Where are Africa scenes done?

[Rhino]

Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in Darfur
are actually shot?

I've seen some documentaries about the region and the ER episodes look very
similar to the real think but I'd be rather surprised if ER had the budget
to send film crews that far away to shoot a few minutes of a TV episode - or
even a few complete episodes.

Despite that, all of the scenes that were supposed to be of Africa,
including the monkey pox one that preceded Carter's first visit to Africa,
seemed surprisingly realistic. But maybe I'm just gullible: I thought that
the settings in Over There looked a lot like Iraq but the series was
apparently filmed in Arizona.

I'm guessing they just found a bit of California desert and hired a lot of
black extras....

[sharon]

Post by Rhino
Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in
Darfur are actually shot?

They were shot on location in South Africa.

Post by Rhino
I've seen some documentaries about the region and the ER episodes look
very similar to the real think but I'd be rather surprised if ER had the
budget to send film crews that far away to shoot a few minutes of a TV
episode - or even a few complete episodes.
Despite that, all of the scenes that were supposed to be of Africa,
including the monkey pox one that preceded Carter's first visit to Africa,
seemed surprisingly realistic. But maybe I'm just gullible: I thought that
the settings in Over There looked a lot like Iraq but the series was
apparently filmed in Arizona.
I'm guessing they just found a bit of California desert and hired a lot of
black extras....
--
Rhino

You'd be guessing wrong, they sent a crew to Africa and hired thousands of
locals. They filmed for several weeks in order to get enough footage to use
in four eppies.

Sharon

[Rhino]

Post by sharon

Post by Rhino
Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in
Darfur are actually shot?

They were shot on location in South Africa.

Post by Rhino
I've seen some documentaries about the region and the ER episodes look
very similar to the real think but I'd be rather surprised if ER had the
budget to send film crews that far away to shoot a few minutes of a TV
episode - or even a few complete episodes.
Despite that, all of the scenes that were supposed to be of Africa,
including the monkey pox one that preceded Carter's first visit to
Africa, seemed surprisingly realistic. But maybe I'm just gullible: I
thought that the settings in Over There looked a lot like Iraq but the
series was apparently filmed in Arizona.
I'm guessing they just found a bit of California desert and hired a lot
of black extras....
--
Rhino

You'd be guessing wrong, they sent a crew to Africa and hired thousands of
locals. They filmed for several weeks in order to get enough footage to
use in four eppies.

Neat! I'm dead impressed that they filmed on location. No wonder it looked
authentic: it _was_ authentic - aside from substituting southern Africa for
north-eastern Africa! I guess high ratings gives them the clout and the
budget to do something like that.

Thanks for the info, Sharon! I've never seen any articles about the Africa
episodes before. I would have thought there would be some mention of that
somewhere along the line; since I didn't see anything like that, I assumed
that they used sets much closer to home and just faked it.

--
Rhino

[sharon]

Post by Rhino

Post by sharon

Post by Rhino
Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in
Darfur are actually shot?

They were shot on location in South Africa.

Post by Rhino
I've seen some documentaries about the region and the ER episodes look
very similar to the real think but I'd be rather surprised if ER had the
budget to send film crews that far away to shoot a few minutes of a TV
episode - or even a few complete episodes.
Despite that, all of the scenes that were supposed to be of Africa,
including the monkey pox one that preceded Carter's first visit to
Africa, seemed surprisingly realistic. But maybe I'm just gullible: I
thought that the settings in Over There looked a lot like Iraq but the
series was apparently filmed in Arizona.
I'm guessing they just found a bit of California desert and hired a lot
of black extras....
--
Rhino

You'd be guessing wrong, they sent a crew to Africa and hired thousands
of locals. They filmed for several weeks in order to get enough footage
to use in four eppies.

Neat! I'm dead impressed that they filmed on location. No wonder it looked
authentic: it _was_ authentic - aside from substituting southern Africa
for north-eastern Africa! I guess high ratings gives them the clout and
the budget to do something like that.
Thanks for the info, Sharon! I've never seen any articles about the Africa
episodes before. I would have thought there would be some mention of that
somewhere along the line; since I didn't see anything like that, I assumed
that they used sets much closer to home and just faked it.
--
Rhino

There have been multiple articles in the media about it, including a 2 page
spread with photos in this week's TV Guide.

Sharon

[Katie]

Post by sharon

Post by Rhino
Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in
Darfur are actually shot?

They were shot on location in South Africa.

If they were shot in South Africa, how did they get large numbers of
Arabic-speaking "featured extras"? There must be at least 20 or so who
have spoken so far, and I've not seen all the Sudan episodes here (UK)
but usually only a few words each i.e. they are not major actors.

And when the African actors speak English, they don't have S. African
accents (though I realise that, as actors, they can do accents -
duh!). Have they also imported a load of Sudanese actors to S.
Africa, or are there enough Sudanese refugees in S. Africa for these
episodes?

Katie

[sharon]

Post by Katie

Post by sharon

Post by Rhino
Does anyone know where the scenes that are supposed to take place in
Darfur are actually shot?

They were shot on location in South Africa.

If they were shot in South Africa, how did they get large numbers of
Arabic-speaking "featured extras"? There must be at least 20 or so who
have spoken so far, and I've not seen all the Sudan episodes here (UK)
but usually only a few words each i.e. they are not major actors.
And when the African actors speak English, they don't have S. African
accents (though I realise that, as actors, they can do accents -
duh!). Have they also imported a load of Sudanese actors to S.
Africa, or are there enough Sudanese refugees in S. Africa for these
episodes?
Katie

I have no idea, I just know that the eppies were shot in South Africa and
the extras were playe by locals. Of course, it is entirely possible that
the casting directors found actors who could speak Arabic to do the speaking
roles. Or, they had non-Arabic speaking actors learn the lines
phonetically.

Sharon