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Behind
the Scenes
The
film was shot in the heart of Zulu land in mid-winter. The driest
time of the year. The temperature would sometimes range from just
above freezing in the morning to around 30 degrees Celsius by midday….meaning
that crew would turn up for work clad in coats and scarves, and be
in t-shirts and hats within a few hours.
Being dry, meant that dust would blow into the air creating the most
spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
However, special protection had to put on the camera equipment to
protect from all the dust, and be specially cleaned every day.
| Being
young animals, the shoot had to be flexible enough to accommodate
their feeding times, their sleep times throughout the day and
the animals’ reaction to heat. To get walking shots of our
cub, Chloe, where she would move in a straight line could only
be done when Chloe was hungry. Chloe would make a bee-line to
wherever her milk bottle was. After two milk bottles, Chloe would
be full and would need to sleep for an hour. This effectively
meant filming with the cub could only occur in 20 minute lots
every 3 hours, or only twice a day for 20 minutes each. |
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| The
chimp, Billy, has black fur, and any small period of time in the
sun would make him very hot and lethargic. Billy very quickly
had his own personal selection of hats and umbrellas, with a personal
assistant to hold the umbrella for him whenever it was sunny and
hot! |
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| The
baby giraffe, Mickey, enjoyed the company and attention of the
crew very much. The giraffe loved licking people on the face with
his enormous tongue. That tended to keep people away. |
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| Lola,
the smaller of the two elephants had an affectionate attachment
to her handler, Jim Stockley. Whenever Jim would walk away, Lola
would run after him. |
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