Dear Reader gets Generous music video

The result is a quirky and intriguing travelogue celebrating a new beginning while paying tribute to the ‘egte Suid-Afrikaanse' backroads and country towns. It opens at a wedding, and follows the young couple's honeymoon through the Karoo to Knysna.

Formed in 2006, originally as Harris Tweed, by lead singer Cheri MacNeil and Darryl Torr, the band has enjoyed considerable success locally and in Europe.

To promote its new CD, the band needed a music video but didn't have the budget to work with the larger, more established production houses. Instead, it opted to partner with the recently opened Generous Pictures and take advantage of their willingness to embrace a challenge.

Generous Pictures is all about the moving picture and has the technical knowledge and skills to direct and produce all moving picture requirements across all media imaginable, regardless of the size or type of screen, regardless of the delivery format.

Producer Tori Reeves explained: “To accomplish all that we - and the band - desired for this music video, we had to work smart and lean, and creatively.

“The first decision was where to shoot, given that the storyboard called for a road trip and related vignettes such as skinny dips in roadside dams, drinking beers in odd bars, and interaction with idiosyncratic characters before ending with the world's highest bungee jump. We decided shooting on location would provide the greatest authenticity, and prove to be the most economical.

“This, however, raised a host of new problems. For example, we needed a really old car - one that would make it from Jozi to Knysna and back - yet the owners of these cars are reluctant to let you actually drive them because they do not want the additional mileage on the clock. Also, there were so many scenes that had to be shot, in just the three-days that the budget allowed for.

“Oh, and to save money for the actual production, we opted not to recce for locations but to fly by the seat of our pants. Exciting and challenging stuff.”

Just days before wardrobe call, Reeves found her old car, a 1980s model VW Fox, and she thought her producing problems were over. But it wasn't to be. “One of the band members fell ill 24 hours before we set off, so he sent his brother on the shoot instead. Luckily, the family resemblance is very strong,” she laughed.

Reeves, director James Cunningham, the band members and a multi-tasking crew (the sparkie also fetched and carried, the art director handled wardrobe) drove to Knysna identifying locations on the way for the homeward journey. Once there, the planned-for-two-hour bungee scene took five times as long, but - after several other interesting happenstances - Lady Luck eventually sided with the crew and we shot sufficient footage to tell a really intriguing story.

“We had a great deal of fun, learnt loads, the bungee concession guys were fantastic, as was the Fox - it outperformed the newer cars on the way down. This was an incredible shoot, demonstrating just how willing Generous is to work with its clients to achieve the best possible end result,” Reeves concluded.

The music video has been launched in Europe but should be on South African screens soon.