Filming a movie that spans a huge number of different countries might seem to be a huge logistical challenge, especially when those countries cover war-torn or inhospitable areas such as Afghanistan and the Middle East. The producers of international thriller Lord Of War solved that problem in one simple move. They filmed on location in South Africa.
This vast and beautiful country has such a huge variety of terrains, ranging from desert to lush forest, mountain, ocean, rolling hills, expansive plains and so on, that it can double as almost any other country if you find just the right spot. For Lord of War the film production managed to re create scenes from Sierra Leone, Bolivia and Afghanistan to name but a few, as the backdrop to the thrilling chase of Interpol agents tracking arms dealer Nicholas cage around the globe.
The advantages of using film locations in South Africa to double as the actual places, rather than travelling to each and every actual country featured in the movie, are numerous. By keeping the location filming within one geographical area, costs are kept right down, the same crew can be used for continuity, logistics are much simpler and much time and travel is saved. Above all the film production benefits from the well-established infrastructure already existing here, instead of struggling in countries that have little or no established support for the movie industry.
Because South Africa has a long history as a favoured location for film and commercial production, it offers excellent facilities, whether it be the experienced local crew available, the post-production facilities, the local production companies facilitating every aspect, to world-class hotels and transport to keep A-list actors happy!
South Africa has doubled up as many other countries over the years: in Oscar-nominated Blood Diamond, the 2006 thriller starring Leonardo diCaprio, South African locations doubled for the civil war torn landscapes of Sierra Leone. Hotel Rwanda was shot in Gauteng and Johannesburg in 2004 instead of enduring the rigors of filming in the actual country featured.
A very different side of the country is used in children's movie Racing Stripes, where the green hills and fields around Pietermaritzburg set the stage for a charming tale about a zebra who thinks he's a racehorse, and double up as the sort of generic rich horse-racing countryside found in several parts of the world. In Dredd, recently filmed in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa's main cities show their gritty side by standing in for the futuristic Mega-City One of the fantasy comic strip.
The recent major movies filmed on location in South Africa have shown that it is now really on the map as far as big production goes, whether doubling for somewhere else or featuring as itself, in all its glorious scenery and variety.
Prinz Productions offers premier stills and film production services based in Cape Town, South Africa. Specialising in South Africa, Portugal and Mauritius, they also offer production services worldwide. Find out more about their film production service in South Africa.
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