Behind-the-scenes for Episode 1

Meet ‘Big Anne’ our trusty companion for our one month tour of Zimbabwe, without her to carry all our kit (of which there were mountains), we wouldn’t have got very far! She was VERY able handled by Tedius, our steady, wonderful driver, and Dax, our guide/cook/legend helper along the way.

I don’t know about you, but I love a little sneak peek at the behind-the-scenes goings on of any tv stuff. What was it really like out there? Did you know that it takes about 12 hours of footage to give you 24 minutes of edited TV time? I want to give you a feel for that here, just a few snapshots from each episode of what was going on when camera’s weren’t rolling; and even when they were!

Episode 1 and 2 were filmed back home in the bush, in Zimbabwe, at our small family wildlife conservancy called Antelope Park. It’s a magical little place that I know I am ridiculously privileged to call home, and where Rob and I and our girls have very many happy African adventures. Even though they are shown first on TV, these weren’t the first episodes that we filmed. No, those came a little way up the Zambezi River, on an island near the Victoria Falls, and I’ll tell you more about them as we get closer to Episode 5.

I’ll also introduce you to all the crew along the way in upcoming ‘Meet The Crew’ posts which I  think you’ll love.

Until next Sunday!
Sarah x

Chris (our Director) and I, filming bees. There were so many of them that sniffed us out all the way in the bush that we had to film them as part of the episode, because we couldn’t stand around waiting for them to move on, they were persistent little guys. And a nightmare for our sound recording with all that buzzing.

You see a pretty picture on the screen, but there’s THIS happening all the while, mostly in silence or you risk the wrath of Zahir, our sound boss (pictured expertly handling his boom)

It get’s HOT (and bright) standing out there all day, so sometimes when we do close ups, I get to wear my sunnies. And we do a LOT of close ups. Every thing you see is shot pretty much three times, on the wide angle as it happens; corrections of those where necessary and then on close up.

Zahir (left, sound boss) and Farrell (right) gathering sound and shots for close-ups

I love this pic, my Dad hanging out and taking in the action. My parents were AMAZING to us in Zimbabwe, endlessly hospitable, accommodating, generous and kind to the crew, Rob and I and our girls. We couldn’t have handled all the logistics of shooting in Zimbabwe without them.

Bush prep station! All fairly peaceful until the elephants arrived and could smell the fruit, and decided to come in for a little look around. Then we saw pots and pans flying and some crew even took to hiding under the truck.

My brother, Jonathan, hanging lanterns in the wild fig tree before our starlight bush dinner

Bet you never thought this happened! The wind was killing our flames, and that corn needed to cook! My pretty Skinny LaMinx dish cloth doubling up as a wind block to keep the heat in. If you watch the episode you can SEE the wind, but you can’t hear it, that’s thanks to the very clever work of Zahir (back, centre) our sound recordist (and all his gadgets). And that’s Luisa, one of our incredible food stylists, who you’ll hear more about later too.

Possibly one of my favourite behind-the-scenes shots of the whole series. That knife…

So while I’m up there slaving away, trying to think of interesting, witty and clever things to say (and absolutely, definitely not always successful), these guys get to hang out about 20 metres away, at the monitors, watching everything in minute close up. Completely intimidating at first but then you get over it.

Rob and I, at the end of anther epic but very special day

Rob and Sophie, and my cousin Nathan and his special girls Savannah and Taigan arriving at our bush feast

Family and wild figtrees and campfires, and happy hearts

Photo’s from ‘Sarah Graham’s Food Safari’ by Ricardo de Leça.