Freelancer Anthony Holland has over 10 years experience working in factual production. In the last 5 years, Anthony has been producing/ directing documentaries and more recently he was working as a location producer/ director for Animal Planet’s reality series ‘Animal Cops’ in Cape Town, South Africa. Read and comment on Anthony’s experience.
Introduction to the shoot
An observational documentary series following the animal cruelty inspectors of the SPCA (equivalent to the RSPCA in the UK).
What were the surroundings like compared to UK?
A world of two extremes – the affluent live alongside South Africa’s poorest citizens. Cape Town has some of the most luxurious houses in the world, and yet only a stone’s throw away a million people live in wooden shacks often with no electricity and running water.
As a result the crime rate is very high. On average there are 6 murders a day in Cape Town alone. Burglaries, car-jackings and muggings are also common. And although most crime is largely confined to the ‘townships’ you have to be on your guard when filming in all parts of the city and its suburbs.
However in some ways, Cape Town is similar to the UK in that it has a ‘European’ feel to it, due in part to its colonial history, but also it’s Mediterranean climate.
From a visual point of view, it’s a great city to shoot in. There’s the stunning backdrop of Table Mountain, never far away from any shot. And the colour of the light is stunning. Many have compared the light temperature to the Californian sun – one reason why many American commercials and movies are shot in the city. And with 2980 hours of sunshine annually, compared to London’s 1480 (in a good year!) you’re guaranteed plenty of rain free shoot days.
How was the shoot different from the UK?
Apart from having to be more vigilant when shooting on location in terms of watching equipment (and your back), I found that on the whole it was easier shooting in South Africa in terms of obtaining filming permissions and location consents. Cape Town is home to a vibrant international commercial and movie industry, and there are a number of organisations in place to facilitate production companies.
It’s not unusual to find entire sections of the city closed off at the weekend for a movie shoot. The local government actively encourages film production in the city, something you don’t find that often in the UK, where film and TV crews are often seen as a nuisance.
This level of acceptance made it easier for us to film on the hoof, which is the nature of the series, and we rarely came across any antagonism. We even managed to negotiate access to film in the South African Magistrates Court.
We shot all over Cape Town, following the SPCA into some pretty dodgy areas. I’d read much about the gang ridden slums of the Cape Flats. There’s no doubt these are rough neighbourhoods, but I found the people (from all walks of life) very polite and welcoming, as well as interested in what we were filming, and I never felt threatened, even when filming known gangsters (probably because they enjoyed the kudos of being filmed!).
Explain the working conditions and were they better than the UK?
‘Animal Cops’ is a well established series and to their credit Granada Anglia put in place a generous shooting schedule and a fantastic support structure back in the UK. Although the unpredictability of shooting an observational series meant it was often difficult to work to an eight hour day, Granada insisted we try and stick to the European Working Time Directive. Some weeks were longer than others, and there were some very long shoot days, but we’d always try and compensate the following week.
Filming outside pretty much continually was challenging and often exhausting. You can never underestimate the strength of the African sun. Even in winter, and with cloud cover, the sun still burns you, as I found to my cost during the first week of shooting. After that it was factor 40 sun cream every morning!
What did you learn on being on shoot outside the UK?
Essentially I behaved in the same way I would have done when shooting in the UK. Treat everybody with respect, listen to the advice of locals, be aware of your surroundings and learn from others.
What interesting experiences did you have?
The most interesting experience I had was filming the chase of a baboon across the city, again something you probably wouldn’t find in the UK! Baboon troops live in the mountains overlooking the residential areas of Cape Town. Occasionally a male baboon will ‘disperse’, leaving the troop he was born into. The problem arises when they wander into the residential areas, causing mayhem and endangering the lives of both residents and baboon. We spent an exhausting day running after the baboon (and they move very fast!). We probably covered around 10km, and I was grateful to be shooting on a small camera. The baboon was eventually cornered in a school, successfully darted and released in a nature reserve out of harm’s way.
Anything extra you want to add
I enjoyed filming in Cape Town so much that I decided to stay on after the production finished. I’ve been here for two and half years now and am getting married to a Capetonian at the end of the year!