Juan Carlos Oganes' film-making and work blog.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Checking locations for the battle scenes

So, I went to the Morro Solar today.
The last time I went there was to do some HD camera tests last year and before that I did it way back in 1992.
This time I went all the way up to the top where the TV antennas are located. The driving to the top is a very steep, rocky and narrow dirt road that I wasn't prepared for but even when there was a straight-down abyss on one side, it was worth it....and necessary.


In my prior visit to the Historian Institute, I got a hold of some maps and topographic charts to study the terrain and choose beforehand what areas would be suitable for the battle scenes and that mimick the Arica mountain in Chile (that used to be our territory before we lost it). Shooting there would have been awesome but difficult nowadays for obvious political and territorial reasons.
So the best alternative at hand is the Morro Solar; it's here, it's close and it's very similar in shape and in height.
To help myself even further I checked with Google Earth. Awesome tool for previewing land and altitude of any place and from anywhere in the world.

In this pic, down in the beach below, I'll be placing digitally the city of Arica when seen from up above. Although the city is on the other side, t'll have to be flipped horizontally in post to make it happen as on the other side here it's the city of Lima.

Only one thing to keep in mind is that I'll have to plan my shots right, for in the opposite side I can see the TV antennas in frame. If there was another closer similar location it would be easier but, to transport hundreds of extras to play the soldiers, plus gas expenses, equipment and logistics, etc....the budget would skyrocket.

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