Written by new-contact on Feb 27, 2013. Posted in Production News

RSA Films shoots Damian Lewis Jaguar short on location in Chile’s Atacama Desert

RSA Films has shot a crime drama short for the new Jaguar F-Type in Chile’s remote Atacama Desert. Desire tells the story of Damian Lewis’ Clark, a driver who runs into trouble when delivering the new Jaguar in a dusty desert wilderness.

The initial plan was to film on location in Spain as RSA Films has a longstanding relationship with Goodgate Productions' Barcelona office. When the shoot dates shifted to the height of the European winter there were concerns about the reliability of the local weather and so a global location scout began to find a suitable alternative.

“We were looking for a dry and arid desert landscape,” explains Producer Caspar Delaney, “and that couldn’t be totally guaranteed during the European winter. We knew we would now be in the southern hemisphere so we looked at all the old favourites, like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.”

I’m glad we ended up in the Atacama Desert – it would have been almost criminal to have gone all that way and not taken advantage of such spectacular landscapes.

Caspar Delaney, RSA Films

They settled on Chile as it allowed RSA to work with Goodgate’s Santiago office. The Chilean capital and certain arid locations nearby were the initial focus, but then the team’s attention turned to the Atacama Desert. It would involve going a lot further north but Delaney felt it would be worth the trip.

A two-week scout took them from Santiago on a domestic flight north to the town of Calama and a drive to nearby San Pedro, where they set up their unit base. They spent five days filming, with all their locations within a 15-minute drive.

“We were working long shoot days in very hot and dusty conditions and that was probably the biggest challenge,” Delaney recalls: “We had multiple units, Russian arms, chase cars and aerial photography, with all the equipment coming from Santiago; Goodgate were really excellent. We were also able to hire some art department people locally for our gas station set build.

“I’m glad we ended up in the Atacama Desert – it would have been almost criminal to have gone all that way and not taken advantage of such spectacular landscapes.”

Credits:
Client: Jaguar
Agency: The Brooklyn Brothers
Production Company: RSA Films, London
Producer: Caspar Delaney
Executive Producer: Kai Hsiung
Production Service Company: Goodgate Productions, Santiago
Director of Photography: Ben Davis
Director: Adam Smith