WELCOME TO SARAJEVO

Production Mixer Martin Trevis tells of working in war-torn Bosnian locations.

Having previously recorded the sound on Go Now and Jude, director Michael Winterbottom, keen to use the same sound team, approached me to work on his next project Welcome To Sarajevo. The film is based on the book Natasha's Story written by ITN journalist, Michael Nicholson, and was a Channel 4 Films/Miramax co-production to be filmed in Sarajevo, Croatia, Macedonia and the UK. Filming was scheduled for nine weeks of which twelve crucial days were going to be shot in Sarajevo - a limited time because of the high insurance premiums for cast and crew in a high risk area. The spiralling costs of transport, accommodation and food in a city racked by black marketeering was a logistical nightmare for the production team. Knowing that many of the locations were going to be remote I had to take a mobile sound studio for every eventuality, with backup in many cases, to avoid any production holdups. Despite being happy with recent DAT recordings I decided to stick with the robust reliability of the Nagra IVS analogue machine and its low battery consumption, in conjunction with the AD146 mixer. My next concern were the radio mics. Michael, a stunningly visual director with a very keen ear for sound, loves to see and hear his actors perform without all the usual camera/sound restrictions of movement. I needed to speak to someone with experience or knowledge of radio frequencies that would be trouble free in areas unknown. Kishore Patel at Audio Limited was confident he could supply me with a four rack UHF diversity system that would prove successful. My consumables included a large dry cell battery supply for the period. All equipment and facility vehicles were to travel by road to Sarajevo, an eventful journey that would take five days. The crew were flown to Split in Croatia, followed by an overnight stay at the Hotel Medina. An unfamiliar face in our group turned out to be a mines expert. He was very wisely employed to safeguard the crew as unexploded war debris presented a real danger. The hotel was still being used by UN forces and refugees waiting to be relocated and was to be the location for the interior Holiday Inn scenes in the film on the return journey. We headed off towards Sarajevo the next day which was an eight hour trip by coach. Nothing had prepared us for the sights ahead; villages with every house destroyed while burnt out tanks littered the beautiful countryside. Many larger towns had all their infrastructure completely destroyed. Our thoughts were for the passing inhabitants. The journey was slowed by numerous check points, damaged roads and bridges temporarily repaired by the UN. The scale of what we had seen was soon to be dwarfed as we entered Sarajevo, a once proud cultural centre of Europe that had hosted the Winter Olympics. Industrial and government buildings, hotels, libraries, sports stadiums, and modern tower blocks were pock-marked and black from fires, the result of fierce indiscriminate shelling during the four year siege. Trams riddled with holes were a favourite sniper's target. Amazingly the service was up and running as many had been safely hidden during the war. The production office and crew accommodation was situated outside the city centre overlooking the flattened remains of the Olympic ice rink. The next few days were spent doing recces and adjusting to the very warm weather, while a 22.30hrs curfew made for early nights. We all hurriedly prepared for the light crew pre-shoot day, Michael's way of reducing first day tensions and a great time to sort out any teething problems. I was horrified to discover one of my Sennheiser 416s wasn't working. With the Steadicam being used on many occasions I had to organise myself to be very mobile and reliant on radio mics, with many of the early, journalist's running shots being recorded this way. In between set ups, the film camera was often swapped for the news cameraman's ENG setup, and switching modes kept me busy. Some of the early locations took us to what had been front line areas surrounding the airport. Here, houses both sides of the road were pitted with shell marks, and street lights and signs were sieve like, the result of bitter fighting. Many roads had subsidence because of the maze of underground tunnels dug to escape the havoc above. Here, safety rules had to be strictly adhered to, dangerous places were clearly marked as no-go areas and collecting souvenirs would carry an instant dismissal. Recreating the horrific mortar attack on a bread queue during the war, filmed only a block away from the original site, was for me the most traumatic experience. The street was cleared of crew and equipment as the Steadicam was seeing 360 degrees. I positioned myself behind the nearest building with the boom mic on a radio link ready to follow the camera, the remaining channels were on the artist. A stereo mic was positioned for effects feeding a DAT Walkman. The range of the UHF channels was outstanding. Many of the travelling shots were filmed along the notorious 'Sniper's Alley', the main road through the city. Permission was given for the art department to dress the area with war debris and Griphouse towing vehicle was used, often at high speed, to simulate vehicles escaping sniper fire. On one occasion whilst recording the convoy I was amazed to hear a deafening roar which I later found out was Croatia scoring the equalising goal against Germany in the European Cup. For the final scene in the film, a cellist playing to crowds overlooking the city, I prerecorded the music performed by a professional musician at the TV Centre. The back-up Nagra was used for playback at the location in conjunction with a powerful Fostex speaker run off mains supplied by electricians. Shooting the scene proved troublesome due to bad weather setting in. The first day had to be abandoned because of rain and poor visibility. Fortunately the following day, the weather improved enough for the scene to be completed. Travelling sequences with the convoy were going to be testing times for everyone. Most of them were spent on a coach filled with women, children and babies for long periods. I was allocated a seat to store the sound gear halfway down the vehicle, which luckily was out of shot for most of the time. Cables were laid for hidden and personal mics to cover dialogue scenes in various parts of the coach. One of the most harrowing scenes in the film was the Chetnik's search for Serbian children during the journey to safety. A combination of radio mics and boom captured the sound to great effect. The final day's filming in Sarajevo was scheduled to be a shoot and travel day. All surplus equipment and personal belongings were loaded on the facilities trucks. The journey to Brela, a seaside resort on the Croatian coast, took us through Mostar, one of the towns severely damaged during the war and with the loss of many lives. During the drive we had time to reflect on the unique and moving experience of having worked in a city who's people had survived four years of incredible hardship and sacrifice.Many thanks go to the team working with me, Kate Morath for her superb boom and radio mic placement skills, Roscic Danko (Sarajevo/Croatia) and Popovski Cedomir (Macedonia), expert local help, without whom the job would have been a nightmare!