Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Fred Williamson, star of the 1970s 'Black Caesar' and who will star in the 'Black Kissinger', which will be set in Jamaica.

In creating a film location isn't everything, but it's a lot. You can film the real thing or you can fake it, whether it is to create Los Angeles in South Africa, a faraway world in New Zealand or the Port Royal of yore in the Grenadines. From the grungy to the awe inspiring, location often does more than provide a good backdrop.

When used well, location can become a significant part of telling the story, adding to mood or atmosphere, enhancing the plot, or revealing something about the character. It can add to the drama, should fit in with what the story has to say and sometimes, the cinematography is so spectacular that the location seems to become a character in itself.

Many Hollywood film has been built around 'faking it' and so large studio lots were created that with the change of a sign here, a splash of paint there and the pixie dust of set decorators, one street, building or house can pass for another.

So, last week the writer (Richard Stratton author of Smack Goddess) and director (Ernest Dickerson Juice and Bulletproof) of the film Black Kissinger, set to start filming on the island in early November, was on the island scouting the right location. The film is slated to star Blaxploitation star Fred Williamson.

Jamaica has featured in numerous films, sometimes as a named backdrop and at other times it becomes representative of a Caribbean location. Indeed, Jampro's Location Jamaica guide highlights the myriad possibilities that can be found on the island. There is the desert like south coast, the lush eastern parishes, the mysterious Cockpit Country and the numerous historical buildings.

Scouting mission

The Gleaner went along for a scouting mission with the team, which also featured Natalie Thompson of Cinecom and producer Carl Grant. The main destination was Port Royal, to see if the famed wicked city could serve up what was needed.

Stratton explained that he views locations with the double vision of a producer and writer, as he is acting as both on the project. "For me it's different because I'm a writer and a producer, so I'm always thinking how many uses I can get out of a location," he said.

Stratton explains that producers think of locations in multiple uses so as to maximise the efficiency of the filming, so buildings and such often have to multitask, playing the outside of one location and filling in for the interior of others.

Stratton's dual role is also helped by the process of scouting. He explains that there was a preliminary scouting in May of this year where the team visited various potential sites. This, he said, also factored into the writing of the script. "It's always better to have a real location in mind. It stimulates the creative juices," he said. After one has seen a location, it can then be better visualised when a scene is being written.

Of course location is about a lot more than looks. So Thompson explains that a part of her requirements is to find a place that minimises off-screen drama. She explained that accessibility, ease of getting equipment to the location, infrastructure and limited "people problems" also have to be taken under consideration.

There is of course also the question of the shooting schedule. "A lot of times in a production you're confronted with a place that looks perfect and works great but it doesn't meet the schedule," Dickerson said.

Portland Bite represents

So by the time of last weekend's scouting mission the team had already decided that though Portland Bite in Clarendon was a location they desired, they would not be able to film there. The decision was made despite the film's focus on environmental issues. "What Portland Bite represents is the untouched natural area," Dickerson explained. He noted that many places in the world are being in danger of having their natural environments destroyed.

As such, Black Kissinger will touch on the damaging power of overdevelopment in areas which should be protected. "Globalisation is quite hurtful to places like Jamaica," Stratton noted. "The money doesn't go to the local people, but to foreigners." As such, Dickerson explained that the film will not be an attempt to display Jamaica as an untouched idyllic island.

Interestingly, the development of beach frontage is also affecting the Caribbean's allure for some kinds of movies. At the Caribbean-Sun.com website, director of Pirates of the Caribbean, Gore Verbinski, speaks of the trials of finding the right bay without a hotel stuck in the middle of it. Of course, although Pirates of the Caribbean spoke of Port Royal, it was a Port Royal rebuilt for the film and set in the Grenadines.

Yet in the case of films like Black Kissinger, what the filmmakers are looking for is not a Jamaica of yore but the current one.

"This (Port Royal) is where the real people live," said Dickerson. "The places that we're setting a lot of our story in are Kingston and Port Royal. This is where the real folks of Jamaica live and eat and hang out."

And Stratton quickly chimes in "as opposed to the places you see in How Stella Got her Groove Back".