Fancy some post production?

So it's been a while since I've updated the progress of Slange Vang. I'm glad to say that the reason for this is that I've been grinding my arse off to complete this film, and so far it's been totally worth it.

 At this point in time, there are too few hours in a day and it shows in my eating and sleeping patterns taking a drastic turn for the worst.But this is what it's about. Having a dream, having no money, then sharing the dream with people and then have the privilege to get to show it to the world. 

The past weekend had been an amazing blessing. Stepping into Sonic Scalpel Studios in Rietfontein to record the score for Slange Vang with long-time beard brother, Gerhard Jacobs and the musical freedom that is Werner Hurter.

We got together friday night to start writing some material and the synergy was amazing.So amazing that first thing saturday morning, we were setting up my drums to record the theme song entitled The Way of Death. In no time we were on to record guitar tracks with Sonic Scalpel's newest addition: A Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III, retro-your-face-off, two-tone-jerseyed maniac of an amplifier. Before we knew it, the creaky, crusty bass tracks were laid and we moved on to some lighter instruments.

We recorded with an organ dating from the 1870's, named Apostel, which belongs to Werner. This was an amazing experience with an amazing instrument.

So after a ridiculously hot weekend, me and my two sweaty friends sat back and enjoyed the mastered tracks and we unanimously agreed that we have created something that we would gladly fork out our hard-earned coin for.

On to more blessing, I was lucky enough to find Cordier de Beer at Bekend Recording Studio in Roedtan, Limpopo to record some expertly written narration written by the man himself. 

So with all this new audio it's time for a final sound mix with the best in the biz, Pieter Brits from Brits Productions. This will ensure that the film has great audio quality for a production that I've been toiling for almost 8 months.

All in all, an immensely tough week filled with blessings I could not  dream about.

The film should be done in a couple of days, so keep an eye out for the arrangements of a premiere due soon.

Thanks for following, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the film as much as I've put into it.

Filming- Weekend 2

So I was feeling confident after the first weekend of filming. And with that confidence we hit weekend 2 with a bag of buffaloes. Introducing a new actor on set changed the dynamics drastically. New wardrobe, new horse, new everything.

We started out friday afternoon with primary cameraman, Marcel Klopper dropping from a tree, breaking the only branch that would get him to the top. So I toughed up and shot the scenes from the tree myself, tied to the tree by a crusty piece of sisal rope. Friday night we had the amazing privilege to have Mr. Ernst Meyer on set, a man that I revere, and his presence on set showed everyone why I have so much respect for this man. For this reason it was quite hard to do to him what I did, but you'll just have to wait for the film to see what that was.

Saturday was a big filming day. One scene only, but it was a biggie, and would almost break cast and crew alike. We shot in the open veld on a conflict scene and here's the kicker: no trees around us for about 200m. We had lunch in a 20cm bar of shade cast by the vehicles. We quickly depleted our water supply and had Ombri 'the mule' Pieterse walk a solid piece of earth to get water. Little did we know that all the water pipes are above ground in the smoldering 36 degree heat. On top of that actors were jumping on each other, brawling in the dust, getting thrown to the ground. Take after take, they kept bringing the bacon and put up a massive performance.  I am so proud of the cast and crew for this scene and I'm looking forward to editing this part, because for once in my filming career, a scene actually played out exactly as I envisioned it.

Sunday was the best way to end off a film shoot. With a change of location we found ourselves on the Van Zyl smallholding near Boschkop. The river on this location had such a calming effect on everything, not to mention the fact that we had a canopy of trees overhead. After we did the shots we all got into the river to cool off and just unwind after a hectic shooting weekend.

Overall, a great weekend and a massive performance from cast and crew. I have been truly blessed in this crucial part of filmmaking. More updates to follow as post production kicks in pretty soon.

Filming- Weekend 1

So, filming has officially begun on Slange Vang and right off the bat, it went great. We guerilla'd like wild men when we lit the first scene with a rechargeable spotlight, wax paper and a match. With no power on set, it's borderline impossible to do anything the legitimate way, so we inappropriately, yet efficiently lit a campfire with the most makeshift equipment known to man, with success. Next we lit a dramatic montage/jump cut/freakout scene with the same spotlight and wax paper combo, a lantern, and an iPhone. With equipment like this, how can you not have a good time?

Saturday morning with the day with a bag of bears, busting out a mini jib and a rockstar four legged, maned beast named Leo, playing the part of ' Gert die perd'. After we welcomed him on set, he threw a tantrum, running his trainer, Kathleen out the way and high-tailed it back to the stables. After this incident I knew I was going to need to adjust the script in a dramatic way. But we got him back up and once we got him going he brought it on like true rockstar, doing what he does best, with style and attitude.

Much credit to the cast and crew who wielded their weapons of choice to the best of their ability and having me reap the reward. From my(director of R0 budget films) viewpoint, it is an amazing feeling to have a crew to manage the technical side of my vision. My first time that I'm not doing something technical like sound, camera, lighting, rigging etc. and I've got to say I'm loving it.

Respect to Eugene Pieterse portraying the main character. It's amazing to see a non-actor understand a character this well. It's amazing to see what Eugen comes up with when I describe the scenes to him. I'm starting to think that he knows the character too well, and when the film is done, all will see why we should be scared.

Take note that all this action happened amongst the foul stench of rotting flesh. Something died close to where we are shooting and I noticed that the apples taste different than at the stables.

So all in all, a great weekend of filming. From an optimistic director, thanks for reading.

Old-School Boer Western Short Film. Say What?

A murderous zealot roams the Transvaal plains and cuts down any and every Uitlander with mining interests, but in the pale grass of his homeland, something slithers.

Slange Vang is my latest film project and will be my last attempt to create a film that will bite the face off The Open Window School of Visual Communication's Film Department and leave it squirming in the wake of this Idea that I've been festering.

It all started in December 2010 on a journey from my hometown of Pretoria to the Great Eastern Cape Province. South Africans will know that this journey is characterized by miles of pure, vast, wide-open NOTHING. I stared at this amazing void for about 8 hours when it hit me like a fresh Lambert's Bay Snoek: This is more 'Western' than I have ever seen. Immediately my mind raced to conjure up all the great Western films I've seen and I realized that the South African frontier is the best place to film a proper Western film.

Now, many people will start thinking: What? You wanna make a cowboy movie in Afrikaans, with a bunch of Dutchman Clutchplates? My answer is yes and no. Yes I want to make an Afrikaans Western film and no, Westerns are not cowboy films. Western films are about the dichotomy or tensions that arise when modernizing technology intrude and jeopardize a people's rural, subsistence way of life. Some embrace it because there is good money to be made out of this and others fight their dearest ass off to maintain their way of life and all that goes with it. Now, a quick look at the history and development of the Republic of South Africa will tell you that this was the Wilder West, with some real life examples of what Western films are really about. There are plenty of remarkable books on the intricate workings of how the RSA came to be, especially the newer works of Max Du Preez, and this formed the foundation of my research for the creation of this film.

And so the idea for Slange Vang was born, and with plenty hours of research, talkin' to old folks and learning how to work leather, it got off to a great start.

Please link this blog to anyone interested in Western films, short films, South African history or just anyone who would enjoy my crap sense of humour.