Scott Crabbe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Mar 01/00) - As the sun teeters inches above the horizon and the B-trains line surrounding roads, the crew patiently assesses the situation at hand.

"We've been trying to work around this convoy of huge fuel trucks all day," says Alan Booth, producer of Yellowknife Films.

So this is Hollywood. Well, as close as it gets to the 'knife on a Friday at twilight.

The excitement began early Friday morning when a core group of delegates, dignitaries, and distinguished guests gathering at Matonabee Petroleum as part of an anti-smoking public service announcement campaign.

"Make sure you give mention to these guys, they've been so great to let us use their facilities like this."

By 4 p.m. there was still lots to do.

"That's the thing with doing this," says freelance film writer Anne Lynagh.

"You're always running out of time."

Yellowknife Films was given the opportunity to film a variation of 12 anti-smoking public service announcements after they won the bid from the Department of Health.

"We came up with a series which was indicative of the concept,"says Booth.

"We wanted our ideas to come across as dramatic and humorous."

Friday's scenes depict the hard lesson of what happens when you mix flames and fuel.

Once they throw in some post-production animation of an explosion, it will look the real thing.

"This is what happens to you when you smoke," says William Greenland, who plays Norbert, a trucker in the commercial.

"Norbert is sort of a Northern Mr. Bean. He's always getting into some sort of trouble," says Booth.

The budget for each individual shoot is about $2,900, a price that proves both challenging and limiting.

"The original concept we had would've cost millions. It's costly to do a lot of these things," Booth said.

"Our scope is tacky, we're using it for the purpose of humour."

As the sun drops yet another inch, the final shot is on line and in focus.

"I'll get the trajectory, don't worry," says Lynagh as she towers on a ladder over actor Roy Dahl with bits and pieces of shrapnel in her hands.

"I think it will be all right."