Taking the Flak - Cameramen and War
It's the penultimate week of Taking the Flak, so here is another exclusive piece of Red Button content. This week we go behind the scenes to meet both the real and fictional Directors of Photography. We find out what it takes to be a cameraman in an action packed field and how to avoid taking a backwards tumble:
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Tira Shubart, the co-writer and producer of Taking the Flak, gives us an view of what it was like for Team Flak to set up a fake civil war in Africa.
Staging a fictional civil war can be trickier than covering a real civil war.Ìý The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is rightly proud of its health and safety rules which in Africa is a lot more difficult for a large cast and crew than a small news team covering real action. Taking the Flak was filmed in beautiful Tanzania, a country with vast herds of wildlife, spectacular plains and famous mountains like Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru which can be seen in the many of our scenes. So we were able to call upon safari outfitters to make things happen.Ìý
Behind the scenes a dozen Landrovers bumped along African roads carrying actors, crew and vast amounts of equipment. Camp hands put up canvas "bush toilets" for our many locations outside the town of Arusha. And caterers who usually feed trekkers on Kilimanjaro would arrive magically every morning--no matter where we were--and set up their kitchens for the team and large mess tents to sit and enjoy a much needed meal.
Team Flak spent a lot of time in tents. We had catering tents, the toilet tents (the less about them the better), the dressing room tents, the tents to shade the cast and the extras from the blazing sun, and then there were the refugee tents....
For Episode Six, our brilliant Art Department had to create a whole refugee tented city. The old used tents they acquired had to look even more beaten up. Our set designers were masters at sprinkling dust and bits of scenic looking rubbish around, and our refugee city was born.
But what about the weapons?Ìý Our young actors playing child soldiers carried replica guns--Kalashnikovs or AKs--made of rubber. And the mortar seen on the back of a rebel vehicle is simply a pipe welded on a platform...as for the impressive tank....is it real? We leave that for you to decide!
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