Scribe shares moments as extra on Mma Ramotswe

| Thursday March 20, 2008 00:00

 

My journey to taking part in The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency began one wintry morning in the month of July near Borakanelo Police Station at the bus station, from where ecstatic extras were ferried to a location in Mokolodi.

The movie, which is based on one of the books by the celebrated Scottish writer, Alexander McCall-Smith, caused a stir in the country last year when Hollywood filmmakers finally agreed to shoot it entirely in Botswana.

When I received a call informing me that I had been chosen as an extra, I could not believe it because I had auditioned just 'for kicks'. I had been advised by the woman from the casting agency that I had to dress like a person in a village setting.

When I raked through my closet, I could not find anything that would make me look 'rural' for my part, so my cousin came to my rescue by lending me an 'overall'.

Now as I sit in the comfortable bus that is ferrying us to Mokolodi, my mind is busy at work as I wonder what to expect on the film set. To my utter dismay, a few talkative characters, who claim to know a lot about the film industry, start bragging about their 'so-called' experiences.

'You guys must remember that you are just extras. You may not appear in the film at all,' says one loudly, irritating the quieter would-be actors.

When we arrive on the film set, we are shepherded to an open space where an array of colourful clothes are displayed by the people in charge of the wardrobe.

I realise these are not the kind of clothes many Batswana would wear and somehow I feel that whoever was supposed to do research on the wardrobe slept on the job.

Being just an extra I know I cannot dare express my disappointment. A white woman, presumably a South Africa points out at me.

'You come here, you are going to be a tourist,' she announces. Me, a tourist? I wonder but there is no time to argue as she hands me a colourful shirt and plain pants. I am somehow relieved that at least the pants are not as colourful as the shirt.

The friendly woman tells me that I am the first dread-locked person to appear in the film and I wonder if that is an honour. Perhaps that is why I was chosen to be a tourist from an 'East African' country. From there we are handed some tags and warned that if we lose them, we can kiss our meals and payments goodbye.

Among the extras, there is a good number of Mokolodi villagers who seem very excited to be part of the film. While we the 'city slickers' complain about the quality of the food, the Mokolodian folk gleefully gobble it up and some even go for another helping.

Some of the white South Africans, presumably from the casting agency, show us their nasty side as they start bossing us around.

I get first hand experience of their appalling attitude when I get reprimanded, like a baby for being where I am not supposed to be by a certain white woman.

I call a black South African assistant aside and tell her about the bad attitude of her fellow countrywoman and demand to see somebody who will listen to my grievances. I also point out that I am not that desperate to be part of the movie. Then I begin to think of McCall-Smith, the man whose books have brought us all together.

Despite being a famous the Scot, he remains a very humble person. Having interacted with the author several times on a one to one basis, I found him charming and I was disappointed that somebody who is supposed to help with the shooting of a movie based on his work is being so nasty.

The black assistant agrees to call somebody to address my issue but she just disappears for good. Much later, all is forgotten as we head to the set, a market-place.

Somebody spots the leading actress's double Desma 'Ice Queen' Basson and shouts, 'There is Jill Scott!'

Another extra argues that the person is actually Basson who also happens to be a local celebrity.

I realise on the set that there are two kinds of extras. There are extras who are 'regulars' in the marketplace and have to be at specific places at specific times like shopkeepers, street vendors and so on. Then there is what I would call roaming extras who can be slotted in any scene and I turn out to be a roaming extra. Being a 'roaming extra' is a taxing job as I later discovered because you can fit almost anywhere and sometimes you get used in many scenes.

Although I try to be as elusive as possible, someone 'sniffs me out' and I soon appear in many scenes. One of the memorable scenes is the one in which my 'fellow tourist', Dan Kazonda and I, hold a huge suitcase and walk past 'Mma Ramotswe' driving in her husband Matekoni's colourful tow truck. The shooting of the scene, which must have been one of the most important scenes of the day, takes almost half a day and it leaves Kazonda and I very tired.

Amazingly, at the beginning of the shooting of the scene, it is Scott's double, Basson, who is aboard the tow truck. Somebody explains that Basson is doing lights and sound testing for Scott. When we do the shooting with Basson we are allowed to chat to each other but then when Scott takes over, we are asked to mime, as we do not have speaking roles in the movie.

When the shooting ends, I join some of the extras who had become my friends for the day and to my surprise I find them chatting to Scott. The leading lady is making jokes about the Batswana kids who seem to be intimidated by her presence. Being the reserved person that I am, I do not join the conversation but Scott, who turns out to be very approachable and humble, 'involves' me when she makes eye contact with me as she does with the others.

A few minutes later, Scott is escorted away by security and we head back to the tents to change into our clothes and get our payment. On the way, one of the 'roaming extras' who took part in the tow truck scene faints. She had earlier complained of fatigue and a headache.

On arriving at the tents, we are given P75, which is our payment for the day, and some of the extras complain of having 'suffered' so much for such little money. As we alight from the bus at Borakanelo, I sigh in relief. Being part of the 'Mma Ramotswe' film had been a tiring, but enlightening experience indeed.