Television-Tv News

New series highlights some of SA’s most shocking crimes

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:55

Leigh Matthews

A 13-part 44-minute crime scene docu-drama with a three-tiered message produced by Clive Morris Productions will soon be broadcast on pay-TV channels M-Net and M-Net HD.

Crimes Uncovered SA’s central message celebrates the world class detective, forensic and pathological expertise in South Africa. It also has the underlying message that crime does not pay and honours the victims and their families who have themselves paid the ultimate price.

Due to be flighted on M-Net and M-Net HD from July 2012, there will also be an Afrikaans version (Kriminele Meesterbrein), which will be broadcast on kykNET later in the year.

Anne Davis, senior commissioning editor for M-Net, hopes that the series will establish a sense of confidence in the police force within the target audience.

“The television series also aims to create awareness that it is more than just the victim who suffers at the hands of criminals. Often families, communities and the nation suffer the loss of loved ones as contributing members of our society. In this case each episode is dedicated to the memory of each victim,” notes Davis.

The series salutes the detectives, scientists, psychologists and prosecutors and shines a spotlight on their work, focusing on the small details – often overlooked – that help to put criminals behind bars. She believes that young people watching the series may understand the level of pain and suffering that crime causes. In addition the makers of the series would really like it to act as a deterrent to people considering acts of violence or crime.

Says executive producer Clive Morris: “I created this series because as a kid I used to listen to Squad Cars on the radio and loved it. It was my belief that when TV started in South Africa in the late 1970s all the radio shows would be on TV so I was very disappointed when it didn’t happen. For that reason I created Criminal Minds, which ran on M-Net almost nine years ago. That series was a precursor to Crimes Uncovered. Criminal Minds were 24 minutes each, Crimes Uncovered are 44 minutes each.”

Filming started in January / February 2011 and 11 episodes have been filmed to date.

During the shoots actual sites of crime scenes are visited to convey authenticity, which includes the police stations involved and some of the victims’ homes.

Davis articulates that it is obviously not always possible to do this, and points out that the actual detectives and forensics specialists all appear in the form of interviews. “In most cases the families of the victims have been interviewed and their generosity of spirit has given us a human angle to each of our stories,” she says.

Reliving the horror

In charge of the story creation were Mandy Wiener and Gill Gifford (researchers); Kelley Thorrington, Heather Cooke and Marilee May (scriptwriters); Sharon Black (director); Daniel Black (DOP); Kelly Daykin (series producer); and Morris.

Daykin notes that the hardest aspect of this production was interviewing and arranging family members. “We ask them to return to memories that they try everyday to distance themselves from. We are also haunted by their pain and suffering.”

Sharon Black concurs: “The series’ truth would be hollow without their stories, so we have employed the assistance of a trauma counsellor for our team”.

Black believes that in order to deliver factually correct stories and re-enactments, it is essential to work closely with the SAPS (South African Police Services) for all the paper work and dockets involved in each case. This exposes the production team to crime scene photographs, criminal’s testimonies and judgments that are real and hard hitting.

The SAPS work very closely with Clive Morris Productions to ensure that each and every episode is accurate.

It is also touching that the actors had to experience real physical discomfort in terms of delivering believable performances in each crime scenario whether they are the victim or perpetrator.

Black explains that from a visual perspective, sometimes the series is challenging to shoot as a lot of the crimes happen in the dark. To overcome this they justified light sources from the moon, car headlights or exterior street lights and the like.

Strong cast

The series’ actors include Alwyn Kotze, who plays the role of Andrew Jordan (perpetrator) for the Sheldean Human episode. In his eyes and face – without speaking – he managed to portray a dagga-high perverted and arrogant human being, bringing a believable performance to the role. Rojean van Onselen plays Leigh Mathews, one of the victims. Her performance in the scenes of abduction, killing and her corpse being found are utterly believable. According to the production team, her stamina and strength to repeatedly shoot such scenes was remarkable.

Ryan Cyster (who played Clinton Davids, one of the perpetrators) acted in the Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom episodes. His on-screen presence was powerful and believable. Antonio Fisher played Shevaan Marlie, also a perpetrator in this episode. Despite having never even handled a firearm before, Antonio was able to remain in character before, during and after the killing scene.

Other actors include Byron Davis and Francis Chouler who play Goldin and Bloom (the victims). The duo managed to portray fear on varying levels that was sincere and heartfelt. One of the scenes required them to strip naked and be put into the boot of a small car. This scene was shot in the middle of a Cape Town winter while it rained at night, but the actors’ focus remained on their performances.

Ruben Engel and Christian Bennett, in the roles of Waheed and Snyders (perpetrators) in the Taliep Petersen episode, successfully portrayed real life criminals that were threatening and humane.

Jaques van Jaarsveld played Dirk Prinsloo, perpetrator in the Advocate Barbie episode. This episode was very difficult to film and the crew chose to be suggestive rather than vulgar. They believe that van Jaarsveld delivered a performance that made this approach really work well as these scenes really make the audience cringe.

The television series’ marketing strength is the crew’s incredible access to all the people involved (detectives, victims’ families, prosecutors) plus high production value. Also its intriguing storylines make it an extremely marketable entity.

Davis concludes that each episode is a unique and compelling story and that the audience will relate to Crimes Uncovered SA much like they would relate to the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) series. She believes that the series will draw audiences, not just individual episodes.

The series was completed by March 2011. It is available for licensing and is owned and distributed by M-Net.

By Martin Chemhere

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