Africa Land Rover filming

[K&S]

I had a pleasant midweek break taking by landy out to the bush for a film company that was doing a promotional video shoot for a pharmaceutical company. They needed a series Land Rover for an "Africa look" for a doctor arriving at a rural clinic and dispensing medicine and diagnosing patients.

It was great fun doing all the landy shots. I've put in a few I took.

 

[Marc Lurie]

What's that disgusting door doing in the corner of your first pic? Yech!!! RAV4

Is the ad for SA televison? Any idea when it might be flighted?

Marc

 

[Bernie]

Blimey, looks like it was a really tough job but someone had to do it

Great pics

 

[K&S]

What's that disgusting door doing in the corner of your first pic? Yech!!! RAV4

Is the ad for SA televison? Any idea when it might be flighted?

Marc

No, it's for an in-house programme. There 's only a small probability of it going on-air. The company is Adcock-Ingram.

 

[K&S]

The creative director for the film company lives in the farmhouse in the picture. He commutes to Johannesburg when he needs to. He's a really remarkable (could maybe say eccentric) chap and it's like going back forty years to the good old Colonial days. His house is a treasure trove of books on Africa. A few new ones but mostly old books dating back to the early part of the 20th Century and covering mostly East Africa and Southern and Central Africa. Every room in the house has an abundance and one unused corner has books overflowing bookshelves onto the floor.

We had supper out on the verandah with the rain pouring down. Parafin lamps on the table and the finest silver put out. He is a marvellous cook and we had a three course meal starting with smoked salmon with a honey and mustard sauce (prepared by him), then salad followed with roast chicken and roast vegetables drizzled over with olive oil. The whole atmosphere and company made for a remarkable evening.

He has written books and is himself like a character from a book. He is orignally from England but has lived in Africa for many years and has the finest way of living. We were up before sunrise this morning but the table was set with heavy old sterling silver tea pots and milk jugs.

Going back to the subject of books, I could have stayed on and submersed myself in them. A lot of the books are on hunting (which although I don't do) I find the stories fascinating. Some of them document hunts in the early 1930's and there are pictures of typical 'safaris' with two white hunters in front, a lady with Victorian type skirts, and literally about thirty locals carrying everything needed on their heads.

The whole ambience is just so incredible. Being an old farmhouse the light inside is very muted and old lampshades give this soft yellow glow. Dogs and cats rule, game skins on the floor, the odd trophy of horns mounted on the walls. An antique desk set in the corner with chrystal decanters with port, and brandy. An old soda bottle covered in lead design stands next to them.

Obviously whilst out on the film shoot a sundowner was ordered and all filming stopped. Out came 12 year old single malt whisky, really expensive gin for gin and tonics, enough ice, with chrystal glasses.

I can only fault his lifestyle on one aspect. And that is his drives a VX Land Cruiser. But in his favour he was in total awe of the landy and in his own words the Land Rover IS Africa.

 

[adrianandkate]

Great stuff Kevin, not sure whether I like the atmospheric story better or the pix...

One question though - if they needed your S3 for the filming, what vehicle would a doc normally use to arrive at a rural clinic??? Kate

 

[K&S]

Correction series IIa . It would be a new Defender no doubt. But they wanted a series landy with spare on the bonnet to give an effect that no one would confuse. Remember we are dealing with artistic people who are very open to artistic licence. Further on the theme the doctor was chauffeured there (by yours truly) and the shots showed him hopping out the passenger side.

 

[adrianandkate]

Correction series IIa . It would be a new Defender no doubt. But they wanted a series landy with spare on the bonnet to give an effect that no one would confuse. Remember we are dealing with artistic people who are very open to artistic licence. Further on the theme the doctor was chauffeured there (by yours truly) and the shots showed him hopping out the passenger side.

I'm not letting Adrian see this - I'll never hear the end of it - brain half missing. (or all missing?).

Anyway a Defender is not too bad an option. Do they not have female docs? - better for the imagery - especially getting out of the driver's side.... Kate

 

[K&S]

I'm not letting Adrian see this - I'll never hear the end of it - brain half missing. (or all missing?).

Anyway a Defender is not too bad an option. Do they not have female docs? - better for the imagery - especially getting out of the driver's side.... Kate

Out of the driver's seat !

 

[bvudzichena]

One question though - if they needed your S3 for the filming, what vehicle would a doc normally use to arrive at a rural clinic??? Kate

Kate,

If truth be known, the average bush doctor drives a Land Cruiser (but not the VX / Amazon) or a Nissan Patrol.

Unfortunately, these days when the UN, MSF, Foreign Office or the EU place an order for 4x4's to go to Africa or Asia, they no longer knock on Land Rover's doors.

The DFID guys doing malaria and AIDS work in rural South Africa drive Land Cruisers. Sacrilege!

Land Rover is now considered to be a luxury product. The British High Commissioner get driven around in a Range Rover and his deputy gets a Disco.

It's really sad to see the Jap products go ahead in leaps and bounds while the vehicles that we love so much are being developed in a different direction.

Doctors deal with life and death issues all day, every day. They can't be held up by an ECU locking up, the ACE not working or the electronic fuel pump just stopping.

Then there's the issue of price. Talk to Nissan or Toyota about a fleet replacement and the prices decrease rapidly. Land Rover don't even have a military / government / NGO sales department anymore. The dealers just look at you and tell you to go elsewhere if you aren't happy with the pricing - and the NGO's have done just that...

When you walk into most Land Rover Dealerships in SA, you will see new Range Rovers, RR Sports and Discos. If you ask the salesman about a Defender, his attitude is "what do you want to do with that thing?".

I kid you not!

When it comes to buying Defenders, Marc and I use a dealer who understands our needs, but it means a 150km drive into the coutryside to get to him.

Talking about price. I recently called our friendly dealer and asked him to have a word with Special Vehicles about a couple of 130 single cab trucks with 300TDi engines. The per unit prices ended up more than an entry level S Class Mercedes.

Kevin, I'm jealous! You are in the sun sipping G&T's while I'm dodging roof tiles in the rain.

 

[bvudzichena]

Out of the driver's seat !

This is probably why the locally marketed Defender Black is sold mostly to tall blondes with great legs

There are few things as easy on the eye as watching a 5'10" blonde babe climb out of that pitch black 90.

 

[Marc Lurie]

If you ask the salesman about a Defender, his attitude is "what do you want to do with that thing?".

Hi Kate,

I know it's a bit off topic, but I phoned a locar LR dealership a few months back, wanting to buy a Defender Kalahari version (older 300Tdi engine, no electronics, no carpets, no radio). I wanted to buy one, so all the salesman had to actually do was write out the invoice.

I asked the salesman for a price quotation for the Kalahari, and his response was "Why do you want THAT one? It's so basic!" Anyway, the upshot is that he lost the sale (and his commission) and I drove 150km to another province to buy the Kalahari from a salesman who didn't treat me like a pavement hopping suburbanite.

Sorry... we can get back on topic again now...

Marc

 

[adrianandkate]

Hi guys
Thanks for all the replies which were very gloomy so I shan't bother asking you any more questions.
I never met a medic in the UK that went anywhere near a LR, the nearest was a health promotion guy with a series vehicle and his chief exec took a dim view of him for his eccentric taste.
I've just realised I have written total garbage because we sold our house to an eye surgeon and he had a 110 station wagon. Anyway he doesn't count because he was previously an engineer for British Aerospace, and Adrian had an ace time putting in a new 2.5 diesel. Not your average run-of-the-mill doc, in my experience.
Back to my original reason behind the query, which was really that as ever, you shouldn't believe what you see in adverts. (And this from the woman who chose a Vauxhall Astra as a company lease car because she liked the adverts which used Eric Clapton singing Layla).
Sorry for delay in reply, been a) busy with spanners this weekend and b) on bikes to purchase essential supplies....
Kate

 

[Emlyn]

Nice one Kev,

Starting to regret that I got rid off my series

Looks great tho, maybe that kind setting would work for the lodge you want to open??

See ya soon

 

[K&S]

Are you getting some sleep yet Emlyn? Or are you waking up every two hours with the baby?

 

[bvudzichena]

Are you getting some sleep yet Emlyn? Or are you waking up every two hours with the baby?

Kevin,

Will you be bringing Emlyn to the next pub meet?

No comment from the "nose in the air Disco driving brigade" about my query regarding my central locking. Looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and buy a new control unit

 

[K&S]

I noticed that about the Disco. Maybe post it also in the Defender section perhaps there is a similarity.

Will definitely have Emlyn with next time. I know he is keen to meet everyone. We must set a date and time. He works at the Wanderers Club so maybe his home turf might be nice.

 

[bvudzichena]

I noticed that about the Disco. Maybe post it also in the Defender section perhaps there is a similarity.

The Defender and Discovery locking systems are very different, but I searched the archives and found a previous thread that covers something similar to this.

Will definitely have Emlyn with next time. I know he is keen to meet everyone. We must set a date and time. He works at the Wanderers Club so maybe his home turf might be nice.

I'm game for some time in February. Maybe we should look at scheduling something around a cricket match?