions we were dealing with, the lack of sleep, the lack of sustenance and depletion of emotional stability. I could speak of the times when people, sensing what was needed, slipped away, and brought a much needed flask of coffee on to set, during a particularly cold and wet night shoot in Lesotho. Or about the particularly heavy containers and equipment which were tirelessly and thanklessly trekked the 4km's in and out of set in Loteni everyday. Not to mention the incredible generosity of the staff at the various locations, both in Loteni, and in Lesotho, who not only contained and tolerated these mad filmmakers, but went the extra mile to help.





This is truly the magic of film. The manner in which individuals focus their energies to create a singular vision. To bring forth the intangible. The manner in which people adopt a project and combine collaboratively, their efforts, to make manifest a moment, which, and here's the crunch, existed and had its genesis in my head. That I find quite overwhelming...



There were fantastic moments. Moments when there are about 25 people, all focused on executing the next shot. I must admit, it's addictive. There is nothing quite like the experience of being totally "in the zone", when you're focusing everything you've got to execute the next shot. It's like conducting an orchestra, but not. It's like captaining a ship, but also not. It's impossible to describe, I think you just have to experience it. And it's such a good feeling that it keeps you wanting more, which is why you become mad enough to attempt this crazy business of filmmaking in the first instant.



There were moments of tension, of conflict, naturally. But you deal with these. There were moments of intense unity, where everyone is giving their all. Predominantly, it was an incredibly successful shoot. Amazingly so. So many things could have gone badly. But in total, very few did. We could have used more planning. I knew this. I would have loved an extra week, but who knows, even then I might have said we could have used another week. The thing is, to commit, and stick to it, and as I mentioned in my first post, then providence moves to. And, the doubting skeptic that I am, I really believe the execution of this shoot was miraculous. So we stuck by it, and pushed through the worst of it. And here, now, I sit, warm, showered, in front of a keyboard, a universe away from the cold, wet, dripping rocky interior of the stone hut in Lesotho, and the footage looks fantastic. Surpassing expectation. The weather was inconsistent, the lighting was all over the show, and like I said, the horses didn't behave themselves. But having said that, I thoroughly loved working with the animals. Somehow, they brought a validity and authenticity which was magical to behold. Cobus did a fantastic job as Reitz, his performance is awesome, the camera department did an awesome job under less than ideal circumstances, the management and co-ordination was executed professionally, and I brought through the vision as best I could.





Now, what remains to be seen is if we can rediscover and best represent the story that is contained in the material we've created. So, no doubt I'll have more to discuss and explore as we enter properly into the beautiful, but somewhat equally taxing period of post production...



I haven't done a very good job of encapsulating the shoot, but that was never my intention. To attempt so would be a naive and impossible undertaking. But, needless to say, for many involved it was a life changing experience. Which is arguably the best, most validating gift I, as author of the film and indeed process, could be given. To view more photos, you can check out the facebook site here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24942&l=584f9&id=709961927 and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25006&l=cf88e&id=709961927 with more to follow.