I assumed the dinosaurs were in their trailer, they have a very strong union you know, but in the sand dunes and waste land of El Medano the Discovery Channel were filming to make them feel at home.
Tenerife has dabbled in the prehistoric film world before but Reign Of The Dinosaurs is an epic of six, hour long episodes spanning their time on earth from 250 million years ago to a mere 65 million. Creative Differences from Los Angeles sent their film team over but the production ground work and technical support was handled by Parque de la Reina based Blackstone Film Company who have vast experience with films, television, promotional and photo shoots.
Tenerife beat off competition from Hawaii for this 24 day assignment as producer Carolina Pacheco (below) explained. “It was a straight choice between the two but once we spoke to Blackstone we found they were very understanding of our needs and we knew we could work well with them. ” It was a first trip to Tenerife for Carolina but at least the flag was familiar as she went to a Scottish school in Argentina, one of many in Buenos Aires. Filming is not an exact science there are so many variables such as weather, but sadly the Tenerife authorities proved not to be flexible enough to smooth the way for the Discovery Channel.
I joined the shoot on rough land away from their preferred option of El Medano beach, the action featured a low slung camera mounted on the front of a car to take valuable background footage, the animatronic dinosaurs are added at the post production stage. “We wanted to drive the car along the beach early morning,” added Blackstone producer Julia Schroedl. “But the Costas authority couldn’t give us clearance. We also had scheduled filming up in the El Pijaral rain forest but just before the Discovery team arrived we were told it was now closed, even though we filmed there recently.” Blackstone have long been frustrated by a failure to realise the potential of the film industry in Tenerife and have fought to build a film studio and leisure complex.
On to the second stage in El Medano, the small lagoon behind the sand dunes. The water level was low but filming at one third scale will make it the perfect place for the thirsty dinosaurs to gather. Thankfully the dunes shielded the crew from the nude sun worshippers and would normally have also protected them from the wind coming off the sea but it was a rare day when the becalmed sky couldn’t even support the usual kite surfers. That didn’t help the heat levels particularly for those carrying the heavy equipment across the sand.
There are many more distractions to contend with, the car shots had to be timed in between cars, buses and even lycra clad cyclists on the distant roads, and litter made it difficult on low level shots. Back at the car park base a steady procession of families took the short cut to the beach on this busy national holiday. Many of these are common hazards and the crew’s professionalism saw them rise above the challenges.
It will be up to 2 years until we can see the dinosaurs treading the boards on Tenerife soil, there are no short cuts in this work. Reign of the Dinosaurs is deeply researched and features 220 creatures all authentic in historical detail and lovingly re-created by a talented team with experience in the Disney and Pixar companies.
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