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READ AN INTERVIEW WITH WILLIE ESTERHUIZEN
From the producers of Poena is Koning, Willie & Pieter Esterhuizen, present you with Vaatjie Sien Sy Gat. A light hearted Afrikaans comedy, written and directed by Willie.
"Vaatjie" is not a sequel to "Poena", but some of the characters that featured in "Poena" also appear in "Vaatjie". Most notable Gerhard Odendaal that plays the lead. Others include, Andrew Thompson, who plays Theunis, Vaatjie's best friend. Lizz Meiring and Willie Esterhuizen who plays Vaatjie's mom and dad. Carien Botha, who plays his sister.
Newcomers to the "Vaatjie" village of characters but by no means unknown to the viewing public include acting stalwarts such Frank Opperman, Joey Rasdien, Hugh Mazibenza, Paul Slabolepszy, Kagiso Lediga, Nicky Robello and Pumla Ndlazi. Some of the youngsters include Zetske van Pletzen and (Bakgat) Cherie vd Merwe.
"Vaatjie" is set in Johannesburg in 2008. Vaatjie Visagie has a passion for eating and hence a passion for cooking. He is enrolled at the Chefs Training College, where they vie for top honours. The grand prize is a trip to Paris, France. Vaatjie is miles ahead of his classmates and this upsets the villain James, played by Marc Homan. He constructs a plan to get rid of Vaatjie.
When Vaatjie is found guilty of James's sins, he faces the prospect of going to jail. This he cannot bear and flees the country in a light aircraft. He doesn't get far. In Botswana he gets arrested for smuggling.
After having lost almost everything, including his clothes, he is redeemed by the intervention of the school's principal Mrs. Mammabolo and her security guard Sakkie. In the end Vaatjie not only gets the much promised trip to France but also the newfound love of his life, Petro.
Principle photography took place in Gauteng. The aerial shots and scenes were filmed at Krugersdorp Airport. This suited the profile of Vaatjie and the facilities at the airport were exactly what the producers had in mind with regards to the type of aircraft, (A single seater Piper) and the hanger setup. Access was also allowed close to the runway which produced breathtaking take off and landing shots. Getting onto any runway nowadays is near impossible.
The film was shot on HD. The advantages are endless. Cost effective in terms of stock and crew, but with the same visual results as if it had been shot on film. This is because of the expertise of Mr. Andre van den Heever, born and bred film cinematographer. His secret is in the way he lights each and every scene. Almost as if he was shooting on film. The result is crisp clear imagery, with a touch of artistic merit and feel.
The shoot was completes in 5 weeks. HD allowed for the introduction of visual effects and enhancements. What has previously been unattained because of equipment limitations or cost factors, now became a reality, because of the HD format.
A few examples. Arial shots are always hard to come by. Various factors on the day influence the outcome. Not only do you pray for clear blue skies, but often the chopper mounts comes up short. Now footage can be enhances using the "smoothcam" option. Your original still has to be pretty steady, but "smoothcam" makes it perfect.
Another example. Try filming anything inside or near a South African Police Force building. Near to impossible. Not only an administrative nightmare but their knee-jerk response to any request is "NO". Therefore we created our own "fictional" police force that is in no way related to the real one. Our force have their own uniforms, insignia, HQ, interrogation area, vehicles and even a "Alcatraz" type prison cell.
We were fortunate to film Vaatjie at a time when Johannesburg and surrounds looked green and lush. Many of the outdoor scenes, such as the traditional South African braai, was done in excellent summer wind still conditions. (Unlike Hawaii scenes where actors get blown off the scenes).
Post production, edit and sound, were done by Pieter and Toby Esterhuizen. Willie did all the special effects and the English sub-script that has to be on any Afrikaans film, was a collective effort. Only four spelling errors were found and duly corrected. All production processes took place in South Africa, except the movie's film trailer, that was done at a transfer facility in the US.
The film in its entirety was colour graded so as to give every scene in "Vaatjie" the same visual texture and feel.
The movie runs for 90 minutes and Willie's promise and pledge is at least the proverbial, "laugh a minute" and more.
SYNOPSIS
"Vaatjie sien sy gat!" is a brand new Afrikaans comedy written and directed by Willie Esterhuizen. It is a spin off from "Poena is Koning" but not a Poena 2. Some of the characters from the Poena film were retained, but the storyline and featured characters differ.
"Vaatjie sien sy gat!" focuses on a different target market and the musical element in Poena has been replaced by humour and adventure, themes better suited for a younger audience.
Vaatjie Visagie is fresh out of school and is enrolled at a Chef School. He plans on becoming a master pastry chef and at present things are going very well, to such an extend that he has scored top marks for the 1st year exam. This puts him in line for the sought after "Patteseri" award and opportunity to do his practical under the guidance of master chef Pierre Cousteau in Paris, France.
On the home front all seems well. His best friend Theunis van Rooyen, shares his interest in girls and has his designs on Vaatjies sister Blapsie. This does not prevent him from instigating a night on the town, which includes dinner at the Lollipop Lounge, a local dancing/ strip club in Randburg. As luck would have it, they get caught up in an ill timed police raid. Although nothing comes of it they get their names and ID numbers taken.
Vaatjie wants to prepare for France and goes to the local Video store to rent French movies to get a feel for the language. There he meets the girl of his dreams, but can't muster the courage to ask her for her name. He walks out madly in love.
At the Hotel School a certain James and Sipho, both classmates of Vaatjie does not take kindly to the fact that Visagie is in line for the award. James, because he is second in line for the award and Sipho because he despises Vaatjie. James decides to take matters in his own hands. He notices Mrs. Mammabolo, the head of the Hotel School is out of her office. Sakkie from campus security is sound asleep. James sneaks into Mrs. Mammabolo's office, take her cell phone and wallet from her bag, go to the locker room and put it together with some dope into Vaatjies rucksack. He then notifies security about the theft, via a sms.
Vaatjie gets arrested for theft and possession of drugs. Wors, his father gets a frantic phone call from his hysterical wife Molly to tell him that Vaatjie is in jail. Wors goes and bails him out. He believes Vaatjie is innocent. Molly decides to drown her sorrow in drink. Vaatjie has to appear before a court of law. Wors decides they need expert counselling.
The lawyer is not only sly, but proved incompetent in court as well.
Vaatjie is found guilty and gets a suspended sentence. Wors objects and gets thrown in jail for contempt of court. In jail they steal his shoes. Vaatjie is also expelled from the hotel school and James thinks he is in line to go to France. Only problem is his grades are not good enough.
Wors and Vaatjie go to the mall to buy new shoes, and discusses Vaatjie future. They decide he should go to an employment agency to find a job.
Meanwhile his best friend Theunis starts dating his sister Blapsie.
Vaatjie thinks this is disgusting, Wors doesn't approve and Molly takes to the bottle. The next door neighbour sees them bonking in the caravan.
At the employment agency Vaatjie finds a job. (At a price - he has to repay the hag at the agency in kind). His new job is selling ice cream in a ice cream van in the suburbs. It's a crap job. He then gets hi- jacked. The thieves, Pretty and Lucky, take the van, his shoes and cell phone. They also work for Boris Katchicokoff, the Russian who owns the van, and scams the insurance. Vaatjie goes to report the theft but Cowboy the police detective believes he is an inside man, because of his track record and previous convictions. Wors has to bail him out again.
Theunis has a gut feel Vaatjie was framed and uses Mrs. Mammabolos cell phone to prove this to her. She decides to have the whole Hotel School polygraph. The test shows Vaatjie is innocent. James not.
Before she can act, Cowboy decides to issue a warrant of arrest for Vaatjie. Vaatjie cannot face the prospect of going to jail and flees.
First on his scooter and then with a stolen piper Cup single seat airplane.
The plane that he decides to steal, has millions of dollars stashed in the back. Vaatjie does not know this, but as soon as he lands in Botswana, because he got lost, the customs official discovers this.
Vaatjie gets thrown in a Botswana jail.
Cowboy is hot on Vaatjies heels, but discover that the dollars in the plane is fake and that it was used as bait to trap a drug smuggling syndicate. Vaatjie makes his escape from the Botswana jail, because the customs official has gone "awol" on a drunken shopping spree after impounding the cargo. Vaatjie "steals" the plane for a second time. He flies it back to Johannesburg and hands the plane and himself over at the airport.
He gets arrested once more and gets paraded with other suspects in a ID parade. The witnesses, lucky and Pretty, fail to identify Vaatjie as the inside man. The police realize their mistake and Vaatjie is set free.
Mrs. Mammabolo reinstate Vaatjie at the Hotel School, Santie at the Video store forgive him and he is sent off to Paris, France.
READ MORE ABOUT POENA IS KONING
SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKING
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