Producing Expedition Africa

A lot can be accomplished in a year if you put your mind to it. Take it from Maria Baltazzi, executive producer for History Channel’s Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingston. From the initial development meeting for the show to delivery of the first finished episode, almost exactly a year elapsed. And in between those two points was extensive pre-production work, grueling logistical challenges and a trek across the country of Tanzania. In short, a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Expedition Africa tells the story of four modern-day explorers, re-experiencing the most challenging parts of an epic trek by Henry Stanley in 1871. Stanley hiked across the modern day country of Tanzania, in search of the missing Dr. David Livingston. Over the course of 30 days, the explorers retraced his path, traveling 970 miles with only a compass and basic maps to help them find their way. But it wasn’t just the explorers making the journey. The production team had to travel alongside the show’s experts in blisteringly hot conditions, with the temperatures reaching up well above 100-degrees during the day.

Yet the journey on the ground was just a part of the show’s journey for Baltazzi. As executive producer, the expedition involved much more than a cross-country trek. Her job started many months before as she began laying the groundwork for a successful show. A reality show veteran of programs such as Survivor and Eco Challenge, Baltazzi identified several key elements a good show needs and then tried to work those into the fabric of Expedition Africa.

First she had to undertake an extensive, international search to find four explorers to carry the show and its story. Strong characters, she says, are important part of making a show work. “We wanted four individuals who were experts in their field of specialty, but different enough from each other that they would each bring something unique to the team…these weren’t contestants. We also wanted dynamic personalities that could exist with each other and relate to each other and weren’t inhibited to express their emotions. They needed to be able to speak intelligently about the history behind this trek and what is done on an expedition.”

Baltazzi insists it’s the details that make or break a show. One pre-production detail that turned out to be quite a challenge was the obtaining of all the proper permits in order to film in Tanzania. “It is very, very challenging. For every area we were going through, on average you needed four to five permits. You had to have the overall national permit. Then because we were doing a historical journey, the Antiquities Department had to give us their blessing. Then when you went through a region, you would need a permit for that region. Then a permit for the district, and then, if you passed through a village, you would need a permit for each village. That’s five layers of permits.”

And it wasn’t only the amount of permits needed ‘ it was the process of obtaining them. Baltazzi explains, “Once you got the overall permission for the journey, then everything else was grassroots, where I was having my location supervisor literally go and meet with all the regional people, the district people, and the villages. They would have a piece of paper in their hand, and have to sit and have tea and ask how the family is and how’s the weather and how are your cows doing, etc. It’s actually astonishing that we accomplished it given how many permits had to be obtained… The book of our permits was like a tome. It was crazy.”

Next was getting a production crew together to make it happen. For Baltazzi, crew is an incredibly important part of the budget. “I’m so happy I spent the money I did on the talent I did ‘ the cameramen, the sound guys, the producers, the men that managed the historical route. Had I had a less experienced crew, we would not have gotten through that country.” And that’s her advice for other producers involved in similar ventures. “Spend your money on your talent, because you will get what you paid for…especially going into a very difficult environment to shoot in over a prolonged period of time.”

And it was a difficult environment. The crews endured strenuous mountain hikes, a blazing hot desert, monsoon rain conditions, and almost everything in between. A producer and two camera teams usually worked 10 hour shifts, though in certain spots they would be embedded with the explorers for several days on end. They shot with the Sony PDW-700, and had a team of porters that helped carry the gear. “Essentially it was an expedition following the expedition,” says Baltazzi.

One of Baltazzi’s chief concerns was making sure her crew was taken care of and fed well. But because their location was remote, getting proper food became a daily concern. “We didn’t have all this great refrigeration with us, so we needed to access food on a regular basis. There were central hubs from which to get the food…but seemingly simple things were really hard to find, like fresh fruit. We would be halfway through the country, and have to send someone all the way back to get apples and raisins. And to get energy snacks such as trail mix for the crew, we had to ship it in from Nairobi.”

In order to support the crew, Baltazzi’s base camp was constantly moving. “We ran a parallel expedition to our explorers,” Baltazzi says. The camp was located around two hours away from the where the expedition was taking place, and would usually stay in one spot only a couple nights. “We actually camped. Base camp was a moving camp with tents and all. We were just in constant motion.”

Once the details of the shoot are in place, then it’s time to focus on content. An important facet of a reality show, according to Baltazzi, is going after the deeper levels embedded in the storyline. She explains, “While you have your meat and potatoes story, you also look for that next level. So instead of keeping your stories at the surface level, you also look for the additional meaning, ie, what is being learned through that experience. It’s not just ‘I’m upset. I’m hungry. I’m tired.’ The next level is asking ‘How is this impacting you? What are you learning from this?’ And you impart that lesson to the viewer.”

The interviews with the explorers from the trail are important. But so is how those sound bites are handled in the edit suite. “It’s letting things breathe. Not just going from sound bite to sound bite…You let reality play as much as you can, and then you use your interview bites to punctuate what is going on. Instead of just repeating what is being seen, you’re adding another layer to it. ‘My hardcore rule is to stop hiking at 3:00 because weather sets in and it becomes dangerous.'” This kind of interview helps the viewer understand the explorers’ reactions and see the situation through their eyes.

Giving the show’s participants some space is another dimension of effective storytelling, according to Baltazzi. “It’s the way you shoot. Instead of always being on top of people, you’re using your lens, backing off and letting it play a little more cinematically. You’re shooting more from the end of your lens rather than straight on top. Then the explorers are freer to be themselves.”

Because of the rigors and dangers inherent in hiking through Africa, the environment became the fifth character in the series. Following Stanley’s route meant that there were eight unique visual looks that helped define the episodes in post. To capture the scope and feel of the surroundings, they would strategically use a long lens to capture beautiful scenics, as well as using a helicopter for sweeping aerials. She also felt that each environment had its own sound to define it. “What is the sound for the Usambara Mountains? It’s rain. What is the sound for the Bahi Swamp? It’s the high sound that you use for insects.”

For field recording, they used a Wendt X5 and Sennheiser mics. Baltazzi put a huge emphasis on capturing audio in the field that accented the story. “I would tell the sound guys, ‘They’re going up a mountain. Get heavy breathing. Make sure you have a clean track of heavy breathing. Get sounds of feet going through the mud. Get the sounds of paddles in the water.’ Our sound supervisor would go out and get stereo recording in every environment we went in to, both daytime and nighttime sounds. He would also get specialty sounds, like recording hippos or just paddles in the water.”