![]() I use the internet to find contemporary books, magazines, and newspapers. And I like to go outside digital references to primary sources as much as possible. He also came to Australia to observe the filming and was available to look at props and items we had made and offer his advice.Ĭolin Gibson APDG said in his talk with Jacinta Leong APDG the other day, the top ten results on your google search are what someone has paid for you to see! While we are always going to derive the majority of research from the internet now, I try to come at the searches from many different directions, otherwise I just keep turning up the same information. Tim Jenkin, the writer of the book and one of the real escapees, was very helpful, answering questions sent to him by email. We also had the benefit of the source material, Tim Jenkin’s book Inside Out, which included pictures and illustrations of some of the ‘key’ (pun intended…) features of the story. Very fortunately, there was a major exhibition of his work at the MCA in Sydney at the time I began researching and a fantastic catalogue of the works in the exhibition. I think most designers prefer to steer away from referencing other films and I concentrated my research on images from the era and particularly the work of David Goldblatt, a South African photographer who had documented his country for over 70 years. (I also liked the quite unhealthy green glow of the reflected colours…) Other groups were about colour, texture, ageing, period details etc. For the above I thought they were about strong directional lighting, cast shadow, and chiaroscuro. When presented with a trove of references like this – and there were many, many files – I tried to cull it down to a few index images to represent the concepts I thought the pictures best represented. He also had covers from magazines of the time, photographs, and a wide selection of fine art images from Caravaggio to Edward Hopper. He outlined very clearly the shooting requirements and the physical layout and size of the sets and he and his wife had drawn very comprehensive storyboards detailing every shot of many scenes.įrancis also provided a lot of reference on films and television he liked and had clipped frames of shots similar to what he wanted to achieve. On this project the director, Francis Annan, wrote the script, had visited the real locations in South Africa and had been in planning for several years, so there was a good explanation in his script of what it was he wanted. Those who know me know that I don’t like to be caught without something to say! I like to go into selection interviews with a good knowledge of the subject matter and ideas about what I think we could do. There is always going to be a Day 1 of shoot, and never quite enough time before that to get everything done, so I don’t want to be regretting that I didn’t make use of every moment I had to prepare, should I get the job. Even before I had my first talks with the director, I was trying to come up with my ideas of the texture, colours, feel and reality of the world of Cape Town and Pretoria in 1979. (And available now to rent on your preferred VOD supplier)įrom the initial indication that I was being considered as designer for the project, I began my research of 70’s apartheid South Africa. It is based on the true story of the escape of three men imprisoned in South Africa in 1979 for their support of the anti-apartheid movement and the ANC. ![]() In relation to the film Escape from Pretoria, how did you find your way into the world of the apartheid era in South Africa? Do you have methods that assist research on this film and others?Įscape from Pretoria is a film shot in Adelaide in 2019. Scott Bird APDG, designer of the recently released film Escape from Pretoria in conversation with emerging designer, Courtney Westbrook.
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