Great big blockbuster budget one would imagine? 'Fraid not. Picture Tree director Brett Wild, had some serious brain cells to burn in making this one work on a limited budget. Inspired by a short film he saw on ResFest, and some brushing up on his school mathematics, he found the solution to the budget problem, and a fresh film technique to boot.
"Basically the background plates are shot from the window of a car, using a stills camera, always facing forward," explains Brett, "The mountain in the foreground thus remains constant, but the camera is still traveling." The effect that's created is one of very jagged movement. So, 10 metres click, 10 metres click....
"Speed equals distance over time," says Picture Tree's Executive Producer, Sherry Bush, very earnestly, "So basically we had 60 seconds to go around the country three times - 30km an hour over 1km equals 60 seconds."
A one-kilometre road was built with tar, red sand and rocks, white sand (for desert), and then salt (for snow) and three car-rigs were set up, to shoot a 60 degree blockbuster in one day.
The new Opel Corsa Utility test vehicle drives around and around South Africa - through snowy mountains, past the sea, deserts, lakes, and the city, stopping for a quick pit stop, and off again. Until something breaks down: the driver.
