Movie shooting, a memorable experience

MAUREEN ODUBENG
Staff Writer | Friday August 3, 2007 00:00

The crew members have set up their areas of shooting, the most prominent probably being the small village/semi town built just as you enter Kgale View. The buildings simulate the African Mall in the olden days.

To someone who does not know, the buildings look like they have been standing for a long time yet they were built only recently. Only Mma Ramotswe's office has some fresh paint. 

Seeing scenes being shot is quite an exciting experience. In a nutshell, the cast and crew are always as busy as a bee, as theirs is a race against time. Movement of visitors during the time of shooting is restricted to avoid disturbances.

The preparation for the shooting is intense, and has to be done only by professionals. While actors prepare themselves, getting into the right costumes and make-up, the production crew are arranging their equipment to make sure everything is in order before the actual shooting begins.

The current location is dusty and with a lot of movement, the dust can be choking but that does not deter the committed crew. The lead actress, Jill Scott, has people they call stand-ins, who include local musician/rapper Desma Basson, musically known as Ice Queen. Her role is to test microphones, camera lighting, for the star (Jill Scott). The role of stand-in ends there - and she does not appear anywhere in the movie. As we watched the shooting, publicist Joey Sapieka explained that a stand-in in movies should not be confused with theatrical understudies as they cannot sit in for the actor in case the actor is not feeling well or should anything happen to the actor or actress.

As everything has to be perfect, the stand-in is dressed in exactly the same attire as the actress. Basson sits or stands exactly where Jill Scott is supposed to be standing with the production crew on cue, to check the necessary details before calling in Scott to do the shooting. After the production crew is satisfied that everything is in place, Scott then assumes position for the film to start rolling.

'You have to make sure your cellular phones are off, as a phone ringing can cost millions in waste,' the film publicist explains.

While the camera is rolling everyone is silent, movement in the direction of the camera is restricted, the only people speaking are the ones in action. During the filming of this particular scene, on Arts and Culture - we managed to see Mma-Ramotswe sitting at a friend's cake stall, selling cakes. Apparently one of the clues to the crimes Mma Ramotswe is attempting to solve is contained in one of the cakes. Scott sits in a chair, with a number of cakes that will make any passer-by salivate.

The owner of the shop's little girl, Lily, is seated next to Mma Ramotswe as handsome but bad boy Charlie Kgotso (played by renowned British actor Idris Elba) shows up and plants himself in a chair on the other side of the table where the little girl had been sitting. The man briefly chats with Mma Ramotswe while rudely chasing away customers enquiring about the prices of the cakes. The little girl is sent to the store, and sent back again to buy ice-cream as the good looking Charlie Kgotso talks to Mma-Ramotswe. Mma Ramotswe dressed in something many Batswana call their traditional attire, leteisi, chats with the young man calmly before he chooses a cake, which costs P500. With Mma Ramotswe nodding 'Excellent choice', he slams the money on the table and leaves. Prior to his departure, Mma Ramotswe's secretary, played by another American actress, Anika Noni Rose, who features in Dreamgirls, approaches the table and nicely asks the gentlemen if he can take a picture, and he rudely declines, only to come back later with the little girl enjoying her ice-cream telling Mma Ramotswe she did a good thing with her camera and managed to take a good shot.

Filming however can be a tiring process for one who is watching, the scene is repeated again and again, shot from different angles, so that the editing crew have a wider choice when making the final cut for the movie.

The movie, however, does not end with those playing bigger roles; there are those who play minor roles called extras. The extras are shown what to do; some of them just walk past, pretending to be involved in conversations. This particular scene - on Arts and Culture - is a pure joy to watch. It has two lady extras, in the beginning, who walk as they chat. Then there are two security guards who present moneyboxes and walk away, and a gentleman who walks to another extra, a phone-shop operator, and makes a call.
Arts and Culture officials sat there for several hours watching the same scene being shot over and over again.

The crew is expected to wrap up the Kgale View shooting in about a week's time and move to other locations, including Mma Ramotswe's house in Zebra Drive near the Gaborone Sun.