Location Scout Report
01Scouting Route Map
🚗 Scouting Route — 11:56 → 12:09 (13 minutes, ~2.5km, north → south)
Kim drove from the northern residential edge through the village commercial corridor, stopping at 8 distinct locations. Speed data from EXIF confirms vehicle-based scout with walking stops at key sites.
02Scouted Locations (58 photos, 6 videos)
Mochudi My Chemist
Red brick 'My Chemist' pharmacy with arched awning and electric roof fencing. 'Topline' adjacent. Large parking area — paving blocks + packed red earth. Hawkers signage in background. End of scout route.
Best scene fit → LWD-1/6: Empty city — 'secure but empty' commercial strip, easy to dress with 'NO WATER' signs
Village Commercial Strip
Pharmacy (mint-green), hair salon (bright blue), street-side maize cooking station. Vibrant colour palette. Large eucalyptus trees. Power lines, notice board, green grass (post-rain).
Best scene fit → LWD-1/6: Mall forecourt — dress down the colour for desolation, or use the vibrancy for flashback 'before' shots
Tuck Shop & Construction
'Leghama's Tuck Shop' with hand-painted graffiti + 'ICE FOR SALE P20'. Adjacent gov construction site with 'REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA' project board, corrugated iron fencing. Red rocky hills (koppies) in background.
Best scene fit → LWD-1: Empty city montage — the half-built infrastructure reads as 'systems failing'
Osanta Complex
Mixed-use micro-complex: hair salon, residential dwelling, orange outbuilding. Silver Toyota on blocks. 'Osanta Complex' signage, Security Systems sign, rusted chain-link fencing. 16 photos — most thoroughly scouted location.
Best scene fit → LWD-5/9: Water Depot — the car on blocks + security signage = dystopian rationing texture
Red Yard Homestead
Minimalist flat-roof house with vivid red Kalahari soil. Natural rocks, wire-and-pole fencing, white plastic chair. Recessed porch. Secondary cinder-block outbuilding. Rich red-earth-vs-green-canopy palette.
Best scene fit → LWD-3/4: Mma Neo's home — the red soil IS the visual motif of drought
KGE Government Housing
Institutional 'matchbox' house — cream/yellow walls, stenciled code 'KGE-MCH-25' (Kgatleng District housing). Satellite dish, external yellow water pipes, chain-link fence. Swept red dirt yard.
Best scene fit → LWD-3/4: Mma Neo's home — the institutional feel matches a 'registered household'
Caferos Department Store
General dealer — 'Caferos Dept Store' with Clover/Coca-Cola branding, heavy brown security bars, blue-white facade against red Kalahari sand. Microwave dish on side. Large shade trees frame the site.
Best scene fit → LWD-1/6: Shuttered mall / abandoned commercial area
Residential Boundary
Modern home with orange tiled roof, electric fencing, tuck shop in background. Suburban-meets-village transition. Single photo — entry point of scout route.
Best scene fit → Establishing shot texture — the 'modern Botswana' contrast
Ungeotagged (AirDrop'd)
19 photos transferred via AirDrop (GPS stripped). Include: Caferos Dept Store alternate angles, residential plot #15414, paved-to-dirt road transitions, rocky hillside, colourful bar/tuckshop, Rasesa village context.
Best scene fit → Multiple — these fill gaps in the geotagged coverage and show interiors + alternate angles
03Scene × Location Matching
INT. ROOM — NIGHT
Not Yet, DeathEXT. EMPTY CITY — DAWN
The Last Water Day
INT/EXT. MMA NEO'S HOME
The Last Water DayKGE-25 wins on narrative logic — the stenciled 'KGE-MCH-25' code reads as 'government-registered household', which ties directly to the water registration plot. The yellow external water pipes are a gift for visual storytelling.
EXT. PUBLIC WATER DEPOT
The Last Water Day
EXT. ROAD — MMA NEO WALKS AWAY
The Last Water DayEXT. DRY DAM / RIVERBED
The Last Water DayRecommended next scout: Gaborone Dam spillway, Notwane River dry sections, or a worked-out quarry/borrow pit. Must face WEST for the sunset climax.
04Production Logistics
🎯 Super-Location Strategy
60% of both films can shoot within a 1km radius in the Rasesa corridor. All 8 GPS clusters sit on a single 2.5km road.
- Dawn (05:30): LWD-1 empty city montage at Mochudi Strip + Caferos (no people, no traffic)
- Morning: LWD-3/4 (Mma Neo's home) at Red Yard — front-lit (faces NE)
- Midday: LWD-5 (Water Depot) at Osanta — harsh overhead light = dystopian
- Afternoon: LWD-6 (Mall forecourt) at Mochudi Strip — backlit for silhouette desolation
- Night: NYD-1 at The Outpost — isolated, zero light pollution, full control
☀️ Light Notes from EXIF
- All scouted under overcast skies — the red soil saturation will be MUCH higher on a clear day. Plan for both.
- Mochudi Strip faces NNE (24°) — backlit afternoons = silhouetted desolation. Perfect for LWD-1.
- Red Yard faces NE (59°) — morning front-light on house for "Kabelo arrives" shot.
- Osanta Complex scouted 360° — most thorough coverage. Heading range 31° to 221°.
🔌 Power & Access
- The Outpost (NYD-1): No grid power visible. Budget 5-10kW silent genny. Access road quality unknown.
- All village locations: Overhead power lines visible — grid power available but unreliable. Bring genny as backup.
- Road surfaces: Paved main road + packed red earth side roads. 4x4 not required but grip truck access should be verified for Osanta side entrance.
🎤 Sound Warnings
- Wind noise on ALL 6 videos — this corridor is exposed. Boom operators need full deadcats. Budget for ADR on exterior dialogue.
- Caferos + Mochudi Strip: Live commercial areas — intermittent traffic, people. Early morning or lockout needed for clean audio.
- The Outpost (NYD-1): Best audio location — isolated. But cicadas/birds from dense bush may create noise floor.
!!Critical Gap — Dry Dam / Riverbed
⚠️ Scenes LWD-2, LWD-8, LWD-12 — NO LOCATION FOUND
These are the opening and closing images of the film. Without a dry, cracked, desolate landscape, there is no Last Water Day.
Why today's scout doesn't work: Every location shows post-rainy-season green. The Kalahari red soil is dusty but not cracked. The trees are lush. There is no "vast and empty."
What we need:
- Cracked, dried mud (not sand, not soil — CRACKED)
- No vegetation in frame for the wide shot
- Faces WEST for the sunset climax (Scene 12)
- Vast — "a small figure in a large land"
Scout targets:
- Gaborone Dam spillway / dry sections — most likely candidate
- Notwane River dry stretches north of Gaborone
- A worked-out quarry or borrow pit — artificial but controllable
- Check with Kimberly: any cattle dip sites or empty reservoirs in the Kgatleng area?
05Action Items for Directors
- 1Authorize a "Dry Earth" scouting trip — Gaborone Dam, Notwane River, or a quarry. This is the #1 blocker for The Last Water Day. Must happen before we can lock the schedule.
- 2Interior scout at Red Yard + KGE-25 — we have great exterior coverage but zero interior photos. Need to verify kitchen size, door placement, window light for Mma Neo's home scenes.
- 3Review Video 5504 (The Outpost) as the stage for Not Yet, Death. If approved, send Art Dept for measurements + power assessment.
- 4Confirm Manase Fences access for the Water Depot scenes. Kim was contacting them — status?
- 5Choose Mma Neo's home: Red Yard vs KGE-25 — visual power (red soil) vs narrative logic (institutional housing code). Directors to decide based on DP's preference.
- 6Source silent generator (5-10kW) for The Outpost night shoot. Also source wind protection kits for location sound on all exterior setups.