BEHIND THE FLAK …..
The two large black spitting cobras were gingerly lifted from their enclosure and deposited very carefully in a secure container. Their handler wore fake designer sunglasses to protect his eyes from the cobras’ venomous spitting which generally precedes a much nastier and usually lethal bite. With the enclosure now snake-free, cameraman Pete Rowe manoeuvred into the empty cage to film a “snake eye’s view” of our actors. Welcome to the world of Taking the Flak, a comedy about journalists covering a war in a fictional African country.
The cobras proved to be more malleable animal actors than the twenty leopard tortoises we had filmed earlier. Or the featured goat that our art department bought to ensure “goat continuity” during our shoot. The goat—named TTF by his keeper-- never reciprocated the fondness shown to him by the cast and crew. In fact TTF even attempted escape during one night shoot. He recaptured by an impressive flying tackle from a security guard. And then there were the zebras….and the lion we never saw.
Shooting ‘Taking the Flak’ in the spectacular scenery of Tanzania, a country famed for wildlife created unusual challenges. John Wayne had filmed in the same location for a 1961 Hollywood spectacular “Hatari”—Swahili for “danger”. A story with more action than plot, “Hatari” also had their share of animal trouble when a rhino spectacularly gored an actor as they filmed a chase scene. The actor survived and the producers simply wrote the photogenic accident into the script.
Outside our historic hotel, where white hunters stayed in years past, a rampage of elephants had been staged for “Hatari”. And we heard firsthand tales of Wayne’s film. One woman remembered, “I delivered the costumes every morning and walked the leopard cub.” BBC Health & Safety guidelines nowadays discourage predators on set. Which is why we had an imaginary lion and stayed safely in vehicles even when filming zebras.
Writing and co-producing Taking the Flak with comedy producer Jon Rolph, we aimed to create a unique blend of humour and reality. Having covered a few real African wars, the art department would sometimes ask me questions like “does this look like a mortar?” as they welded fake-but-accurate looking weapons on a flat bed vehicle. Fortunately we never had to explain to the local police why our action vehicles driven by the “rebels” and “government forces” had military markings and carried (strictly fictional) firepower as we had been welcomed with open arms by Tanzania and the town of Arusha.
“Hollywood Comes to Arusha! Major War about to Break Out…BBC sends in Reporters to Cover Conflict—Not a Real War!” blazed the slightly inaccurate headline of the local newspaper, The Arusha Times. But sometimes it was difficult to separate fact and fiction. “There are Maasi warriors in the back in the shot”, shouted Jon Rolph from the monitors one day. And there were indeed Maasi in all of their finery looking casually noble as they watched the action, having wandered into shot. On other days, Maasi warriors along with many other locals played valued extras. Happily, our extras loved the comedy of “Flak” and appreciative applause would sometimes greet the actors after especially good takes.
The plotlines mirror themes from the world of television news covering exotic but misunderstand parts of the world. The fictional BBC news team has to struggle daily with London to justify their place on the nightly news bulletins. And they also have to struggle against the arbitrary nature of working in a part of Africa that is prone to unexpected challenges from roadblocks to rebels. As we filmed in our fictional world, we were keenly aware of developments in the real world from the U.S. presidential race to the economic crisis. New script lines would reflect changing events and players in the headlines. The comedy about current affairs must be current.
Hosting the locations for Taking the Flak was certainly a change from the tourism business that sustains Arusha, Tanzania, the jumping off point for the largest game parks in Africa. But the complex logistics that large productions require were never a problem. Safari operators who normally ran tented expeditions in the plains of the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater provided our catering and --on days when we were in wilder locations—provided tented “bush toilets.” Efficient and even atmospheric, these tented retreats are the one aspect of the shoot that the cast and crew won’t miss. Bush toilets aside, “Team Flak” never lost the joy of simply being in the most stunning landscape in Africa. Our backdrop everyday was majestic Mt Meru, an ancient volcano, while further down the Rift Valley on clear days, Kilimanjaro would float magically in the distance. We feel that some of this magic will be shared by viewers of Taking the Flak.
The two large black spitting cobras were gingerly lifted from their enclosure and deposited very carefully in a secure container. Their handler wore fake designer sunglasses to protect his eyes from the cobras’ venomous spitting which generally precedes a much nastier and usually lethal bite. With the enclosure now snake-free, cameraman Pete Rowe manoeuvred into the empty cage to film a “snake eye’s view” of our actors. Welcome to the world of Taking the Flak, a comedy about journalists covering a war in a fictional African country.
The cobras proved to be more malleable animal actors than the twenty leopard tortoises we had filmed earlier. Or the featured goat that our art department bought to ensure “goat continuity” during our shoot. The goat—named TTF by his keeper-- never reciprocated the fondness shown to him by the cast and crew. In fact TTF even attempted escape during one night shoot. He recaptured by an impressive flying tackle from a security guard. And then there were the zebras….and the lion we never saw.
Shooting ‘Taking the Flak’ in the spectacular scenery of Tanzania, a country famed for wildlife created unusual challenges. John Wayne had filmed in the same location for a 1961 Hollywood spectacular “Hatari”—Swahili for “danger”. A story with more action than plot, “Hatari” also had their share of animal trouble when a rhino spectacularly gored an actor as they filmed a chase scene. The actor survived and the producers simply wrote the photogenic accident into the script.
Outside our historic hotel, where white hunters stayed in years past, a rampage of elephants had been staged for “Hatari”. And we heard firsthand tales of Wayne’s film. One woman remembered, “I delivered the costumes every morning and walked the leopard cub.” BBC Health & Safety guidelines nowadays discourage predators on set. Which is why we had an imaginary lion and stayed safely in vehicles even when filming zebras.
Writing and co-producing Taking the Flak with comedy producer Jon Rolph, we aimed to create a unique blend of humour and reality. Having covered a few real African wars, the art department would sometimes ask me questions like “does this look like a mortar?” as they welded fake-but-accurate looking weapons on a flat bed vehicle. Fortunately we never had to explain to the local police why our action vehicles driven by the “rebels” and “government forces” had military markings and carried (strictly fictional) firepower as we had been welcomed with open arms by Tanzania and the town of Arusha.
“Hollywood Comes to Arusha! Major War about to Break Out…BBC sends in Reporters to Cover Conflict—Not a Real War!” blazed the slightly inaccurate headline of the local newspaper, The Arusha Times. But sometimes it was difficult to separate fact and fiction. “There are Maasi warriors in the back in the shot”, shouted Jon Rolph from the monitors one day. And there were indeed Maasi in all of their finery looking casually noble as they watched the action, having wandered into shot. On other days, Maasi warriors along with many other locals played valued extras. Happily, our extras loved the comedy of “Flak” and appreciative applause would sometimes greet the actors after especially good takes.
The plotlines mirror themes from the world of television news covering exotic but misunderstand parts of the world. The fictional BBC news team has to struggle daily with London to justify their place on the nightly news bulletins. And they also have to struggle against the arbitrary nature of working in a part of Africa that is prone to unexpected challenges from roadblocks to rebels. As we filmed in our fictional world, we were keenly aware of developments in the real world from the U.S. presidential race to the economic crisis. New script lines would reflect changing events and players in the headlines. The comedy about current affairs must be current.
Hosting the locations for Taking the Flak was certainly a change from the tourism business that sustains Arusha, Tanzania, the jumping off point for the largest game parks in Africa. But the complex logistics that large productions require were never a problem. Safari operators who normally ran tented expeditions in the plains of the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater provided our catering and --on days when we were in wilder locations—provided tented “bush toilets.” Efficient and even atmospheric, these tented retreats are the one aspect of the shoot that the cast and crew won’t miss. Bush toilets aside, “Team Flak” never lost the joy of simply being in the most stunning landscape in Africa. Our backdrop everyday was majestic Mt Meru, an ancient volcano, while further down the Rift Valley on clear days, Kilimanjaro would float magically in the distance. We feel that some of this magic will be shared by viewers of Taking the Flak.
posted by Tira at
21:06
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