The Dogs They Are A Howlin'

Alex has been ill and also busy with 18-hour shoot days, so all he had to send me were these two pictures. But I have to say that the photo of Lionel and Treppie doing the important dog howling scene, is amazing. This is a favorite pastime, passed down to them from their Grandfather, to howl on the front porch so that the neighborhood dogs would all join in and thus, piss off the neighbors.

















The second photo is Lionel Newton and Eduan Van Jaarsveld in conversation with DOP Jamie Ramsay.

Crew Call: Any Wild Clappers Available?

Alex sent me today's shoot rundown...

Day 22
Probably because it was on a Friday, today turned out to be one of the best-humored days on set. Not only were the cast on top form (both during and in-between takes!), but some elaborate practical jokes kept spirits high as the weather inevitably took a turn for the worse.

Scenes for the day were a continuation of the past two days - a chase involving some acrobatics from the cast (no stunt doubles for these tough guys), followed by the arrival of the police.

The wild nature of the scene, with Coco Merckel and Oscar Pietersen full of light-hearted menace (if such a thing exists), had the cast, crew and local residents in stitches. Not all of the action took place in front of the camera: I myself provided unwitting amusement to my fellow crew members, thanks to the efforts of Jamie and Wiaan. Called to a field next to the set just before lunch, I 'wild clapped' for sound across the entire paddock, an entirely made-up task that looked as ridiculous as it sounds.

No sooner had lunch been digested than the sun gave way once more to cloud, rain and thunder. A change of plans was on hand and the madcap antics of the Fort Knox crowd gave way to interior shots in Lambert's Den. Designed to be inhospitable, the Den is not exactly beloved by crew or cast.

Image below: Here's Paul Luckoff as Pop, outside Lambert's den:


With some good vibes still lingering from the morning session, we plowed on into the late afternoon; notwithstanding some very loud thunderclaps. Not a patch on my wild claps, of course...

Chase Scenes Completed Seconds Before the Deluge

Alex Pearse sent me a recap from yesterday's shoot:

Day 21
Action was the order of Day 21, with a violently hilarious chase scene involving Lambert and The Fort Knox Boys, plus some inclement weather providing more drama.

Images below: Crew sets up for one segment of the chase sequence while (second image) Director of Photography Jamie Ramsay (in red cap) is in consultation with Focus Puller Wiaan Matthee.


Lambert's escape from the very irate Fort Knox residents was successfully created, thanks to some mammoth performances from a very talented cast, namely Coco Merckel as Beerguts, Astrid Braaf as Bikini Girl, Craig Palm as Speedo, Carmel Fisher as Speedo's girl and Delia Meyer and Oscar Petersen playing their party guests.

Tony Caprari as the baboon man was, as always, a joy to behold...

In the picture below: FortKnoxBoys: Speedo (Craig Palm) leaps from a tree in pursuit of Lambert while Oscar Petersen awaits his chance.

Just as we were congratulating ourselves on having successfully navigated the vagaries of dodgy weather, we got a little reminder of the awesome power of nature. At a little before 12:30 am, the skies opened with such ferocity that within minutes the city's drains were overflowing. Needless to say, film making was hastily shoved off the agenda in favor of finding shelter for crew, cast and equipment.

Although we had had several hours of beautiful sunlight to film our dramatic chase scene and the antics of the feral baboon man, our schedule for the rest of the day had to be altered dramatically.

Image above: Clapper board takes a break during the storm.

After intense discussions between director Michael Raeburn, first AD Grant Nale and script supervisor Elaine Butler, a plan B was hastily conceived. The gaffer and camera department got to work lighting the set for an afternoon of interiors and work resumed.

Our recompense for a lunchtime of misery came moments before the final shot of the day: Joburg's skyscrapers bathed in pure gold as the setting sun burned through the mist and rain. This is why Johannesburg is called The City of Gold.

Lesbian Suitcases, Welding Visors and Headless Cats

It seems like the Triomf production crew can finally take off their wellies and get some shooting done. It was also discovered that it is not beneath Triomf's director, Michael Raeburn, to get down on his hands and knees to coax a wayward actor (a dog who needed to be more vicious). This report came in from Alex Pearse late last night:

After three weeks of relentless rain, Jo'burg finally came aglow with the kind of scorching summer day it is famous for. Needless to say, the cast and crew of Triomf were more than relieved that the weather lottery looked to be ending and that the important job at hand could continue.

So it was smiles all round at 6:30, the damp atmosphere at breakfast having been replaced with some kind of enthusiasm (well, as much as is possible at that hour.)

It was good that spirits were high, such was the scale of the task at hand. With eight scenes to shoot and a host of actors and extras to coordinate, Day 20 promised to be one of the biggest yet. Just a quick glance at the props list - lesbian suitcases, cat without a head and Lambert's welding visor - tells its own story.

Recreating early nineties South Africa is a deceptively challenging task because unlike a period drama where everything needs to be recreated and the lines between what is real and what is not are very clear, the recent past and the present blur into each other, yet also include a number of very stark differences.

Negotiating this challenge has been a major task for Triomf's Art Department and today proved to be their day in more than one way: AWB campaigners on horseback, rag and bone men, a couple moving house - all meant wardrobe and props standby were working off their feet. It all came together nicely though, under Michael Raeburn`s fastidious eye, DOP Jamie Ramsay brought it all to life.

It wasn't all work-work though - the day had its lighter moments too. In particular, the crew's attempts to get Producer Natalie Stange's dog (playing the role of obnoxious neighbor Beer Guts' pet) to shake off its docile demeanor and play vicious (or at least bark), was something to behold. Not one to let his troops do all the hard work, Director Michael Raeburn got down on his own haunches and tried to coax an award winning performance out of the beast. (Notice the dog's nose sticking menacingly through the bars in between Michael's legs.)


With a glorious highveld sunset telling us the lighting department was about to stand down, First AD Grant Nale called it a day. With the shadows getting longer by the minute, we wrapped and packed, with cold beer, good wine and something other than the set's staples of chicken and rice on everyone's minds!

Location Recce - Sunday August 26

This past Sunday Michael took a small group of us out to the film's main location - a small house in Jan Hofmeyer Park in Brixton - to discuss various aspects of the shoot. Art director Tiaan van Tonder got the opportunity to see how much work he would have to do to get the place looking the way Michael wants it to. Our DOP Jamie Ramsay got to see the dark & cramped spaces in which he would have to shoot for around 5 weeks. Michael and Natalie spoke to the homeowners - Ernest, his sister Doreen and her truck driver husband - about the alternative living arrangments being made for them for the duration of the shoot: they will move into a caravan that will be placed in their neighbours' backyard. In the meantime, I shot lots of material for the film's "Making of...", and we all marvelled at how closely the entire place - the home where we will shoot, the surrounding neighbourhood and its inhabitants, even the mangy dogs - resembled exactly Marlene van Niekerk's description of the place in her novel.

The effects of grinding poverty are everywhere visible, from the mud-soaked and rubbish-strewn backyard, to the men and women lurching drunkenly across the open field at 11am, to the skinny dirt-covered kids playing with home-made wire toys in the dusty streets.

Now while there are many communities in South Africa that have failed to find their place under the warm sun of the new democratic South Africa, there is something about this place that sets it apart from every other: one has the sense of a place that has truly fallen off the edge of the world. There is not the slightest ounce of hope in these streets.

But I'm quite certain the film will change all that: the homeowners - Ernest & co. - are sweet and humble people, but already they are utterly gobsmacked that their home is to become the prime location for an international feature film. They are talkative and curious and surprised at the fact that anyone would want to point a camera in their direction. Although the other residents mostly ignored us on Sunday, this too will change once cast and crew start moving in and causing a commotion. Then we can expect crowds of curious onlookers. The countdown has begun...