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Pay-TV sector hots up South Africa’s satellite pay-TV landscape has seen huge changes over the past few weeks with TopTV introducing the country’s first ever prepaid model and MultiChoice launching six genre-themed, high definition M-Net movie channels on its DStv Premium bouquet. Top-TV’s prepaid model (an instant payment method) is positioned as a key factor in the broadcaster’s turnaround strategy. Since the broadcaster’s phenomenally successful launch in June 2010, which targeted the LSM 4 – 7 group, the subscriber base has shrunk, necessitating a full review of the TopTV business earlier this year. The prepaid model has been introduced to re-activate dormant subscribers and attract new viewers, particularly in areas outside the main urban centres
and television viewers in the lower income bracket. Prepaid vouchers are available for purchase at outlets all over the country, including spaza shops in townships. According to TopTV’s senior vice president of Sales and Marketing Marius Liebenberg, the broadcaster researched the prepaid model for six months prior to launch. “The prepaid model has only been introduced in a few countries around the world and in various different formats. We decided we needed our own version that is not based on any international model. “TopTV has put a massive budget behind marketing prepaid. It’s a very targeted marketing strategy and we hope to do some activations as well. By May next year there will be over 30 000 outlets selling our prepaid vouchers,” explains
Liebenberg. Eddie Mbalo, TopTV interim CEO adds: “Our marketing in general over the past few months has been more targeted instead of spraying out information to all and sundry. From April to July this year it’s been more content focused and we have moved away from decoder marketing to advertising the fact that we have, for example, 11 movie channels, five news channels and 62 channels in total.” Mbalo stresses that local content is important to TopTV. “We want to re-define the relationships between independent producers and broadcasters and have been engaging with local producers about licensing their products. Commissioning local content is still in the future but we are trying to find ways in which – continued on next page
Big growth for Kunjanimation The second Kunjanimation animation festival, which runs in Cape Town from 17 to 21 October, forms part of the France-South Africa Season 2012 and will comprise four days of workshops and 12 screenings. According to festival co-director Daniel Snaddon the backbone of the workshop programme is the Gobelins Masterclasses, presented by Gobelins l’école de l’image in Paris.
“They are widely considered to be the best animation school in the world, and they are shipping us Dreamworks animator Alexandre Heboyan (Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens) for an intensive five-day course on character animation,” explains Snaddon. Kunjanimation was initiated when Nicolas Doyard from the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) approached local industry organisation Animation SA with a proposal from the
Annecy International Animation Festival in France – the largest in the world – to have a small local event to screen some of the best animation from around the world. Snaddon explains: “We saw it as an opportunity to create a platform for animation art and business in South Africa, and decided to add workshops, an exhibition and more French and local content to the screenings. – continued on next page
Galloping ahead – Award winning brand campaign for M-Net Movies 1 HD by Monarchy. See animation feature on pages 26 to 38
eNews launches in the UK South African independent 24-hour news channel eNews launched on the Sky digital satellite platform (Channel 518) in the UK on Monday 20 August. The eNews Channel’s name also changed to eNews Channel Africa, or eNCA, a day earlier. The new name, along with new branding, was launched during a press function at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sandton on 17 August. Head of Technical Operations at eNCA, Rob Brown, told Screen Africa that their footage will travel to the UK via the Seacom underwater fibre-optic loop around the east or west coast of Africa,
depending on which route can handle it best at any given time. “It will travel from our offices in South Africa to the BT Tower in London, where Globecast will uplink the footage to Sky,” explained Brown. He added that they will send it at 3mb/s as a MPEG-2 signal. “That’s the signal that Sky puts out, which means it won’t have to be decoded or encoded anywhere along the way, giving the best quality to Sky viewers.” Brown added that the live delay will be about three seconds, similar to the delay on the DStv platform. – continued on next page
Continued from page 1 | Pay-TV sector hots up producers can own content. “I can confirm that we’re on a local content acquisition and licensing drive. If you look at our schedule in the next few months it will look a lot different.” According to Mbalo, TopTV has made inroads into stabilising its subscriber base and currently has approximately 160 000 active subscribers. “We have even seen a lot of new subscriptions in the past few months,” he says.
On the HD trail The total number of HD channels that will be available on MultiChoice’s DStv Premium bouquet from 1 October will be 14. This includes the six new genrethemed M-Net movie channels and the existing SuperSport channels. All the HD channels barring the SuperSport channels and the Discovery HD Showcase channel will also be simulcast in standard definition (SD) to cater for DStv’s subscribers with SD decoders as opposed to HD PVRs. The channels will be available from 1 October when MultiChoice migrates to its new satellite, Intelsat IS20, which will have a life span of about 15 years and considerably more capacity than its predecessors. According to director of M-Net Movie Channels Pierre Cloete, the HD movie channels have been three years in the planning. “It also required two years of negotiations as we had to renegotiate contracts with the studios that we normally do business with, plus do additional deals with other studios. Effectively M-Net has doubled its movie inventory,” explains Cloete. M-Net has signed all the major studios – Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Fox, Universal and Lionsgate. Cloete continues: “We’ve also concluded a new deal with MGM to celebrate the 50th
eNews launches in the UK Milestone
CONTENT FOCUSED – TopTV’s Kgomotso Lekola and Eddie Mbalo
anniversary of the James Bond films. The first 22 Bond films will air from 6 October, one each day. “In addition we’ve signed unprecedented new deals such as, for example, a library deal with Warner Bros., as well as a new Disney deal for a Princess festival.” He notes that M-Net viewers have not really been exposed to genre channels before, aside from action. “We looked at international channels and even brought out someone from UK broadcaster Sky to advise us.” Cloete admits that the new HD offering is a very consumer-centric approach and a big push to encourage people to buy HD PVRs. “We want to give viewers more at no extra cost. Our Premiere channel will have five new movies a week. There will be a fresh movie on each channel each day of the week. Subscribers will have a choice of two different movies every half hour.” The HD movie channels necessitated M-Net to restructure internally and create a separate division as movies previously fell under the General Entertainment division. M-Net’s movie genre channels are: M-Net Movies Premiere (HD); M-Net Movies Comedy (HD); M-Net Movies Family (HD); M-Net Movies Action Plus (HD); M-Net Movies Drama & Romance (HD); M-Net Movies Showcase (HD); M-Net Movies Action (SD); and M-Net Movies Stars (SD).
Big growth for Kunjanimation Thus Kunjanimation was born.” One of the goals is to set up a long term exchange with Annecy. Snaddon continues: “At Kunjanimation this year we’ll be hosting a workshop to introduce the possibility of setting up a South African stall at MIFA, Annecy’s market, which would really help to make us a more visible entity to the ANIMATION FEAST – Last year’s festival international animation community,” he explains. The 2012 festival is funded in the form of speakers, art work and primarily by the France-South Africa animated films, and we have a team of Seasons project, IFAS, the National Film over 20 volunteers. The support for the and Video Foundation of South Africa festival from the local animation and Animation SA members. Cape Town community has been astounding,” notes chairwoman of Animation SA, Canda Snaddon. Kincses, also serves as a co-director of the One of highlights of the festival will be Kunjanimation festival. the Cape Town première of animated “We have a number of local schools, feature film Adventures in Zambezia. “It’s studios and individuals providing content 4 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Patrick Conroy, head of eNews Channels, noted that the channel now has access to Sky’s more than 10 million subscribers. “We’re hoping South African expats will tune in, but we also want to attract global citizens, including diplomats, politicians, think tank researchers and potential tourists. We want to offer them the type of nuance that only local broadcasters can provide. This is a chance to offer a view of Africa from an African perspective.” He explained that viewers in the UK will see exactly the same content as South African viewers, except between 9pm and 11.30pm daily, when they will air pan-African content that will only be broadcast to South African viewers later that same night. “We want to see if we can grow the appetite, not only for South African news, but for African news.” Conroy called it a new journey and important milestone for the eNews brand. “We’re hugely excited at the prospect, but it’s also quite daunting. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves or South Africa,” he said. The new eNCA logo features a representation of the African continent in blue, with red triangles to highlight the channel’s South African origins. According to Conroy they renamed and rebranded the channel because they don’t want to clash with existing global brands such as the E! entertainment channel. “It was a balancing act to get the right name and retain our brand equity,” he noted. Since the channel is relatively unknown globally, they wanted the branding to be immediately recognisable as an African channel in the UK. Conroy also noted that their sets will only change slightly, while eNews Africa’s studio will get a major overhaul. “We want to present a
a real coup as it was produced here in Cape Town,” says Snaddon. “We will have a really excellent selection of films showing, including Le Tableau, presented by its director Jean-François Laguionie and the French sci-fi classic La Planète Sauvage, both courtesy of our friends it IFAS. There will also be a selection of the best short films from around the world, courtesy of Annecy. A selection of South African short films, music videos and ads is being curated by our team.” Judd Simantov, formerly lead character technical artist from Naughty Dog (Uncharted 1&2), will give a talk on rigging for animation and Rob van den Bragt from BlackGinger will be giving a talk on pipeline. Comments Snaddon: “We’ll also have presentations by Triggerfish Animation on their upcoming feature Khumba, a presentation from Johannesburg’s Mind’s Eye Creative and other really exciting local artists and studios.”
TAKING TO THE SKY – Chris Maroleng and Patrick Conroy
more modern, contemporary Africa.” He added that there would be only a small increase in staff to boost their capacity.
Telling African stories eNews Africa editor Chris Maroleng believes that the launch of the channel in the UK is a crucial turning point for Africa, finally allowing the continent to tell its own stories. eNCA already has news bureaus in Nigeria and Kenya, run by South Africans supported by locals, and is in the process of developing a freelance stringer network across the continent. “There have been 15 successful elections in Africa over the past 20 months, and GDP growth of above 7% in many countries. These stories are not always being told,” said Maroleng. However, he emphasised that they will not be white-washing news from the continent. “We want to show the real Africa, warts and all. The African diaspora is our main market, but we’re really hoping that other people will tune in as well.”
The first Kunjanimation festival in 2011 was held in Johannesburg. “As Animation SA is a national body with branches in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, our idea is to ping-pong the festival between our two cities each year. This will give everyone a years’ break from volunteering and hopefully create some competition so that the festival grows in scope, ambition and quality,” explains Snaddon. He notes that France is currently the third largest producer of animation – after the US and Japan – and is considered to have some of the best quality, and most original animation in the world. “As an animator myself there are many appealing things about the French animation industry, including their commitment to quality, their appetite to take risks on stories that are aimed at a variety of audiences as well as their relatively excellent working conditions, and these are all things to aspire to here in South Africa.” – Linda Loubser
From the editor
Top bird Elusive, stylish, gleaming and highly desired – that’s the Loerie Awards trophy for you. A real winner (as depicted in our cartoon) because it symbolises the best in brand communication creativity. The 2012 Loeries, which runs as part of Creative Week in Cape Town from 15 to 23 September, attracted hundreds of entries and will see literally thousands of guests from ad agencies and commercial production houses descend on the Cape Town International Convention Centre for the two awards ceremonies. However, as organisers are at pains to point out, the Loeries is not just about ad agencies and creatives, it’s also about marketing executives and brands. This issue of Screen Africa sees our annual special feature on animation and spotlights the inspiring and beautiful work produced by local companies, work that is quite clearly of an international standard. We also look at some of the issues currently facing the industry such as challenges in sustaining a long form industry and questionable training. It’s always exciting to include news of new South African films and this month we run stories of two films of vastly different genres, a human drama with an inspirational message (Darrell James Roodt’s Stilte) and an action thriller set in the world of illegal mining (Vickus Strijdom’s Zama Zama). Our front page reflects exciting developments for all four of South Africa’s broadcasters. Free-to-air commercial channel e.tv has launched its independent 24-hour news channel on the Sky digital satellite platform in the UK, thereby dramatically extending its footprint. Pay-TV operator TopTV has launched a prepaid instant payment option – the first in South Africa – a move that is sure to boost subscriptions, particularly in the lower income groups and in areas outside the major urban centres. MultiChoice, currently the only South African broadcaster to offer high definition (HD) channels on its satellite subscription service DStv, has now added six new HD movie channels to its Premium bouquet, as well as two standard definition (SD) AfricaMagic channels. Already regarded as a giant in the local and African broadcasting sector, these new developments are likely to entrench that perception even further. SABC3 has commissioned four new sitcoms, one of which (Those Who Can’t) is featured in this issue. While we don’t report of any dramatic improvements in the turnaround of beleaguered public broadcaster SABC, it is encouraging that one of its three channels is commissioning comedy series. This issue includes a bumper two Director Speak columns instead of just one – from commercials director Alan Irvin and from feature director Andrew Wessels, both of whom provide fascinating answers to our questions.
Contributors: Andy Stead, Anton Crone Ian Dormer, Martin Chemhere Sub-Editor: Tina Heron
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26 TRACKING TECHNOLOGY
fun at SA males;
Prompting a new range;
Local industry
Krige’s African adventures......... 11
Observing digital logging system;
gets animated..................... 26 / 27
COMMERCIALS
Sharing data is easier;
Banking on animation;
Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Melaney Van den Berg: mel@screenafrica.com
22
New campaign pokes
IDC’s first animation project.... 30
Ratings: Enid Venter enid@ihjohannesburg.co.za Head of Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@screenafrica.com
SPECIAL FEATURE ANIMATION
Animated moves in the industry;
Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com
16
18
Experimenting with design........ 28
SCREENAFRICA In-house Journalist: Linda Loubser: news@screenafrica.com
12
Making magic;
Joanna Sterkowicz
Editor: Joanna Sterkowicz: editor@screenafrica.com
Contents
Going green.................................. 32 Telling stories; Believable visual effects.............. 34 The end of the world; Many ‘good’ moments................ 36
Creativity takes a bow............... 12 Director Speak –
Painting the future...................... 42 Defining that ‘broadcast feel’;
Alan Irvin (Picture Tree)............ 13
4k / 3D colour grading.............. 43
FILM
efficient 3D; Easier transition
A (silent) test of faith................. 14 The chancers................................ 16 A story of epic proportions..... 18 SA cinemas go digital................. 20
INDUSTRY
Taking flight................................... 38
Director Speak –
NEWS
Andrew Wessels.......................... 21
Aiming high; Streami ng more to file-based workflows............. 44 Solid support system; Meeting all your archive needs............................... 45
AFRICA Zimbabwean film goes global; Ethiopian films
Pay-TV sector hots up;
DOCUMENTARY
infiltrate the south...................... 46
eNews launches in the UK;
Riding with gangsters................. 22
REGULARS
TELEVISION
Audience Ratings......................... 47
Big growth for Kunjanimation......................... 3 / 4 African radio first;
A very public affair..................... 23
New SABC3 sitcom;
BROADCAST
Streaming to mobile...................... 6
Demise of the BNC?...24
Tykwer comes to Durban; ‘Blooming’ great workshops........ 8
ADCETERA Kalahari Gold; Refreshing stuff from feelgood; From knights to captains of starships................... 10
CAMERAS
Film Lab Stats............................... 47 Events............................................. 51 Production Updates......... 48 / 49 / 50 / 51 Social.............................................. 52
Biggest multi-cam RED shoot.. 40
RADIO Eyes added to ears..................... 41 September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 5
NEWS |
African radio first Synchronised Media – DJ Scratch in the studio
Wale Akinlabi
Planet Image Productions launched Planet RadioTV (PRTV), billed as Africa’s first radioTV, in July this year. “This technology introduces a new concept for music entertainment by synchronising different mediums such as radio, television, social networking and cellular technology,” explains Planet Image Productions CEO Wale Akinlabi. “It creates one medium allowing for amazing reach and interaction between broadcaster and end user.” Akinlabi notes that the new broadcasting technology was pioneered in
New SABC3 sitcom
Johannesburg-based Quizzical Pictures (formerly Curious Pictures) is producing a six-part sitcom for SABC3, scheduled to go on air weekly as from Thursday 27 September in the 18h30 timeslot. Created by novelist, satirist and screenwriter Tom Eaton and comedian Alan Committie, Those Who Can’t revolves around a staffroom full of teachers who behave as badly as the children they’re supposed to be educating. Eaton and Committee are the sole writers on the project. Although Quizzical Pictures is known for its award-winning dramas such as Intersexions, Heartlines, Hopeville, The Lab and Tsha Tsha, the company has produced a sitcom before – Font – which was broadcast on SABC3 a few years ago. Those Who Can’t was pitched to SABC3 in response to the Request For Proposals (RFP) Book issued in June 2010. Says Quizzical’s head of Content Development Nimrod Geva: “At the time we were keen to produce a sitcom so we approached Tom Eaton, because we thought he was a very funny and talented writer. He had the concept for Those Who Can’t, which we loved. So we pitched it to the SABC and only received the go ahead this year. “Those Who Can’t is a single-camera mockumentary in the style of Modern 6 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Family and The Office. We think the show will be not only seriously smart but also push the comedic envelope and are very excited to have a wealth of talent for the show, including Sello Sebotsane, Grant Swanby, Neville Williams, Robyn Scott, Loyiso MacDonald and Kate Normington. The entire series is filmed on location.” Frequent Quizzical collaborator Tim Greene (Boy Called Twist) is directing the series. Each episode is shot in three days and then post-produced in-house at Quizzical Pictures. Up until recently Quizzical Pictures was known as Curious Pictures. Executive producer Harriet Gavshon explains: “A name change became necessary because of the confusion caused by the fact that there is another company called Curious Pictures based in New York. Although the two companies have managed to co-exist for many years, Curious Pictures South Africa is now doing a lot of international work and needs to differentiate its identity. “In addition, the South African company is getting a lot of global recognition. For instance, we recently won a prestigious Peabody Award for Intersexions.”
France and PRTV is the second in the world and the first in Africa to use it. The channel focuses on African music and airs 15 hours of fresh content every day with repeats for the remaining time. The content is a mixture of pre-recorded music and lifestyles shows such as Fashion Statement, Design & Lifestyle and The P Spot, as well as live footage from the DJs in the PRTV studio. “PRTV is a complete visual and audio experience, which means full hair, full make-up and state of the art communications technology (live Skype),” states Akinlabi. There are four Panasonic AW-HE50 cameras mounted on the roof of the
studio in Johannesburg, each connected to a microphone. “The system, based on Orad’s HDVG platform, is completely automated and relies on unique audio detection software to detect the talent’s voice and determine which camera should be on air. Camera switching does not require human intervention and the existing workflow is maintained without any additional costs,” explains Akinlabi. “The technology supports multicamera production in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) resolution, providing the rich quality of TV broadcasting. It also provides genlocked clean cuts and high quality video play out.” A PRTV app was launched in early August. “This will also generate revenue for the company as we can sell advertising at the bottom of the app. The app has the ability to detect your Internet speed and therefore reduce the interference.” Planet Image Productions SA produces Good Morning Africa, a breakfast show on the Africa Magic Channel 114 on the DStv satellite pay-TV platform. “We have 23 staff members who are responsible for producing our shows, which include cameramen, editors, producers and researchers,” notes Akinlabi. – Linda Loubser
Streaming to mobile A new specialised technology known as ARTIST, developed by a CSIR South Africa-led consortium, allows streaming video to be viewed on mobile devices in low bandwidth or congested environments without buffering or break up. “Users can now watch TV channels or video content on their existing Android smart phones or tablets on their existing cell phone networks. ARTIST works on 3G and EDGE (low bandwidth), which is the dominant system used in rural areas. It works without any break up at 24kbps,” explains Pierre van der Hoven of Tuluntulu, the newly set up company that is commercialising the technology. “There is a demand for mobile content in South Africa but it requires a proper delivery mechanism,” he continues. “So far the global explosion of online video usage has not been shared by Africa as current competing technologies do not perform well in low rate Internet infrastructures between 30kbps to 300kbps and, more particularly, where the throughput rate rapidly varies within this range from one second to the next, as is common in all mobile cellular networks. “Our technology provides seamless and smooth video delivery adapting to varying throughput rates for each individual connected user, without disruption. There is no re-buffering or fast start up to the viewed stream.”
MEETING DEMANDS – Pierre van der Hoven
The system has built in social media interaction, as well as tools to manage and control the bandwidth. Van der Hoven maintains that the system can generate huge data revenues for mobile operators. “Users can opt for ‘lower quality’ to save on their mobile phone data costs. We can also provide detailed audience analysis.” He notes that niche TV operators, as well as minority sports, corporations, production companies that have access to content, educators, the health industry and so on could use the technology.
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NEWS |
Tykwer comes to Durban “Film is probably the most collaborative art form in existence because it’s an incredibly long journey making a film. However, filmmaking is not communist so limit the number of people that will contribute to the ingredients,” said acclaimed German filmmaker Tom Tykwer during a master class at the recent Talent Campus Durban. Tykwer, known for films such as Run Lola Run, Perfume and The International, told a room full of emerging filmmakers from several African countries not to pretend to be someone other than who they are. “It takes too long to pretend to be someone else when directing a film – you need to be ready to open up and show everyone who you are and do so with self-respect,” continued Tykwer. He noted that this can be a complicated process because many people feel the need to have a vertical structure during filmmaking. “The International was a Hollywood production and very hierarchical so I wasn’t meant to speak to the second
MASTER CLASS – Tom Tykwer (seated fourth from left) with the ‘Talents’ and coordinator Monica Rorvik (extreme right)
assistant director but I ignored that. Some people have this ideal of a visionary director who everyone listens to – that’s what I call the ‘Old Fart School of Filmmaking’ and it’s still prevalent in art house cinema.” Tykwer advised the Talent Campus Durban delegates to come up with their own ideas first and then to listen to others. “Then take the best of this cake that’s been pre-baked and bake a super cake. But ego problems can get in the way; this is something I have to work on myself because, being older, I have a bit of the ‘Old Fart School’ in me. “Usually it’s me in the room with the writer and the producer but I take a lot of decisions by myself in advance. When you find a cinematographer who speaks your language it’s wonderful. I’ve only ever
‘Blooming’ great workshops
NEW BREED – Philip Bloom 8 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
worked with the same DOP in my films. “Find a producer that has a substantial attention span for you because a director should feel protected by his producer. Being married to your crew has an upside and a downside but I would advocate it.” Tykwer admitted to being obsessive about the notion that there are far too many films on the planet and that everyone is looking for films that are profound. “We’re surrounded by McDonald’s cheeseburgers in film, the stuff that doesn’t excite you. What you want is a film voice that has a different sound to all the cheeseburgers out there. “Your film should be like the film that no-one has made before. It’s important that you make something exceptional because every producer and distributor I know is bored with the same old same old
movies. Find something really interesting to say in your film. If you have an exceptional idea then you will find money.” He advised the assembled filmmakers to start local and to tell stories that they know about. “My 1998 film Run Lola Run is super-German,” noted Tykwer. “At that time my city was in transition. This movie made me because it broke through internationally. There was truthfulness in the movie and it was made with heartfelt emotion by me and my team,” commented Tykwer. The October issue of Screen Africa will include a report on Nairobi Half-Life, the third film to come out of Tykwer’s One Fine Day workshop training programme in Kenya.
British digital cinematographer Philip Bloom will visit South Africa in October to present a series of workshops. Bloom has filmed, directed and edited short films, documentaries and much more from Clapham to Cambodia. Photographers and cinematographers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban will have the opportunity to learn directly from Bloom’s experience. He is one of the new breed of digital cinematographers who over the past four years has become one of the leading world evangelists for the low budget film look. He has also been one of the largest influences on the use of DSLR cameras for video by utilising cameras like the Canon 5DmkII and more recently, the Sony FS100, F3, Canon C300 and the new slow motion beast, the FS700. Bloom’s workshops will take the form of a 100-person single day event in Cape Town and Johannesburg, as well as smaller 25-person master classes over two days in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Dale Ballantine and Rick Joaquim of Be Creative Events had discussed travelling overseas and attending one of Bloom’s workshops, and then the idea of bringing him to South Africa developed.
“We first discussed this with Philip about a year ago and it actually became viable to bring him out,” says Joaquim. “It turns out that he has always wanted to visit South Africa.” “South Africa is one of the few countries I haven’t been to yet but have always wanted to visit so my answer was a big ‘Yes!’” says Bloom. “I came really close to coming to South Africa a number of times for shoot jobs but they never came through, so to be finally able to come is a dream come true. I will make sure I shoot as much as I can in between the workshops. “To be honest, I don’t know very much about the South African film industry so I am really keen to get out there and see what’s going on and hopefully meet lots of people. Like many people I saw District 9 and loved it but that’s about the extent of my knowledge of South African film. “One of the best things about these workshops and events is they bring people of all different skill levels together in one place so not only do the sessions offer great education, they also provide priceless networking and social interaction.” For more information go to: http://www.be-creative.co.za
screen africa advert 3.indd 1
2012/08/21 7:56 PM
AD cetera
Report on the South African commercials industry by Anton Crone
Kalahari Gold If there is anything audiences dread during monumental sporting events, it’s the advertising. The overload of associations and hammy sporting references become media mindf..ks. The consumer brain can only take so much and, if it’s an Olympic season, the ammunition given to brands by peculiar sports like hammer throwing, archery and fencing is tantamount to insurrection. And they still add footballs! Yes, they cross the airwaves like fighter planes in the blitz, and when David Beckham – the most photographed person since Princess Di – is resurrected, the consumer brain hits the brand association wall. Then Posh Spice appears in the arena and consumers finally flick over to watch the Lewe Sonder Joost (Life Without Joost) rerun. You’ve actually lost them to Joost’s ex, Amore Vittone. It’s a travesty. To dive into this maelstrom you have to be nuts or incredibly smart, but one agency might well have survived with its creative credentials intact. Gold Medal Movies was the pay-off to Kalahari.com’s latest campaign televised
during the recent London Olympic Games. Employing some of the blockbuster movies that they sell, agency JWT Cape Town married tongue in cheek sports commentary with well known scenes to give them an ironic twist. The dancing scene on the log over the stream in Dirty Dancing becomes a balance beam performance and a testosterone infused love scene in Brokeback Mountain becomes a Greco-Roman wrestling match. The simplicity of concept and digital tools at hand meant the visual production could be handled in-house by agency copywriter Roderick McCall and art directors Graeme Bettles and Jane Hollander. Even though they had a large bank of famous films to choose from, finding the right scenes proved challenging. “A scene too closely related to sport, like Forrest Gump running, just doesn’t work,” explains McCall. “It’s the juxtaposition to the sport commentary that makes it.” The team also found that some of the
Kalahari.com scenes they recalled didn’t work when viewing them. “Slow motion meant you lost the immediacy of sport, and we sometimes found that a scene wasn’t actually physical enough,” explains Bettles. Despite these challenges the JWT team found what appear to be winning combinations. The campaign has proved to be popular and the accumulative YouTube hits for the campaign is upwards of 120 000, a scene from the Twilight series having the most views.
JWT believes in being tactical and topical. “We’re lucky enough to have a client who is brave enough to look for a reason to do something, rather than a reason not to,” says executive creative director Conn Bertish. The Kalahari Gold Medal Movies campaign follows on the heels of its Cannes Lions shortlisted campaign, Classic Romance Movies for Men, televised during that other very active sporting event, Valentine’s Day.
Refreshing stuff from feelgood
Santam
From knights to captains of starships
Nivea for Men A South African director who has been busy in another part of Africa is Jeremy Goodall of feelgoodfilms. “We had the opportunity to work with Euro RSCG Johannesburg on their campaign for Kenya Power. This has been a massive campaign and required us to shoot in various Kenyan locations,” says Goodall. As this work goes into post-production, feelgoodfilms sent their latest commercial for Nivea for Men to the stations. Conceptualised by Draft FCB this one will definitely appeal to both men and women – we’re talking bathroom scene and buff body after all. The ad follows a young chap with pecs to rival the Old Spice guy. He starts his day in the bathroom with Nivea Maximum Hydration Body Lotion – we’re talking 24-hour PLUS defence here and this cat has a lot of body to cover. He lubes up on lotion, leaves the bathroom to take on the day at the dusty construction site, followed by a dinner date, looking fresh and hydrated all the while, then returns to the bathroom 24 hours later for 10 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
a refresh. What’s refreshing for Goodall is the filming technique and the break away from Nivea’s usual style. “Post-production was the biggest challenge. We wanted it to appear like the subject was moving seamlessly from one scene to another,” explains Goodall. “A scene had to be shot in one room, the same scene needed to be shot on a different location and a third take had to be shot with a blue screen. In order for the character’s motion to appear to be smooth and seamless, we used one-take motion control equipment combined with post-production layering.” The breakaway from the typical cosmetic commercial is a storyline that compels the audience to identify with the character. So while there is sufficient buffness to appeal to the gals, the lads will really appreciate the fully clothed segment that our hero moves through between bathroom scenes. Less pecs, more hard-hat and dinner date. Refreshing, indeed.
No doubt you are familiar with Bouffant director, Dean Blumberg’s offerings for Nando’s: the Cannes award winning Last Dictator Standing and the more recent Diversity. Then there is his Loerie Award-winning work for Santam with Sir Ben Kingsley, The Real McCoy. In a few short years Blumberg’s eclecticism, deep passion for his craft and chameleon-like ability to adapt and evolve with different scripts has made him a highly sought after director. Blumberg got off to a good start graduating from film school with honours and three award winning short films. His
Dial Direct
films have been selected for a multitude of international film festivals, officially showcased at the Cannes International Film Festival, and picked up many awards including the Fiction Award for Best Film at the World Schools Festival. In his first year of directing Blumberg won the CFP-E Shots Young Director’s award at Cannes Lions and was chosen for the New Directors Showcase in Shots magazine. Shortly afterwards, his Ford Ubuntu spot won the Creative Circle Ad of The Year. He has since gone on to win awards at most major shows, including Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show and the London International Awards and was selected to showcase his work at the Boards Summit in New York. Blumberg is also racking up the talent when it comes to casting. Not only has he directed a knight of the British realm (Sir Ben Kingsley) but his latest commercial for Dial Direct features William Shatner who, as James T Kirk, kicked ass as the captain of the USS Enterprise. Not a bad start at all.
AD cetera New campaign pokes fun at SA males More and more of our true South African identity is being reflected through commercials. Arguably the finest proponent of character driven commercials is Anton Visser and his latest offering for insurance company 1st for Women demonstrates what a bunch of muppets South African men truly are. Conceptualised by Black River FC, the campaign has its roots in man’s inability to turn down a challenge. First off, a pair of ground-hugging fighter jets terrorise the country after a pilot with the call sign Legend challenges Cobra with: “Last one back to base is a loser!” The second challenge brings us back to earth in a bar. A man standing too close to the dartboard won’t move and he challenges the thrower by offering his splayed hand as a target on the dart board. “Told you you’d miss,” he declares, unaware of the dart lodged in his forehead. Finally, after seeing the phenomenon on YouTube, a curious poker buddy offers himself as an experiment to see if he’ll ‘explode’ by drinking a cool drink with mint sweets. Of course his buddies pour a litre of cola and a whole tube of mints down his gullet. “For the close-ups we shot foamy cola shooting from the ears and mouth of a bust of the actor’s head and then
1st for Women composited that into the action plates,” explains Visser. “On the wide shots, I wanted it to be real, with the actor moving around and spraying cola on objects, so Cosmesis in Cape Town built a prosthetic rig for us. A pipe ran from a pump, up his back, and then spilt into thinner tubes that ran to his ears and mouth. They then built a whole new layer of skin and hair over the guy to hide the tubes. Cosmesis were brilliant so it’s hard to pick up – they matched his skin tone perfectly and even recreated his stubble to the last detail.” With the Top Gun themed ad, Visser
didn’t want to lose the South African spirit. “We copied the South African Air Force’s Gripen fighters. Understandably they couldn’t give us information but we did find schematics and footage of the jets. We had a replica cockpit on a gimbal against green so that the pilots would be subjected to real movement. “BlackGinger built CGI fighters for all the other scenes. I was blown away with what they did – they nailed the feeling of ‘weight’ with the planes and the small adjustments jets make as they fly. Some film people have even asked how we did the air-to-air shots.”
Then it’s performance to add the final layer. Visser credits My Friend Ned with finding great characters in non-actors and newcomers, which he believes give the stories their own reality. Because an ad is so short, Visser depends on a character’s face to communicate a basic vibe. “Then I spend time beforehand working with the beats of each scene which the actors can then use as a spine,” he says. The ads have proven very popular with audiences and there is little doubt that when Visser accepts a challenge, he turns up trumps.
Cairo, overlooking the magnificent Nile River below my hotel window. Since then I have been lucky to be quite active all over Africa.” In 2010 Krige, along with a crew and two and a half tonnes of equipment, flew around the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a chartered plane for a series of Vodacom spots. The job took him from the capital, Kinshasa, to the foot of the active Nyiragongo volcano that destroyed much of the city of Goma in 2002. The region has since returned to its earlier status as a war zone. Just when folk were wondering if Krige was back to shooting hard TV-news, he toned things down by heading off to a nice calm place called Nigeria. He filmed commercials for Procter & Gamble (P&G) as well as Skye and FCMB banks between 2010 and 2011. “Shooting the three P&G washing powder spots in Lagos had its challenges,” explains Krige. “We had to have a separate cast, wardrobe and locations because the culture, dress and appearance of the northerners is very different to the
south. The job required us to build and art direct a house according to northern specs as it were.” To follow that round of commercials, Krige shot a documentary for the Nigerian energy giant, OANDO. That took him all over Nigeria. When he realised he was speaking more pidgin English than sefrican English, Krige persuaded Nigeria’s Sona Breweries to cast their next spot in Johannesburg, confident in the variety of Nigerian talent in the veritable suburb of Lagos. After deciphering Krige’s pidgin patois Screen Africa managed to glean that he has been just as busy this year filming more of Africa. “2012 has been great in taking me to African locations I had not been to before. I’ve shot documentaries for Coca-Cola, a Tusker beer spot in Kenya and Uganda with Mickey Dube, then a lengthy shoot in Botswana with Semakaleng Maelane.” And that’s only part of it. Before the year is out Krige is likely to be a walking lexicon of African film settings.
Krige’s African adventures Tai Krige may have started his career like most DOPs / directors as a clapper loader, but he was soon assisting camera for cinematographer Vincent Cox and working with more of the finest, behind and in front of the lens. Krige’s is a Technicolor career that has taken him to many parts of the world, working on documentaries exploring the filmic art of Fellini and Zeffirelli, capturing performances from actors like Jack Lemon and shooting hard TV-news with ABC’s Peter Jennings in worldwide hotspots. Now back in South Africa, Krige freelances as director and DOP for commercials, documentaries and feature films worldwide. He still does his fair share of globetrotting, but more and more, Krige finds himself filming on the African continent. “In 2009 my commercial campaign for Arab Aid took me to Jordan, Pakistan, Italy and eventually my home continent, Africa,” says Krige. “That pleased me as I missed working in and seeing Africa, so it was nice to be back on home ground in
Tai Krige
September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 11
COMMERCIALS |
w o b a s e k a t Photo by Jurie Senekal
Creativity
From 15 to 23 September Cape Town will be transformed into a hub of inspiration, creativity and celebration as thousands of people involved in the brand communication industry gather for Creative Week, at the centre of which lies The Loerie Awards.
THE BIRD, THE CEO and THE HOFF – The Loerie Trophy (left), Andrew Human (middle) and David Hasselhoff (right) at the 2011 Loeries
N
ow in its 34th year, The Loerie Awards has expanded over the decades to encompass every area of brand communication to include radio and print, design, architecture, direct marketing, non-broadcast video, live events and digital media. 2012 Winners will be announced at glitzy ceremonies hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 22 and 23 September and will be awarded the coveted Loerie Trophy, inspired by the Knysna Loerie bird. Entries for this year’s Loerie Awards are significantly up from last year and almost match 2008’s record high of 3 375. “This year we received 3 200 entries, a big increase on 2011’s figure of 2 870,” says Loeries CEO Andrew Human. “I’ve always said that the Loeries serves as a barometer of the economy. If you look at 2008, that was the height of the global economic boom. By the following year the recession was in full swing and the Loeries experienced a significant drop in entries. Now we’re on the rise again, hopefully in line with the world’s economic recovery.” The 2012 Loeries have seen the introduction of a new category – Rest of Africa & the Middle East. Some 140 entries have been received from countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Reunion, Uganda, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. According to Human, the aim of the new category is to better represent the region. He elaborates: “Prior to 2006 we 12 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
allowed countries from all over the world to enter the Loeries and we had a separate international category. In 2006 we reduced it to regional representation from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean Islands, but those entries got lost in the large volume of South African entries. “This year we decided to increase our focus on the rest of Africa and hosted a launch event in Nairobi. As a direct result of our concerted push into Africa the number of entries from the region has literally doubled this year.”
Judging goes local In other new innovations both the Loeries Judging Week and the International Seminar of Creativity have been moved from Johannesburg to form part of Creative Week in Cape Town. Judging will take place at the Cape Town City Hall, the historic venue of Nelson’s Mandela’s first speech following his release from prison. At the end of each day’s judging, finalists for those categories will be announced. The Loeries has its own bespoke management system to transition judges’ results straight into the awards ceremonies. Scheduled for Friday 21 September, the International Seminar of Creativity will also take place at the City Hall and boasts international names such as Tony Granger (global chief creative officer, Y&R, New York); David Nobay (creative chairman, Droga5, Sydney); Chris Lee (founder and creative director, Asylum, Singapore); Alex Schill, (global chief
creative officer, Serviceplan Group, Hamburg); John Hunt (Worldwide Creative Director, TBWA); and Cecelia Wogan-Silva (Director of Independent Ad Agency Relations at Google USA). The International Seminar will include a Google Hangout session with international speakers participating via the Internet. Also part of Creative Week are the Student Portfolio Day and the first ever Loerie Awards Trade Expo, which is set to attract exhibitors such as media companies and suppliers to ad agencies. Human notes that there has been a big shift within the Loeries. “It has moved beyond just being about an awards event to showing the economic value of creativity. “The Loerie Awards celebrate the value of ideas. By way of comparison, the focus at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is now more on the seminars and networking and the presence of brands rather than just the awards. “It’s important for the South African and regional market that the Loeries not be seen as something just for creatives – we need to be engaging with CEOs, marketing directors and brands and showing them that ideas and innovation are vital assets to our economy.”
On the campaign trail With the slogan, Viva African Creativity. Viva! the 2012 Loeries campaign, conceived by The Jupiter Drawing Room, plays on the anti-apartheid struggle. Says Human: “The main motivation
behind this idea was to create a specific South African campaign, not just an awards campaign. Our role is to reward and inspire creative excellence so the campaign uses political struggle art from the 1980s to represent the struggle for creativity. We even have a Creative Freedom Charter and Creative Freedom Songs. It’s a nice, fun inspirational campaign and our aim is for people who attend Creative Week to leave inspired.” Last year saw the awards ceremonies move from Cape Town’s Good Hope Centre to the Cape Town International Convention Centre, a change which Human says has allowed the awards events to become more ‘grown up’. He continues: “Guests now have padded seats and air conditioning and it’s more of a black tie event than before. We also have a live relay where both awards ceremonies will be broadcast in an adjacent hall to guests who don’t have tickets for the main venue. The formal seating accommodates 1 600 people while the live relay has room for 800 people. “Each awards session is only two hours, running from 7pm to 9pm. A lot of our focus has been to make the awards events inspirational and not a punitive five-hour ordeal. It’s all about how to make the Loeries fun, creative and inspirational.” On Sunday the live relay, including DJs and a cash bar, will be at the Loeries’ official party at Collective Dreams Studios. Gearhouse is the technical partner for, and a major sponsor of, the awards ceremonies, while the awards are produced by Funk. – Joanna Sterkowicz
| COMMERCIALS
COMMERCIALs D irec t or S p e a k
Alan Irvin (Picture Tree) HOW DID YOUR BACKGROUND SHAPE YOU?
I grew up in Germiston so I suppose there’s always a bit of ‘The Tin’ in everything I do. My first job was as a junior graphic designer before crossing over to above-the-line advertising, where I finally ended up as a creative director. My design background forces me to love visual aesthetics as well as understand balance, weighting and form. I sometimes have to hold myself back from telling the client that the pack shot looks crap, not because of my lighting, but because of the shitty font or bad logo design. The 3/4 of my advertising life that I spent in boardrooms listening to clients, strategists and planners etc. made me understand the industry very well. I understand what clients and agencies want, as well as appreciate the tons of passionate hours put in by agencies to build brands and products.
WHAT ARE THE FAVOURITE ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB?
People! They’re the best! Better than CG or animation and even 3D. Every job is different and that means different people. Fat, beautiful, strong and even stupid. Also, it’s the kind of job that embraces the fact that I speak in half sentences and have a childlike attention span. My job parallels my personality which I am eternally grateful for. WHAT ARE THE LEAST FAVOURITE ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB?
WHAT ARE YOU PERSONAL CAREER MILESTONES?
Every year I look back at the work I’ve produced and see that year as a milestone. This business is tough and I find myself blessed to be in it and still successful. Busy and winning awards. DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTORS?
Most of my mentors are people that I appreciate from far. I read about them, watch their movies, listen to their music and buy their products. DESCRIBE YOUR FILMIC STYLE.
Real, honest and authentic – in both performance and visual integrity.
The advertising business has become far more corporate than what I remember. Don’t let the agency creatives dressed in short pants and with their funky hairdos make you think different. Every aspect of the production process is over scrutinised by clients, agencies and cost controllers. The sheer spirit, spark and simplicity is more often than not, lost. Subsequently it is the work that suffers. This is my worst! WHAT WAS YOUR MOST HAIRY MOMENT ON SET?
Thankfully, I haven’t yet had any major hairy moments on set that I can remember. Perhaps this is just a
shameless plug for Picture Tree and the team that surrounds me. WHAT AD IS THE CLEVEREST YOU’VE SEEN?
The BMW short film campaign from a few years ago, where they commissioned eight directors to shoot a short film, each with the sole mandate in the brief to feature a BMW. It was intended to be viewed primarily on the Internet. Today this approach to advertising brands is becoming more and more relevant with YouTube and the likes. I say: ‘Bring it on!’ WHAT LOCATION WOULD YOU REALLY, REALLY LIKE TO SHOOT IN?
Experiencing interesting new places and people is always high on my agenda. But right now I’d love to shoot in the snow somewhere. Somewhere where there is real snow, not like in Germiston. DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS.
Five years older with more lines on my face but hopefully still speaking in half sentences and probably answering the same type of questions, again for your magazine.
September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 13
FILM |
Stilte, a new Afrikaans feature film by Oscar-nominated Darrell James Roodt, releases at cinemas in October.
By Linda Loubser
A (silent) test of faith D
irector Darrell James Roodt (Yesterday, Sarafina!, Cry, the Beloved Country) wrote the screenplay for Stilte, a film with an inspirational message. Explains Roodt: “I had just recently seen US film Soul Surfer (about a teenage surfer girl who finds the courage to go back into the ocean after surviving a shark attack) and was intrigued by how that story struck a resonant chord with a bigger audience. So I shaped my film accordingly. “It’s a faith-based story where the message surrounds the characters as opposed to being ‘preachy’. I loved writing it.” Stilte will be released by Anton Ernst’s Azari Media production company, in association with United International Pictures (UIP) and Next Entertainment. Ernst, who regularly works with Roodt, produced the film with Christianne Bennetto.
Inspirational story They were looking for a new project at the end of 2011 and initially discussed making an Afrikaans horror film. Says Ernst: “We decided it felt more right to
do an inspirational story like Stilte.” According to Roodt the film is essentially about the test of faith when things are at the lowest point they can possibly go. “We all experience that in our lives, I’m certain,” says Roodt. “This is a film about finding light in the darkness.” In the film a beautiful and talented young singer Antoinette van Wyk (Angelique Pretorius) is hit by a tragedy that leaves her traumatised and refusing to speak or sing again. To recover she goes to stay with her aunt (Chante Hinds) and uncle (Chris de Clerq) who live on a farm in the Karoo. There she encounters a young pastor (Andre Frauenstein) who helps her make sense of the tragedy. Pre-production commenced in December 2011 and the camera started rolling in February 2012. The film was shot on digital by director of photography Pierre Smith. Says Roodt: “Digital is more accessible and we used the Canon 5D, which I love. It might be tricky to work with – especially the focus – but it gives a truly cinematic look to your film when it is projected on a big screen. Much more so than any of the more expensive cameras, in my opinion.”
Spectacular landscapes
For the look of the film, Roodt explains that they were going for big landscape shots in the best light. “Some of the shots are truly spectacular, even if I say so myself. I think your biggest ally on a low-budget film is going to an exotic location and maximising its potential. We were in the Little Karoo and the views were breathtaking wherever you pointed the camera. “We were shooting at a location about an hour outside Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, where a swathe of red rock has cut through the traditional blue mountains. Awesome!” He adds that the biggest challenge on set was the heat: “I’ve never seen so many cold drinks drunk on a movie set.” According to Roodt he had worked with actress Angelique Pretorius (Winnie, Stoute Boudjies) before, and wrote the script for her because he was convinced that she could be a leading lady. “She proved me right,” he says.
LIGHT IN DARKNESS – Andre Frauenstein and Angelique Pretorius
Angelique Pretorius 14 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
“For the male lead I was going to cast an older pastor initially, but I was persuaded to go younger and I’m glad I did. Andre Frauenstein (Eternity) brings a freshness to the story –
a youthfulness – that otherwise might have been lost in the Karoo sunsets. Chris De Clerq and Chante Hinds were also the ultimate ‘uncle and aunt’.” Music plays a prominent role in the film, as the lead character is a singer, and Roodt explains that the film features a number of original compositions, as well as a ‘selection of favourites’. “The score, beautifully and delicately balanced, is by Alli Heyns and Anastasia Ferrara. I was blown away by their contribution. It makes the film ache.”
Funding The film was funded by private equity and the Department of Trade and Industry rebate. Although it was shot on a low-budget of about R3.7m, Ernst notes that with all the experience involved in the production, it is worth much more on screen. He explains that, while the film has a strong Christian message, it should appeal to a wider target audience in the 25 to 55 age group. “It’s an inspirational film, but it’s also a very real film dealing with the real South African issues such as crime, and how many chances a person has to start over. I don’t think you need to be Christian, or even Afrikaans, to like this movie. “We live in hard enough times, I think people want to be inspired while they are entertained,” says Ernst. Roodt and Ernst have finished production on two other feature films called The Little Kings and Little One. Stilte will be released by UIP at 40 cinemas nationwide on 12 October.
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FILM |
The chancers New South African action drama Zama Zama reflects the dangerous subterranean lives led by illegal miners.
GOLD RUSH – Presley Chweneyagae
T
he word ‘zama’ means ‘take a chance’ and is the name given to the approximately 70 000 illegal miners who burrow unlawfully beneath the Witwatersrand for up to six months at a time. Produced by Lukas van der Merwe and Bertus van der Walt, Zama Zama is the debut feature from Vickus Strijdom of Johannesburg based Kokamoya Productions. About two years ago Strijdom, who has directed over 350 half-hour TV drama episodes and many commercials, documentaries and music videos, was approached by investors to make a feature film about mining. “This was a casual discussion but it left me pondering what the film should be about,” continues Strijdom. “I remembered previously reading an article about illegal mining and decided to research the subject. A whole new world opened up when I hooked up with the police zama raid unit in Welkom, who were incredibly helpful. They told me that South Africa is losing billions to illegal mining cartels. “I decided to write a screenplay about
16 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
illegal mining but it was a sensitive topic at the time because there was lots of talk of nationalising the mines.” Strijdom set out to make a commercial film about brotherly love set against the backdrop of illegal mining. “A lot of the zamas are retrenched miners while many others are from across the border. They operate in what are termed ‘madala sites’ – disused mines with no lights and very little oxygen. The zamas live underground for months on end and pay exorbitant prices for food which is smuggled down to them by the cartels. “It’s like slavery because they can’t come up to ground level until they have enough gold. There is a huge mortality rate and accidents abound. The zamas also frequently suffer from mercury poisoning,” explains Strijdom.
Venturing underground
Brotherly love
Zama Zama was shot in several different mines, including a heritage mine in the Cradle of Humankind. Seventy percent of the story takes place underground. Director of photography (DOP) Justus de Jager shot the underground sequences in four weeks on a single Canon 7D due to the confined spaces. “Needless to say it was a very difficult shoot but I had a great crew of about 50 people who understood the challenges we faced. The efficiency and safety on set was excellent; every time we went underground we had mine managers, mine captains and medics with us,” comments Strijdom. As practical lights in the mines De Jager used candles and the 60-watt light bulbs that are attached to miners’ helmuts. This was enhanced by 5k lights, 2.5k lights and lots of KinoFlos. “Justus did a great job and the cinematography looks amazing,” says Strijdom. “A big plus of the Canon 7D is that it has relatively low lighting requirements. “When you shoot underground you need to give the crew and cast frequent breaks. Some madala sites were only 20 metres underground and sometimes we went deeper. The shoot went very well as no-one got claustrophobic and there were no accidents. But it was very tiring and humid down there,” notes Strijdom. An additional two weeks of shooting took place above ground.
Zama Zama stars Lindani Nkosi, Tsotsi star Presley Chweneyagae, and Khulu Skenjana. The film is described as a story of redemption, about two brothers who mine illegally for gold and are torn apart when the older brother lets his sibling take the blame when they are caught. “Because about an hour of the film takes place underground I had to come up with a way for it not to be boring. Consequently I chose to make it an action drama with police raids, a death, an accident, mining scenes and even a dance sequence. “The film is very pacey and actionfilled but it was tricky to execute. We had stunt people, a special effects team to handle explosions and to blow dust at high speed. Most of the effects you see in the film are done in-camera. There are only two digital effects right at the end,” comments Strijdom. Post-production was done in collaboration with Refinery and Area 5.1, the Dolby Surround Sound facility at Sasani Studios. Melissa Parry (South African Guild of Editors) did the offline and online edits in-house at Kokamoya Productions. The film was shot in Xhosa, Tswana, Funagalo (a hybrid language used in the mines), English and Tsonga. Zama Zama was released by Nu Metro Films on 24 August. – Joanna Sterkowicz
“The shoot went very well as no-one got claustrophobic and there were no accidents. But it was very tiring and humid down there.”
– Vickus Strijdom
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FILM |
A story of epic proportions
By Joanna Sterkowicz
Screened to packed houses at the recent Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), the award-winning Taiwanese historical film, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, tells a universal story – that of an indigenous peoples’ fight against colonial oppression.
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ot only is Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, a truly epic film with sprawling battle scenes and a multitude of authentic spiritual and historical references, it also presented epic challenges in production. Taiwanese writer and director Te-Sheng Wei spent over two years making the five hour-long film. The international version (released outside Taiwan and Hong Kong) runs at 150 minutes. A remarkable feature of the film, which recounts the Wushe Incident of 1930 when the aboriginal Seediq tribe in Taiwan rose against Japanese colonial rule, is that all the Seediq characters are played by actual Seediqs, none of whom had ever acted before. It’s hard to imagine that a comic book could have sparked Wei’s inspiration to make a marathon historical drama but this is indeed the case. Says Wei: “In the past there have been many films about the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan but they’ve always been sad and sympathetic to the poverty and neglect of the aborigines. “In 1999 I stumbled upon a comic book based on Wushe and it struck me as a spectacular story. At school I’d only briefly heard about Seediq chief Mouna Rudo, leader of the rebellion, from a mere two lines in a history book. “Before I read the comic I’d assumed that the Seediq, a clan of fearless hunters and expert weavers, had begged the Japanese for sympathy and assistance. I didn’t realise that the Seediq were an enormously proud people, rooted in their own singular culture and spirituality. It occurred to me that I could write an amazing screenplay about the pride and honour of the Seediq.” 18 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
REEL EPIC – Director Te-Sheng Wei
After a period of extensive research Wei wrote the script in two months and spent nearly a decade reviewing it. Trying to finance a historical period film with extensive battle scenes proved extremely difficult. “I borrowed money and applied for loans,” continues Wei. “We received a government subsidy but it was more like encouragement rather than a proper investment. Only in post-production did we attach our first private investor. When I needed capital for production there was no money.” Wei spent NTD50m – the personal revenue that he accrued from his box office hit Cape No. 7 – on Seediq Bale, but this was only a small dent in the film’s total budget of NTD700m (about R200m). Its revenue from the Chinese language box office market was NTD800m, making it the biggest Taiwanese hit in history.
The Woo factor Wei notes that he ‘embarrassingly begged’ for the support of famous Hong Kong action director John Woo. “When Cape
No. 7 won at the Golden Horse Awards (Asia’s Oscars), John Woo presented the trophy and someone suggested that we attach him as a producer because of his resources and experience. “So I asked John to be a producer on the film and he didn’t say yes but he didn’t say no. I sent him the script and he made some suggestions and thereafter visited Taipei several times to talk to us about the film,” states Wei. Although Woo never formally agreed to be a producer he is listed in the film’s credits as producer along with Terence Chang and Chih-ming Huang. Wei describes Woo as being very active in the project, albeit unofficially.
True Seediqs Seediq Bale means ‘a true Seediq’ and that’s exactly what Wei wanted for his film. It took six months to cast the many Seediq characters. “It’s hard to locate Seediqs because they live deep in the mountains,” elaborates Wei. “Even when I put audition adverts in the local papers no-one showed up. I literally went from house to house, like a salesman, knocking on doors and sent my team to Seediq social events to take pictures of faces. “After careful selection we met with them to see if they fit in with the characters. Then we had to convince them to leave their jobs and join us. This was a big task and a huge risk as none of them were actors. Training the cast to act was an even bigger job. We had to identify those who weren’t afraid of expressing themselves and see if they had hunters’ eyes.” Because the Seediqs were not professional actors Wei employed
unorthodox training methods. He used drums to inspire them and increase their sensibility and physical capability. “We set up an improvisational acting course and tried to make to make them feel a sense of achievement after they finished their scenes. When the Seediqs were on set, in their costumes with tribal tattoos on their faces, they began behaving like their ancestors. No director, however great, can make actors feel that they have truly become their characters,” notes Wei.
35mm all the way Seediq Bale’s dazzling cinematography captures the beautiful green hues and filtered light of the Taiwanese forests. Cinematographer Ting-chang Chin shot entirely on 35mm, generally employing two cameras (and occasionally three) for the intricate battle scenes. Says Wei: “Of course shooting on film is more expensive than digital but for such an epic story I needed the film effect. I think digital is a trend whereas film has irreplaceable charisma. Once you start shooting on celluloid everyone cares because every frame matters.” Wei worked with a Korean martial arts specialist to choreograph the battle scenes. “These were not easy as the specialist preferred a more flamboyant style of fighting whereas I was after something more subtle. It took a long time to convince him and come to a compromise,” comments Wei. Seediq Bale won three awards at the 2011 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Film. It was also nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
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B ROA D C A S T SOLUTIONS
FILM |
SA cinemas go digital By Linda Loubser
South African exhibitors are keeping up with global trends by converting their cinemas to digital and looking at innovative ways to attract audiences.
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ter-Kinekor Theatres announced in June that a deal with Arts Alliance Media (AAM) will see the exhibitor’s more than 400 screens converted to digital within the next year. Says marketing executive of SterKinekor Theatres, Doug Place: “This trend is driven largely by the cost advantages of distributing films in digital format, as opposed to 35mm celluloid. In addition, 3D projection is impossible without a digitally enabled cinema.” Nu Metro Cinemas content executive Mark Harris explains that the same process is underway for their 188 screens: “Cinemas worldwide are converting and the major film studios have all indicated that in the near future they will stop making 35mm prints. Nu Metro Cinemas has already converted 25% of its screens to digital and will see the remainder converted in the next 12 to 18 months.” According to Harris digital cinema has opened up multiple avenues for alternative content that wasn’t possible on traditional 35mm projectors. “This includes music concerts and live sporting events,” he explains. “Digital also gives us greater flexibility of adding more screens on blockbuster movies and a greater variety of content at any given cinema.” Avalon Group CEO AB Moosa notes that the CineCentre cinema chain is in advanced discussions to make their entire cinema circuit 2K digital compliant. “As it currently stands almost 50% of our screens have 2K digital projectors which certainly positions CineCentre with the highest percentage of its circuit 2K digital as compared to other exhibitors. This includes 16 3D screens.”
3D still popular Place adds that demand for 3D films in South Africa is still growing and driving higher attendance. “When 3D launched in late 2009 it drove roughly 10% of our 20 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Nu Metro Cinemas – Mark Harris
Ster-Kinekor Theatres – Doug Place
box office results. In 2012 it is expected to deliver more than double that at 25% of total box office. As Hollywood produces more and better 3D films it is sure to continue to drive the category of cinema going.” Harris agrees that demand is growing. “The new and improved 3D experience brought about by digital projection systems show a significant enticement for customers to come to our cinemas. The increased digital infrastructure combined with more than 30 3D movies releasing every year, shows that there is still a demand. James Cameron’s Avatar in late 2010 confirmed the economic potential of this new technology.” Nu Metro signed an agreement with RealD Inc. earlier this year to install a total of up to 100 RealD 3D Cinema Systems. The exhibitor currently has 44 auditoriums equipped with the technology and plans to install a further 41 RealD 3D Cinema Systems in the immediate future.
Innovation According to Place trading at SterKinekor theatres is in line with their expectations. “We remain optimistic about cinema and this is underpinned by our continuous investment,” says Place. He adds that the launch of Cine Prestige, which offers a ‘business class’ movie experience, has been a tremendous success for them. “It has driven more than double the occupancy rates versus adjacent theatres (showing the same film), albeit at a slightly higher price of admission. This is further evidence for us that consumers are always looking for an enhanced movie-going experience. “As a standard business practise we also constantly evaluate our many sites and refurbish them and upgrade them as the need arises,” notes Place. Recent refurbishments include N1 City, Blue
Route, Cavendish and Tygervalley in the Western Cape, and Sterland Cinema in Pretoria. Place explains that, along with the growth of business class cinema such as Cine Prestige, other global trends include 4D (moving seats coupled with 3D projection) and the constant improvements in projection and sound technology which accompany digital projection. “This makes for an increasingly immersive film viewing experience. As a result cinema attendance globally is increasing, with the US experiencing a 17% increase year on year for 2012 so far. As usual product plays a key role.”
Global trends Nu Metro’s Harris notes that cinema operators worldwide are constantly innovating to improve the cinema experience to compete with consumer’s disposable entertainment income. “To adapt, Nu Metro is improving presentation through new complexes that have stadium seating, as well as the installation of digital sound and digital projectors, which offer a consistently better presentation and image quality from the first showing of a movie until its last screening – it does not degrade over time like traditional 35mm prints. Digital 3D also offers a movie experience not available anywhere else. “We also continuously explore new food and drink options within the cinema environment for our customers,” says Harris. “At this point in time we do not have any expansions planned but we continuously evaluate new shopping malls that are built.” Nu Metro announced the opening of two new screens at the Bedford Centre Cineplex in Johannesburg in April, as well as self-service confectionery counter and a family beanbag cinema.
CineCentre – AB Moosa
Moosa explains that attendance at CineCentre continues to remain on a consistent growth path. “We continuously seek opportunities for significant sites that we believe have commercial potential,” he adds. Among the innovations at CineCentre is CineComedy, a once-monthly live stand-up comedy event that takes place at the Killarney CineCentre. “The events are growing in popularity as each month goes by,” says Moosa. The Avalon Group also signed a deal with Yash Raj Studios at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. “The deal is part of our ongoing initiative to develop the Bollywood market in South Africa, which is certainly growing in relevance internationally and in South Africa. Yash Raj Studios is among the most renowned Bollywood production houses in India, having produced many blockbusters and is therefore a wonderful addition to our Bollywood bouquet,” explains Moosa.
Local film Place notes that they see growing interest in local films at their cinemas. “The ubiquitous Leon Schuster films notwithstanding, we have seen very promising box office performances from titles such as Semi-Soet, Platteland and Material. South African filmmakers are getting better and better not only at their craft but also at finding films which have a wider appeal. Therefore marketing and distribution of their titles is improving and results in better box office performance.” Moosa agrees: “There certainly seems to be a growth of interest in local films as the content evolves into more commercially orientated films and the quality of the productions is improving all the time.”
| INDUSTRY
Director Speak
WHAT GETS YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING?
My children. I have four of them, the oldest being my 16 year old twins. They are constantly coming up with beautifully original thoughts that challenge my perceptions. My seven year old is also a fascinating character that is dead set on becoming an inventor. Very inspiring. My three-year-old daughter just makes me happy to be alive! Other than that, I love nothing more than to travel. The moment I step out of my comfort zone, I am bombarded with creative thought. My wife and I also run an art gallery called Room in Braamfontein. She is constantly exposing me to inspiring visual art that I would never otherwise see. Through the gallery, I recently had the opportunity of working on a video piece with Wayne Barker. It was a very rewarding and inspiring experience that really challenged my understanding of the medium I have so long been involved in.
Andrew Wessels Andrew Wessels is a director and editor who has worked on film, commercials, music videos, music television shows, dramas and documentaries over the past 14 years. Recently he worked as director and editor on Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola and directed action comedy feature film Blitz Patrollie. He was also drummer for SAMA-award winning rock band Cassette.
IF YOU COULD CHOOSE TO BE A GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN OR AN OSCAR-WINNING FILM DIRECTOR, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
HOW DID YOU GO FROM BEING A TOURING MUSICIAN TO WORKING IN THE FILM AND TV INDUSTRY?
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN ONE WORD.
It was actually the other way round. I started working in the film and TV industry in 1996 and a few years later began editing and directing. I have always been a drummer and had been involved in many music exploits before my career in film and TV, but none that every really led to anything. When my first children were born (twins), I started hunting for work and found that the film and TV industry, and in particular editing, offered the ideal creative outlet for me as well as allowed me to make a living. I started playing with the band Cassette in about 2004. We became hugely popular suddenly after the release of our first album and I spent a bit of time being a famous rock star touring the world! As romantic as it sounds, we never actually made any money so I continued doing film and television throughout my rock stardom. The band took up a huge amount of time and kept me away from home a lot so it was really tricky keeping my head above water. I also had another two children during that time so there were many heads to keep above water! When the band eventually broke up, I was fortunate enough to have kept my foot in with the industry so it was relatively easy going back to being a full time filmmaker. I have a passion for performance, music and storytelling so whether in a band or making movies, I manage to exercise all those passions.
HOW DO YOU CONTROL COMEDIANS ON SET?
Patient.
I choose to make things I can be proud of. I believe your entire life should be viewed as your artwork. Every aspect. I am many things and I try to do my best at everything I do. But I’ll have one of each, please :)
Patience. HOW DO YOU KEEP EVERYONE ENERGISED DURING AN ACTION SHOOT?
Energy. If I can maintain my energy, I can keep others excited about what they are doing. HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF ENERGISED DURING AN ACTION SHOOT?
I am at my best under pressure. I find I make the best decisions under those circumstances and because action shoots tend to be pretty chaotic, I am forced into that pressure zone and become tremendously energetic. It is incredibly exciting to see something you have put so much time and effort into doing materialise and that desire to see it finish drives me like a muthafukka. WHAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING TO HAVE HAPPENED ON SET?
There are so many but they tend to be situational so they might not translate so well! A lot of my best memories relate to my early comedy work with Kagiso Lediga during the Fat Joe and Pure Monate days. I also did a lot of traveling in Africa, Europe and America with my good friend and fellow filmmaker John Barker while working with Channel O. Crazy times! Frankly, I’m a bit surprised to be alive after all that!
DO YOU EVER GET THE URGE TO DRUM ON SET?
I find directing and performing are very similar. Directing is a kind of performance. Being a drummer in a band is a very powerful position. You really have the ability to screw things up or make them fly, mostly depending on your energy and confidence. So no, the set is no place for drums. That would be like speaking Russian to a group of Spaniards. But it is a place for positive energy and confidence. Besides, drums can be really annoying without accompaniment. WHO IN THE INDUSTRY WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH?
Passionate people who haven’t forgotten what it is like to be a child, people who know how to share ideas and how to keep their egos in check. WHAT FILM OR TV SERIES DO YOU WISH YOU’D DIRECTED YOURSELF?
Film: Wall-e. Series: Battlestar Gallactica. IF YOU HAD TO BE STUCK ON AN ISLAND WITH THREE ICONIC MUSICIANS OR BANDS, WHO WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?
I like storytellers more than musicians. I have no interest in talking about drumsticks, amps and effects pedals. I want to talk about characterisation, perception, expression and the distance between the performer and the self. So maybe Lou Reed, Bjork, Fela Kuti, Damon Albarn (or the Gorillaz) and David Bowie. But I doubt they would all be available on the same day. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I’m busy working on a story for an animated film, a sci-fi script, two documentary ideas and an experimental music / video performance band. I really enjoy technology as well so I am quite involved in looking at new media, particularly related to the Internet. I’m also working on happiness.
September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 21
A mix of documentary, reality and staged reality, the new German / South African film Gangster Project takes the viewer into a sinister space – that of the Cape Flats’ criminal underworld.
Documentary |
Riding with gangsters of a privileged white person holding a camera in a poor black person’s face. I’ve been interested to note that ‘arty’ people find interesting concepts of masculinity and race in the film.”
Festival film
BOYS IN THE HOOD – Teboho Edkins (third from left) with some gang members
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hink gangsters and swaggering, gold-chain laden, designer tracksuitattired bullies come to mind – fearless, threatening and aggressively in your face. Teboho Edkins’ film Gangster Project presents a different picture – groups of bored young men who huddle claustrophobically in their houses and peak nervously out of their windows, too scared to venture beyond the front door for fear of being gunned down by rival gangs. During the four years that it took to make the film, Edkins immersed himself in his characters’ world, if not their criminal activities. Edkins uses himself as a character in the film to unlock the subject matter. “The issue I grappled with was how to make a gangster film if you’re not a gangster yourself. You can’t just go and film gangsters, you have to earn their trust and the right to tell their story. “I grew up a lot during the making of the film and even went a bit mad, shaving my head and letting the gangsters teach me how to take drugs.” 22 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Edkins was inspired to make the film by the notion of being a white man of privileged and cosmopolitan background infiltrating a marginalised and impoverished black community in Bonteheuvel. “It was quite strange, I was relatively safe in situations that I thought would be dangerous, and hugely at risk when I’d assumed it would be safe,” notes Edkins.
Choices Gangster Project was conceived while Edkins was studying at le Fresnoy art school in France. “I was making a gangster rap music video and wanted to feature actual gangsters in it. So I went to Cape Town because I knew someone there who was a half-gangster,” he explains. Once he decided to embark on an actual documentary project about gangsters, Edkins was introduced to several gangs and more or less auditioned them for his film. “The first gangster I met was not good looking enough and didn’t fit my
preconception about gangsters being glamorous. Then the next gangster I met had too many kids, while the third was too traumatised. Finally I found the right gang – they were good looking and had all been in jail for murder. “Each of the gangsters I met during the making of the film was flattered by the attention and all of them claimed to be marginalised in some way,” stated Edkins. Gangster Project begins on a light note – Edkins and his cameraman Tom Akinleminu drive through the Cape Flats discussing sunscreen. Then things get serious… A running dialogue through the film is about the choices that the gangsters make which result in them leading such violent and traumatic lives. Some of the gangsters maintain they were born into gangsterism, while others attribute the cause to poverty. “It wasn’t my aim to do a socio-political piece – I just wanted to focus on the gangsters themselves and the lives they lead,” comments Edkins. “On a personal level Gangster Project is a coming of age story, trying to understand the dynamics
Although international broadcasters Arte and N24 have shown interest in the 53-minute film Edkins stresses that Gangster Project is very much a festival film, due to its experimental nature. The film screened at the recent Durban International Film Festival and has appeared at festivals in Marseilles, Rotterdam, France’s Centre Pompidou and many others, including Ukraine where it received a special mention. Edkins showed his ‘stars’ a rough cut of the film after which they promptly pirated it. “The whole of the Cape Flats has seen this film – the pirate DVDs cost R10,” he notes. “At one stage the police tried to arrest my lead character and use the film as evidence against him, which was then thankfully dismissed by the judge when my character claimed the film to be fictional. “I do believe that Gangster Project is an important film for South Africa because it shows violence to be horrible, dirty and small. The atmosphere in the ghetto is stifling – the only thing for the gangsters to do is take drugs, which makes them paranoid as a result. They’re often broken people and it’s difficult to empathise with them, but I tried not to judge them in any way.” Edkins’ response when asked what has happened to his ‘stars’ pretty much says it all: “Sadly, some of them are now in jail while others have been killed.” – Joanna Sterkowicz
| TELEVISION
By Ian Dormer
Aired in the UK on 11 June 2012, Britain in a Day is a follow-up to last year’s Kevin Macdonalddirected, Ridley Scottproduced award winning feature, Life in a Day, which was assembled from clips captured across the world the previous July.
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Photo courtesy Technicolor London
A very public affair
rowdsourced documentary films are fast becoming fashionable thanks to the ever growing social media networks developing around the globe. Last year the BBC invited Britons to document a moment of their life as it happened on Saturday 12 November 2011 – from the marvellous to the mundane – and then upload the recordings onto YouTube. The resultant documentary, Britain in a Day, is a 90-minute film directed by Morgan Matthews that offers an extraordinarily candid look at 21st century life across the UK, crafted from over 750 hours of footage, including 11 526 clips uploaded by the public. It offers remarkable insight into the lives, loves, fears and hopes of people living in Britain today. The concept of projects like this is not new, but the medium on which the elements are laid out – the Internet, and in particular, YouTube – are certainly groundbreaking. Britain in a Day is a classic example of that growing phenomenon: the crowdsourced film. Music documentaries such as The Beastie Boys’ Awesome; I F… ing Shot That! (2006) and Jonathan Caouette’s All Tomorrow’s Parties (2009) were constructed from ideas and footage submitted by members of the public. Life in a Day director Kevin Macdonald says: “I think that the Internet is a great metaphor for, and a creator of, connectedness. Life in a Day is doing something that wouldn’t have been possible pre-Internet, specifically
pre-YouTube. The idea that you can ask thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people, to contribute to a project and communicate about it and learn about it at the same time belongs essentially to the age in which we live. Life in a Day could not have existed 100 years ago, 20 years ago, or even six years ago.”
Growing trend
Egyptian filmmaker Amr Salama made a striking movie about the Egyptian Revolution. Where better to turn to for footage than the people who were there? “The role of social media is to get everyone to know that we all share the same problems, we all share the same needs, we’re all asking for the same rights,” says Salama. After using social media to follow and participate in demonstrations that ultimately helped topple former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Salama used Twitter to gather over 300 gigabytes of documentary video of demonstrations at Tahrir Square and elsewhere, as part of a new film about the revolution that may soon screen at film festivals all over the world. Salama’s project capitalises on the new democratic possibilities unlocked by rampant adoption of both handheld video and social media. “During the revolution everyone was using cell phones to shoot pictures and videos and put them online; everyone was making videos to show how they were dealing with it.”
The importance of post Back in London, post-production giant Technicolor helped paint the perfect portrait of Britain in a Day in its DS online suite and graded on the Lustre grading system. Because the clips were shot using several different mediums, resolutions and exposures, it was down to the experts at Technicolor to grade and edit the chosen raw footage into a coherent and cohesive montage. This process presented a number of challenges, as much of the footage had been shot on camera phones which, due to their auto-correction technology, can often result in over exposed footage. “While there were the usual colour and luminance differences you would expect from so many different materials, we also had the challenge of making each section look its best, while still maintaining a flow that the eye could digest over 90 minutes,” explains Technicolor’s Principal Feature colourist Paul Ensby. “The production editorial team put together a wonderful selection in the final edit using clips from the lowest resolution capture mediums, right up to some of the most professional quality cameras.” As well as grading and editing, Technicolor provided VFX and completed the HD mastering to BBC specification and international masters.
The shrinking gap Rapidly advancing technology allows ordinary people to own equipment
capable of producing images close to those acquired by professionals. The BBC Britain in a Day project even ran online training courses to educate the public on how to make films. These projects could not have been done with Hi-8 without it screaming ‘home video’. With minimal working knowledge, amateurs can get really good footage these days. Older cinematographers must be horrified with younger ones who don’t know how to tape-measure shots or follow focus using lens markings, but the younger ones see no point – they just watch the HD monitor. The crowdsourcing venture acknowledges the shrinking gap, and to some degree allows amateurs to be closer to what professionals do. For Britain in a Day director Morgan Matthews, a Bafta-winning documentarian, the making of the documentary required a new set of working practices. “As a filmmaker it’s very unusual to go to an editing suite not knowing what’s there. New rushes were coming in every day. It was exciting to think you could uncover some gold. “Also, there was a lot of footage which was quite roughly shot and had very poor sound and image quality. It was wonderful to be able to produce something really quite beautiful and meaningful out of that. “In isolation the clips don’t have power or meaning. Put together, though, they become a collective portrait of all of us. I think there’s something very moving about that.” September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 23
BROADCAST |
Demise of the BNC?
By Ian Dormer
Paul Neill (6 September 1882 – October 1968) and Carl Concelman (23 December 1912 – August 1975) must be turning in their graves. With ever increasing video resolution and advancing network technology, the European Broadcast Union (EBU) is currently discussing the possibility of replacing the humble BNC (Bayonet Neill Concelman Connector) with the RJ45 connector.
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aul Neill was an electrical engineer at Bell Labs and Carl Concelman an engineer at Amphenol, which was founded in Chicago in 1932 by entrepreneur Arthur Schmitt. Its first product was a tube socket for radio tubes. Amphenol expanded significantly during World War II, when the company became the primary manufacturer of connectors used in military hardware, including airplanes and radios. It was while at Amphenol that Concelman was credited for inventing the C connector, a robust connector used for terminating coaxial cable that carried radio frequencies in a multi-megahertz range. While at Bell Labs, Neill worked in the Electrical Research Products division in the 1940s. The rapid advance in the quality of film sound during that period is credited as being largely due to two main lines of work with which he was closely associated, alongside motion picture engineers who were developing acoustic techniques for film. During this post war period, Neill and Concelman got together to collaborate on the design of a bayonet type fitting for radio frequency (RF) applications that would lock two connector ends together for greater electrical efficiency, giving birth to the Bayonet Neill Concelman Connector or BNC. The BNC was originally designed for military use and is commonly and mistakenly called the British Naval Connector. Other unofficial explanations expand the abbreviation as Baby Neill-Concelman because it is a lot smaller than N and C connectors invented by Neill and Concelman respectively. 24 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Standard interface Since its inception, video has been running over coaxial cable. The PL-259 or UHF connector was used widely in the black and white era until the introduction of colour television when the BNC connector became the standard electrical interface for professional video. Since then, the BNC has survived transitions from analogue to digital and the subsequent explosion of digital video formats. In its inception, the development of the Serial Digital Interface (SDI) in broadcast television had a number of key design criteria, one of which was that it be carried on a BNC connector. The BNC connector has processed television signals from the war in Vietnam through to Space Shuttle launches and the building of the International Space Station, to South Africa winning the Cricket Test Series in England; clinching the number one spot. So after 50 years, is it time for the television industry to start looking at a different interface for video signals? A number of years ago, the world of SDI and Internet Protocol (IP) technology
started coming together in the area of video transport. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) implemented the SMPTE 2022 family of standards in 2007. SMPTE 2022 led to Information Technology (IT) engineers experimenting with IP streaming of professional video streams, successfully transporting a bit-for-bit copy of an SDI signal thousands of miles away.
The shift Today almost every piece of professional TV equipment connects to an IP network in one way or another. Broadcast engineers have had to shift into the IT world’s way of thinking as well as keep up with traditional television technology. With 4K the adopted resolution in digital cinema having become common place and 8K or Super Hi-Vision looming on the horizon, there is certainly no evidence that the advance in video bit-rates are slowing down. At one time it was not possible to convey real-time video and audio over computer networks. Today’s IT
infrastructure allows such signals to be processed even if only experimental and under test conditions. Indeed Japanese broadcaster NHK has already managed to transmit its 4 000 scan lines, 7 680 x 4 320 pixels, Ultra High Definition widescreen system over an IP network! Admittedly it was over a massive fibre optic network, using dense wavelength division multiplexing requiring a total of 16 different wavelength signals to get the bit rate high enough. So why move from HD SDI and Audio Engineering Society (AES) over to BNC? It’s all about the IT world keeping up with the broadcast world and boils down to cost savings and the ability for IT platforms to adapt to anything thrown at them. Doing this, however, requires one significant, difficult and costly change: it will require a break in the connection between video format geometry and the electrical and physical interface of the famous connector. So is it really time to say goodbye to the BNC? Methinks no, not yet!
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ANIMATION |
Compiled by Linda Loubser
ACES UP
The Blade Works
Spaghetti.TV
Sphere Animatio
Local industry gets animated W
Local animated feature film Adventures in Zambezia
made history earlier this
year when it became the first animated film to win Best South African Feature Film at the 33rd Durban International Film Festival.
hile the success of Adventures in Zambezia is a welcome boost for local long form animation, the majority of work for local animation companies is still in the commercials sector. “Commercials and broadcast design are still core aspects of the South African animation industry,” says chair of the Gauteng chapter of Animation SA, David Whitehouse. “Despite the ‘shrinking budget’ phenomenon, these two sectors play a huge role in keeping many South African companies financially viable.” BlackGinger’s Hilton Treves adds: “If we don’t build a long form industry in South Africa, then I can with conviction state that the animation industry is in serious trouble. The commercials production sector in South Africa is not a very large pie and as such there are a limited number of studios that can survive to provide jobs and income to aspiring artists.”
Long form industry
Hilton Treves
Triggerfish Animation Studios producer and CEO Stuart Forrest notes that Adventures in Zambezia is doing really well in international territories and their next film, Khumba, is nearly finished. “By our eighth week in Israel Zambezia sold over 60 000 tickets, which is great for such a small territory. At the end of August we also released on 800 screens in Russia and 300 in Germany. We believe this is the largest release in these territories ever for a South African production – and this is just the start,” notes Forrest. “Hopefully our win will give the local long form industry a bit of a boost – it’s
Liesl Karpinski
Stuart Forrest
David Whitehouse
26 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
still a new industry here and the competition internationally is very tough. Animation is a great medium for South African filmmakers because it travels so easily, unlike live-action which tends to be considered art-house internationally.” Liesl Karpinski from Aces Up believes that long form in South Africa is not only sustainable, but could be very profitable. “The future of animated features in South Africa is more likely to be in becoming an outsourced supplier to the larger markets. We will never be able to out price the Indians and Koreans but we should not be competing in price, but rather by creating a higher quality product.” Steve Harris from The Blade Works, however, isn’t sure that there is opportunity for a sustainable long form animation industry in South Africa. “The local broadcasters are unwilling to pay the price for animation series, and the South African prices are not competitive enough to encourage exports to other countries,” says Harris. Monarchy’s Delarey Hattingh agrees. “There won’t be a sustainable industry if all the best animators leave for greener pastures overseas.”
Challenges Greg Meek from FliC believes a major challenge for the industry is getting people to appreciate that quality work takes time and money to produce. Treves agrees: “Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched a steady decline in great work in the commercials sector. Writing scripts and boards for visual effects and animation is not easy. Agencies, directors and clients have been to see the latest movies and want to have that level of work in a very short
Delarey Hattingh
turnaround time. This puts small studios under immense pressure to solve the problem with incredibly restricted budgets and small talent pools of people.” Spaghetti.TV’s Ryan Crocker notes that the challenge is the buy-in on budget and time allocation required to achieve the desired product. “There isn’t enough recognition for the skills involved in producing animation. The community is quite big now, so some kind of awards recognition is due.” Whitehouse also states that shrinking budgets and higher expectations from clients are the biggest challenges. “Not altogether bad things though, in that they, by default, enforce efficient production while continually raising the quality bar.”
Piracy He adds that piracy is another problem. “There are animation companies ranked among the top 10 in South Africa who run their studios without a single legal software licence anywhere to be seen, or who own one licence of a particular package, which is used by 10 or 12 artists. “Although this is moral problem, it has another more serious side effect. Individuals and companies who don’t bother to purchase licensed software are awarded work from the same pool of work as those who do license (at great expense) the software used in their pipelines. Companies using illegal software do not have the same expenses and are therefore able to charge severely reduced production fees while remaining massively profitable,” explains Whitehouse. According to Karpinski the major problem with the industry is a lack of local funding available to develop and produce
Ryan Crocker
on
| ANIMATION Training
BlackGinger
local content. “There seems to be the perception that animation is expensive and very time consuming. The truth is that it can be time consuming but the cost can be considerably less than most clients realise. The work produced in South Africa has a very high level of polish. We should be pushing for international production partners. We have the goods – let’s get the rest of the world to notice it!” Harris states that personnel is the main problem. “Even though colleges seem to spit out a large number of students annually, very few graduates seem to view animation as a serious career path. Also there is not a large enough pool of experienced senior animators in
the country.” Hattingh agrees that a big challenge is to get great, talented people for projects. “Although, we have an incredibly talented pool of people, that pool is very shallow and small unfortunately.” Forrest also notes that braindrain is a big threat to the industry and the quality of talent available. “As the industry grows there are bound to be more companies producing long form, so skilled talent may become harder to find. However, if the pace of growth is right, there could be a healthy process of generating as many skilled positions as there is skilled talent available.”
Many agree that animation training in South Africa is not at the level it should be. Says Meek: “As far as I can see there is a shortage of competent animators in South Africa. I see no young black animators being trained to take up positions in companies.” Whitehouse adds: “There are only one or two training institutions nationally whose graduates have at least a basic understanding of the foundations and principles of animation. Training is still very much software-oriented with limited focus on theory. This is a problem worldwide though.” Crocker notes that there are examples of training organisations that use web print-outs as course material. “Students usually teach themselves in these instances. There are a handful of institutions that do deliver, but the industry must play along. Internships are a great way to train and develop talent.”
Trends and opportunities One of the trends in the local industry, according to Harris, is that there is a strong call for photo-real animation and realistic animation within live action. “There also appears to be a growth in the requirement for motion graphics and graphic design.” Treves states that animation offers a solution to things that can’t be created
through normal cinematography. “Today, anything is possible with the right tools and talent. I think that local studios should be finding ways to share resources, be it rendering capacity, or outsourcing to the strengths of the relevant studios. This is what saved the industry in the UK, so much so that Soho has become one of the major power houses for VFX and animation worldwide.” Karpinski predicts that studios will become smaller and more specialised, and more inter-studio projects will happen. According to Crocker, international relationships should be a big opportunity for the local industry. “Our quality of work is really good. Local costs combined with our no nonsense approach in the country make us an attractive resource.” Hattingh agrees: “The international market is looking at us and seeing we can do incredible work (some say better than most), at very competitive prices. It is not so much the economic drive that fuels this, but the fact that we have an international view on what is new and trending.” Whitehouse believes the use of VFX in local film is also increasing. “The fact that production budgets are tighter than ever before is limiting that to some extent, but the new post-production rebate announced earlier this by the Department of Trade and Industry holds a lot of promise and could, in time, be instrumental in growing the South African VFX industry substantially.”
Photo by Jono Wood
ANIMATION |
Making magic
The Parlotones music video for their song It’s Magic
ACES UP – Gigh Zack, Liesl Karpinski and Dave Theron
Johannesburg-based post-production facility Aces Up created animated work and special effects for the South African Music Award (SAMA) winning music video It’s Magic for local band The Parlotones. Explains Aces Up managing director Liesl Karpinski: “The client was Clearwater, and our brief was: ‘Look at this storyboard, make it happen’.” The song by The Parlotones was commissioned by pay-TV broadcaster M-Net for their Magic campaign, to tie in with their brand identity. The music video was recorded at Q-Studios in front of a blue screen, and a magical environment where origami (folded paper) creatures, including birds and dinosaurs, come to life and interact with the band was added during post-production. “We used Syntheyes for tracking, Maya for 3D, Adobe After Effects for
compositing and a bit of Adobe Photoshop,” explains Karpinski. They worked on the project for two months, and Karpinski notes that it was a challenging job. “Making a forest of trees and modelling the characters like the dinosaur and the rigging of it was tough. Getting the paper to fold in the way it needed to fold…and fitting them into their environment was also a tad hard. Managing all the different assets in the scene was also a challenge as it was essentially a three-minute scene with multiple cameras.” The key people involved in the project were Karpinski, Gigh Zack and Dave Theron from Aces Up, director Ryan Peimer from Flaming Frames Productions and Derek White, Michelle Nestler, Eddie van Rensburg and Claire Higginson from Clearwater.
Experimenting with design
Wicked Pixels – Design Indaba
Award-winning animation studio and production company Wicked Pixels experimented with various new 3D animation technologies on a project for the Design Indaba Conference in Cape Town earlier this year. Director and Wicked Pixels founder Craig Wessels explains: “A really awesome project we were lucky to get to 28 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
work on this year was a motion design commercial and title sequences for Design Indaba. The brief was basically to create something organic, intriguing and original,” explains Wessels. “That it also had to be great design, was a given.” The agency was the Jupiter Drawing Room in Cape Town. Wessels notes that they worked on the
project for about two months from beginning to end, and experimented until they ‘hit on something visually unique and interesting’. He adds: “The challenge to this project was working under our creative director’s huge expectations, with little time and even less money, on something that had not been done before.”
The project was directed by Wessels and Gavin Coetzee and produced by Magda Roets. “The work was designed, animated, comped and graded by our awesome team of artists at Wicked Pixels, and the amazing Rob Brinkworth from Resonate did the audio,” concludes Wessels.
ANIMATION |
Animated moves in the industry
SPAGHETTI.TV ANIMATION TEAM – L-R: Ryan Crocker, Kirsty Harrison, Sean Salmon, Ryan Paul and Justin Wingate
Spaghetti.TV – Hollard Insurance
According to Andrew Lester of Johannesburg-based creative production studio Spaghetti.TV, they have worked on a number of interesting projects over the past year. “They were interesting, not because they were the largest or because they allowed us creative freedom, but because they are indicative of moves within our industry,” explains Lester. He notes that they have seen a move towards animated info-graphics. “This is
fascinating, because it can be fun work to do, but mainly because it seems to be counter cyclical. It is a second wave of mechanisation if you will: the industrialisation of the arts. The latest version of Powerpoint (or at least the Mac version) actually has some half decent templates and the Internet is full of reasonably well designed templates for purchase. “As the standard of what’s available to the every man has improved (by way of
templates, iMovie, etc) the need to produce significantly better, bespoke offerings has increased.” According to Lester, the second project of interest is a series of work by Spaghetti. TV for Hollard via agency Openco. Lester explains: “Direct response is in many ways immune to the threat of on-line broadcast and broadcast democratisation. For the most part outputs in this arena are measured on a cost-per-lead basis. I find it exciting that
we have had opportunity to receive feedback on the effectiveness of what we create, not in a fuzzy focus group sense, but by way of a very functional metric. “If media communications are ultimately going to be measured by efficacy and not peer review, then this has been a really interesting exercise for Spaghetti.TV.” Lester adds that, while they love working in animation and lean heavily towards 3D executions, they are a hybrid shop. “The democratisation of acquisition has made the hybrid shop significantly more competitive over the last couple of years. Add to this the immediacy of the feedback regarding the efficacy of our artistic outputs, and the result is a sum total of highly responsive production techniques that provide meaningful services to the advertising market. I am excited to see where the next 12 months take us.”
IDC’s first animation project Adventures in Zambezia, winner of the Best South African Feature Film award at the recent Durban International Film Festival, marks the first time that the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has invested in animation. The IDC’s Media & Motion Pictures Division regards animation as a genre that the South African industry can produce as well as Hollywood at a third of the cost, according to division head Basil Ford. “Triggerfish Animation Studios’ Adventures in Zambezia was the first animation project to resonate with us – it epitomises what we think South African animation should be. What’s really exciting is that the project was entirely locally developed, it has South African themes and is set in Africa. These are the factors that we believe will stand out from all the other animated films on the international market. “There is an authentic African look and feel to Zambezia which you don’t get from the conventional Hollywood releases and this is what will give the film international legs.” Written and directed by Wayne Thornley, Zambezia follows the adventures of Kai, a naïve but highspirited young falcon who travels to the bird city of Zambezia on the edge of the Victoria Falls. 30 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Noeltner of CMG.” To assess the commercial feasibility of Zambezia Ford’s team used ‘the usual tools’ – sales estimates versus the film’s budget and evaluating the box office performance of similar projects (ie. animated coming of age stories and animated films with birds) from other territories. “Ultimately the IDC looks for projects with economic merit that will provide IDC – Basil Ford
Adventures in Zambezia
The IDC got involved in Zambezia at script development stage. Ford continues: “When Triggerfish executive producer Stuart Forrest came to see us about four years ago we told him that he needed to attach an international sales agent, which he promptly did – Los Angeles-based Ed
return on investment for us and the other producers,” explains Ford. “Ed Noeltner was very useful in this regard and helped Stuart Forrest set up test screenings overseas. It emerged that our local voices wouldn’t work in the international market.”
Hollywood names such as Samuel L Jackson, Leonard Nimoy and Abigail Breslin were subsequently cast, resulting in a North American distribution deal with Sony Pictures. Interestingly, there are two US funders on Zambezia; the first is Wonderful Works, an American husband and wife team who developed the project with Forrest, and a company called 120Db. “The only other investors are the IDC, the National Film and Video Foundation and the Department of Trade & Industry rebate. It’s in the public domain that the budget is under US$20m. “We managed to secure international pre-sales off the back of the script and storyboard which gave us confidence about the project’s commercial viability. Zambezia has already been successfully released in Israel, out grossing some Hollywood productions. Russia and Germany are set to release the film within the next month, with many other European territories to follow. South Africans will get to see the film as from 26 December. Nu Metro Films is planning a big release with 91 prints, many of which will be 3D. Ford concludes: “Zambezia has been a worthwhile project for the IDC and it is also our first family feature film. Significantly, it provided employment to about 120 people for over a year.”
ANIMATION |
Banking on animation Sphere Animation in Johannesburg created the ad Bank on Us for client Absa and agency Mortimer-Harvey earlier this year. Their brief was to show the five key ways that customers transact using the Absa channels and how it makes peoples’ lives easier. “The incentive was that if customers did any of the featured transactions in a given time period, they stood to win one of three Volkswagen Gti’s worth R360 000 each and a share of R1m in cash,” explains Sphere’s Ettiene Bosch. “Because of the exclusive prize giveaway of these vehicles, we knew that they should feature throughout the ad. We drew the parallel of these cars zipping through the city with the fast and efficient way people can bank with Absa channels.” Bosch notes that they used Softimage XSI, as well as Adobe After Effects and Photoshop for the animation and effects. The ad was produced in two weeks, and according to Bosch they had to work within a short, demanding production timeline and find a way of creating a clear message within a 30-second ad. “It was a
the end result.” The live action was shot by director of photography Willem Viljoen on a Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 P2 HD camera. The team working on the ad included creative directors Craig Duff and Chris Potter; stylist and art director Alice Rowe; and 3D animators Ettiene Bosch, Rikus Niewoudt and Ian Dehning. “We also had freelancer Mirna Stevanovic helping out because of the short deadline. All the shots were composited and final grading done by Nico Janse van Rensburg,” concludes Bosch. SPHERE ANIMATION – ABSA
challenging project that tested our capabilities to deliver a TVC with excellent results in a third of the time one would normally need to pull off a project of this size,” says Bosch. “However, the biggest challenge for us was taking live action, shot on green screen, and integrating that into our 3D environment to create a seamless blend. We were able to do this thanks to proper planning from the start, and it shows in
Going green
BFX STUDIOS – Vodacom
The BFX Studios at The Blade Works post-production facility in Johannesburg was recently tasked with supplementing live action foliage to ‘green’ the roofs of buildings in the Johannesburg city centre for a Vodacom commercial directed by Tristan Holmes from Star Productions. Project team leader Yolandi Meiring explains that their concept artist, veteran 2D artist Ernst du Plessis, sat down with Holmes during pre-production and did drawings straight onto location stills to pre-visualise what the roof garden would look like. “It became clear during this phase that what could be achieved in-camera by the art department would not match the expectations of the creative team. So the decision was made to add the majority of the greenery in post-production,” explains Meiring. “The final result was achieved with 2D matte paintings by Shannan Taylor (an Animation Mentor alumni and recent addition to the BFX team), but it was combined with rendered 3D elements because we needed 32 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
to show the roof garden from several angles.” According to Meiring they also wanted to put their newly acquired third party render engine to the test. “It was initially developed to render CG for films and is optimised to handle large quantities of geometry efficiently. Its ability to simulate plausible, realistic lighting and motion blur with ease was the reason that BFX acquired the licenses a couple of months ago. It has since become an invaluable tool in our VFX pipeline.” Meiring notes that, under normal circumstances, they would have been worried about rendering dense geometry such as trees. “However, with our new renderer we didn’t have that technical hurdle. So the biggest challenge was really just the scope of what had to be created, including water slides, ivy, trees, crops, flowers, benches, hedges and extra buildings. The post schedule was two weeks long.” The CG team on the job was Meiring, Amanda Goosen and Ryan Lloyd and the lead Flame artist was Jean du Plessis.
Yolandi Meiring
Ernst du Plessis
ANIMATION |
Telling stories Multi-disciplinary creative agency Monarchy won the Promax World Gold International for Best Animation in Los Angeles earlier this year for their We Tell the Best Stories campaign for M-Net Movies 1 HD on satellite pay-TV platform DStv. “It was a pro-active project from us,” explains Monarchy’s director and co-owner Delarey Hattingh. “We are lucky enough to have the maintenance contract and we do all the promos and marketing for the M-Net Movie channels. Helping to look after the strategy and marketing for this brand we thought that it was about time to have non-content specific branding execution that would cement M-Net Movies as the only and best place to get the most up to date movies, and the only HD movie channel in the country. “Our creative director and co-owner Nicci Hattingh had for a long time wanted to do a brand piece that was based on the premise of We Tell the Best Stories, and have the treatment come from – where all stories start – a book.
Monarchy – M-Net Movies 1 HD
Nicci Hattingh
Delarey Hattingh
“Having incredible and fantastic worlds unfold and unfurl from these pages, driven by an inspiring voiceover, producing these spots was as inspiring for us as it was successful for the brand.” According to Hattingh they had custom music composed for the spots, which was performed and recorded by the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra for extra authenticity, cinematic feel and emotion. He adds that, because of the intricacies of the project, they had to use Maya, 3D Max and Softimage XSI for 3D and fire simulation. “Our comping and design was
done on Adobe’s Photoshop and After Effects,” he explains. The project took just over a month from sign-off to delivery. Notes Hattingh: “Technically, the biggest challenge must have been getting the thousands of pages to make the words, faces and characters we wanted in a structurally sound way that ‘feels’ like paper constructions.” “This creative force was driven by Nicci Hattingh with her great team for execution. All of this couldn’t have been done without the great support of all at M-Net and M-Net Movies,” he concludes.
Believable visual effects BlackGinger – 1st For Women
When Cape Town animation and visual effects studio BlackGinger got involved in a Top Gun spot for client 1st For Women showing two male pilots flying recklessly at low altitudes, they were told to make it ‘as believable as possible’. The brief was from advertising agency Black River FC in Johannesburg and director Anton Visser from Velocity. 34 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
BlackGinger’s Hilton Treves explains: “It had to be believable from the modelling and build of the 3D planes to the behaviour and physics of the planes. Lighting and rendering was critical to the look achieved as was the integration of the planes into their environments.” According to Treves they spent four weeks doing pre-visualisation (pre-viz) for
the shoot as well as modelling and texturing the planes. “After the shoot, which was delayed several times due to weather, we spent eight weeks in full production until delivery.” He notes that their software pipeline consists of a number of key applications including Houdini, Softimage, PF Track, Nuke and Flame. The rendering was done on Houdini Mantra, and Treves explains that they used physical based rendering (PBR): “This means it bounces and takes into account real world lighting, surfaces and shadows. “Once we had the shots at a near completed stage, we finalised everything in Flame, with the director hands on in the suite with our Flame artist.” According to Treves, the edit was the biggest challenge. “Even though we had done extensive pre-viz, performance from the actors dictated changes in the flight
sequence – so much so that the edit was changing up until a week from delivery. Without our pipeline and the ability to quickly go back to animation and feed it through to compositing we would never have finished in time.” The key people involved in the project included VFX supervisor Darrin Hofmeyr; producer Gabriella Harris; Marco Raposo de Barbosa on Flame; Ash Ryan and Dave Clark on Nuke compositing; Hayden Barnett on modelling and texturing; Dexter Schenk on rigging; Andre de Villiers and Jonathan Searle on pre-viz and animation; Jonathan Searle and Roger Wellard on matchmoving; heads up displays and graphics by Rob Muir; VFX, lighting and rendering by William Harley and JC Phillips; and cleanup and roto by Angelo Beceiro Collinicos, Dylan Palmboom and Chris Bekker.
ANIMATION |
The end of the world Wrigley’s
FliC – Castle Lager
Johannesburg-based animation and content production company FliC recently created a series of character animations for Wrigley’s chewing gum. FliC’s Greg Meek explains: “Working with Marcus Moshapalo and Conan Green from DDB Johannesburg, we
created a campaign highlighting the supposed end of the world on 21 December as predicted by the Mayan Calendar. By chewing their gum you could win a trip to one of three places across the globe to witness the world ending.”
According to Meek they had to recreate the international characters that Wrigley’s use in their commercials. “The team at FliC created a UFO, zombie and meteorite scenario into which we placed the characters. “The short animations were fun to animate and the end result was happiness all around,” notes Meek. FliC has also created a series of animations for Ogilvy and their client, Castle. “We were asked to create a look and feel for their broadcast sponsorship of the national teams. We needed to create CG bottles that we could put into different situations. The challenge was to create realistic 3D with a graphic feel. We used a lot of fine
detailing and water droplets on the glass to make the bottles look real. “The look we created was fresh and the team had fun making the bottles play football and rugby,” notes Meek. At the time of going to print FliC was working on CG print campaigns with agencies FoxP2 in Cape Town and Ogilvy in Johannesburg. “We’re creating amazing CG and working with some of Johannesburg’s best photographers. Working on a single frame is refreshing, as it allows us the freedom to experiment and try new techniques.” FliC has also worked on well-known South African brands such as FNB, Cell C, MTN, Powerball, Coke, Nando’s, Virgin Money and SuperSport. “We’re always keen to help creatives move their ideas forward and make some amazing work,” concludes Meek.
studio. Says Pretorius: “Our production pipeline makes use of the latest technology to composite the actors into animated and 3D environments and to add post FX.” He notes that they spent about five months working on the project. “The biggest challenge was the incredibly tight deadlines – from pre-production, to shoot, to final approval – to fit into the SA Idols competition timeline.”
According to Pretorius it has been an exciting year for The First Day. “We’ve branched out into foreign commercials, touching on new languages, cultures and the challenges that brings. As a company we value the collaborative nature of our work, understanding that our clients provide us the opportunities to improve our craft and satisfy our passion for quality and creativity.”
Many ‘good moments’
THE FIRST DAY – KFC
Johannesburg-based animation and visual effects company The First Day was recently tasked with creating music videos for the KFC So Good Moments campaign as part of the KFC sponsorship of reality show South African Idols. “To work on a bold and creative brand like KFC was very exciting,” notes The First Day’s Dale Pretorius. “They allowed us to be incredibly creative with this project and push our ideas that extra bit further, to create something really unique.” Their brief was to create six 10-second call-to-action stings, followed by eight 36 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
30-second commercials to be aired over the duration of the SA Idols competition. “The campaign was born from the amazing creative minds at agency Ogilvy Johannesburg and Team Best with the awesome directing and production skills of Asher Stoltz and Bryan van Niekerk.” Pretorius explains: “The concept behind this sponsorship was to make the contestants of the competition the stars of the brand and the stars of their very own music videos, just by sharing their own KFC ‘So Good’ moments.” The music videos were shot on green screen at The First Day’s visual effects
ANIMATION |
Taking flight BEFORE AND AFTER – The flying ostrich in Mad Buddies
Loco VFX was contracted by Keystone Films, the producers of the recently released Leon Schuster comedy feature, Mad Buddies, to create all the visual effects (VFX) throughout the movie. This included creature work, green screen, clean-ups, rig removals and split screens. “We were initially asked to provide a quote based on a breakdown of an early draft of the screenplay,” explains Loco VFX’s David Whitehouse. “Following that we were asked to do a test sequence using a VFX-heavy sequence that Keystone shot from the film as the basis for the test.” Once Loco VFX was contracted, the team had around six months to complete the job. “This was quite a tall order as the VFX shot count ended up at just over 230 shots,” notes Whitehouse. One of the biggest challenges of the job was creating an ostrich that could fly. Loco’s technical gurus Derik van den
38 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Berg and Neill Vermaak spent three months specifically developing feather and muscle systems for the ostrich. “A lot of time was also put into developing methods for rendering the ostrich passes within a realistic timeframe. We went out to an ostrich farm to study adult ostriches and were given an opportunity to study an ostrich carcass, document muscle movement and joint rotations, and collect as much photographic reference as possible,” comments Whitehouse. The Loco team used Maya, Nuke, Syntheyes, various Adobe packages, and a number of internally developed proprietary tools to create the required effects. According to Whitehouse, Loco VFX R&D and general preparation for most aspects of the film stood them in good stead. “Time was still the biggest challenge though as by our very nature,
WORKING ON THE FLY – Neill Vermaak and George Webster
we always want to add that little something extra to a shot. Time constraints force us to move onto the next shot before we ever feel a shot is truly complete.” He describes working with Leon Schuster, director Gray Hofmeyr and producer Helena Spring on Mad Buddies as ‘an absolute honour and a pleasure
to boot’. “Marc Baleiza, who headed up post-production on the film, is a consummate professional and made our job a whole lot easier every step of the way,” concludes Whitehouse. Loco VFX was founded in November 2011 by Whitehouse and George Webster.
The IDC Media and Motion Pictures unit provides development
Previously IDC-funded productions include internationally
finance to grow and facilitate the creation of a sustainable
acclaimed Hotel Rwanda and the Academy Award-winning
South African film industry.
film Tsotsi.
The unit focuses mainly on projects to enhance the value chain and
If you have the true entrepreneurial spirit and a project that
the development of locally-produced television shows, feature
can contribute to creating jobs and building South Africa’s
films, documentaries; television, the production of local music,
industrial capacity, visit www.idc.co.za to find out how the
and radio broadcasting, alternative distribution technologies
IDC can help you create a winner.
and establishing cinemas in new markets.
Playing a development role in the
Chillibush7449IDC
Media and Motion Pictures industry
Telephone: 086 069 3888 Email: callcentre@idc.co.za To apply online for funding of R1 million or more go to www.idc.co.za
CAMERAS |
Biggest multi-cam RED shoot By Linda Loubser
Johannesburg-based mushroom media recently produced, stage directed and shot a concert film for popular South African singer / songwriter Lira, chronicling her 2011 concert tour of South Africa. The production was shot with 13 RED cameras. HITTING THE HIGH NOTE – Lira in concert
L
ira: The Captured Tour – Concert Film, commissioned by Lira’s production company ARIL Films, was shot by mushroom media over three months in 2011. According to mushroom media’s Warwick Allan the concert film has different components to it: “The live concert component involved filming Lira’s final tour performance at the Sun City Superbowl in November 2011. “The concert film involved the weaving of a full concert production with Lira’s narrative of her career, her songs’ meanings and her involvement with her fans. We also brought in documentary styled segments profiling a superfan of Lira’s choice in each city the tour visited. They interacted with Lira and had full backstage access, which we filmed.” Allan also directed Lira’s 2009 Live: A Celebration concert DVD, which won a South African Music Award (SAMA) and became the biggest selling music DVD in South Africa.
Biggest RED shoot The Lira: The Captured Tour – Concert Film was shot using 21 cameras, including seven RED MX and six RED Epic cameras with Panavision Primo and Angenieux zoom lenses. Eight Canon 5Ds were used to film crowd reaction and the documentary style footage of the fans. “It’s definitely the biggest multi-cam RED shoot done in Africa, based on the amount of cameras used simultaniously,” says Allan. The REDs and grips equipment were sourced from Panavision Johannesburg. “We wanted a high-end, glossy, filmic look and were lucky enough to have the budget for the REDs. As we shot the previous Lira concert on nine RED One cameras with good results, we were keen to use them again on this tour. We chose to use the Canons as well because they are small and inconspicuous, and so good in low light. They were great for capturing the interactive feel of the crowd,” explains Allan. Among the challenges of the shoot, Allan notes that they gathered a ‘huge amount of raw material’ that had to be managed, including over six terabytes of RED Raw footage and one terabyte of high definition (HD) footage from the Canons. “With that many cameras, it’s also a challenge to place the cameras to best 40 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
capture the show and get the most out of each angle, and to not shoot any of the crew in the process.”
Camera movement A Steadicam was used for a roaming camera on stage and a Towercam, sourced from Panavision UK, was mounted on a circular dolly track at the end of the stage ramp. Explains Allan: “The Towercam is basically an extension arm that moves up and down, with a remote head. By placing it on a circular track it gave us angles we couldn’t get any other way.” Two Jimmy Jibs were used on either side of the stage, with another set up at the back of the audience. A dolly was also placed in the middle of the crowd to offer another perspective. “I’ve studied many music DVDs over the years and spent time interning in London with Done & Dusted, one of the biggest concert production companies in the world,” explains Allan. “I’ve learned that when you have lots of subtly moving cameras it draws the audience in more and obviously feels more cinematic.” The crew consisted of 55 people, and Allan explains that he used many young directors of photography (DOPs) from the commercials industry, led by Willie Nel as overriding DOP. “I was directing everyone through comms from behind a set of monitors, along with Willie. There were lots of variables involved and lots of last minute panic – you always wish you had more prep time, but a good team makes you more comfortable in the chaos,” says Allan. His team also included Geoff Sharr as producer, Clive Shirlaw as head of the camera department and Stefan Nel as head of data management.
Vibrant and colourful Allan was involved in plotting the concert visually and helped to design digital stage backdrops. For this purpose, images of water, the sparks from grinding metal, paint pouring and of Lira dancing in flowing dresses were shot on a Phantom camera in slow-motion to create different visuals and textures, and were combined with digital animated content created by Ministry of Illusion. “Each song had a unique video that ran in the background on a big LED screen. The backdrop
Elvis Blue
The Muffinz
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created the visual colouring and feel of the show,” Allan explains. This translated to the look of the DVD, which Allan describes as ‘very clean and international with a high-gloss finish’. “The show was very vibrant and colourful, so we made the documentary parts black and white and the interview with Lira a slightly subdued colour, creating three different colour palettes for the different components.” The audio was recorded by Lira’s manager Robin Kohl and Grant Katzin from Jazzworx. “They recorded every show on the tour as well as the Sun City show in multi-tracks and there were over 14 microphones just to record ambient crowd sound,” explains Allan. “They also did a 5.1 surround sound mix all at Jazzworx.” Offline editing was done at mushroom media’s post-production facilities on Final Cut Pro using multi-clips. The concert was shot in 4K, but finished in HD. Allan notes that all media was transcoded and managed within mushroom media’s post-facility but the final grade was done by Nicholas Apostoli at Pudding. The menu design, using more Phantom footage, was done by animation company Luma.
Entertainment While mushroom media has created ads for brands such as Unilever and Peugeot, the company is better known for Allan’s work in directing and conceptualising music videos and brand films for musicians such as Zebra and Giraffe, Elvis Blue, Locnville, Pascal & Pearce, Shadowclub, Karen Zoid, Tailor and The Muffinz. “What we do is create a broad range of entertainment based content, including mulit-camera productions, music videos, documentary and brand films. We create high-end work that always creates extreme value for our clients partly because we do post-production too, including Resolve grading, in-house,” explains Allan. “We manage this by bringing in specialised freelance people suited to each specific project in all areas. It enables us to scale up or down, depending on the project, and really craft the work to deliver the best quality creative visuals possible.” A 45-minute cut-down of Lira: The Captured Tour – Concert Film aired on pay-TV channel M-Net HD in July and the 163-minute DVD went on sale on 23 July.
| RADIO
Eyes added to ears
It’s new, it’s exciting and you can listen to it as well as watch it. Ballz Visual Radio is an online station that broadcasts 24/7 via the Internet.
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ONLINE with BALLZ – Darren Scott and son
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he brains behind this new venture is Darren Scott, who was plagued with controversy last year regarding racial remarks made on Jacaranda Radio, which saw him suspended from SuperSport just days before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But Scott is not one to lie down and die so he started a radio station instead. “Ballz is not your normal old radio station,” says Scott. “It is fun and quite different. We produce four hours of sport, lifestyle and music entertainment programming daily and also run competitions. One of our highlights is the Gearz motor sport programme with Sasha Martinengo. The contacts that I have built up over the years with all of South Africa’s sports bodies are proving to be advantageous.” Based in the Woodmead Office Park in Johannesburg, Ballz has an impressive line-up of well know personalities on its team. Scott, whose own radio and television career is legend, is accompanied by his old buddy John Walland as well as radio producer ‘and genius’ William Scott. Simon Hill is the new creative entertainer, sports fundi, voice artist, mimic and co-anchor. There is also Miss South Africa 2009 Nicole Flint – the most sporting former Miss South Africa of them all – and finally Mazz Landman, the station’s social media manager. “We started broadcasting in April this year,” explains Scott “and we are backed by a team of investors who have total confidence in the concept and the staff. Ballz currently comprises the main on-air studio, a production studio and office. The studios are some of the best I have worked in and we have not cut corners. We have all that we need, but are quite cognisant of the fact that it’s the content that is king.” The team works with five web cams in the studio to provide the visual element of the Ballz broadcasts. Scott notes that Ballz has also done several outside broadcasts using desks and iPads. “It’s a simple matter to set up a link from a remote venue. We do a lot of interviews on Skype, and tend not to use telephones at all. Ballz relies on content from people with iPhones and we use Twitter a lot. We have done some great interviews with amazing people.” Ballz is a multiplatform content provider, with over 20 000 unique visitors to its website per month (July) and growing. Scott continues: “We talk to over 70 000 people on Twitter and over 15 000 people on Facebook, plus we have had over 230 000 views of our YouTube content in the four months we have been on air. “Having just moved from Net Dynamics to SecureNet in the US to host our stream, we are currently ascertaining exactly how many people are streaming our show daily, by engaging the DMMA and other providers. We have also just secured our presence on a Webmail page which goes out to over 600 000 subscribers and are currently in negotiations about a DStv packaged half-hour show weekly. “Ballz syndicated to 91.3 on FM in the Western Cape as of July. We are also talking to five stations in other regions regarding syndication. Our Ballz App is also currently being developed.” Scott stresses that Ballz is a long term venture. “We believe that we resonate in the digital radio world. I love it – I haven’t had this much fun since my days with Capital Radio,” he concludes. – Andy Stead
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Sasha Martinengo in studio
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TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY |
Prompting a new range Teleprompter, newsroom and video server specialist Autocue is launching a range of leading-edge accessories to complement its acclaimed Master Series teleprompter range. The range of accessories includes a 22-inch talent feedback monitor with native HD-SDI; an ingenious new mounting system; a digital tally light that displays any camera number from 1-9; an under-monitor talent clock; and new USB controls to ensure compatibility with the latest PC hardware. When combined in-whole or in-part with the Master Series teleprompters, users can be confident that their overall prompting package and every component within it, is now best-in-class. For example, Autocue’s unique Master Series mounting system makes it easy to balance a camera while actually reducing the total weight. The mounting plate glides to accommodate any size of camera and also makes it effortless to do camera maintenance without completely disassembling the prompter. This feature cannot be found anywhere else. Autocue’s Master Series prompters are still the world’s lightest, slimmest, high-bright LED backlit monitors, which means they are just as legible indoors or out. All Master Series prompters include a range of features not found elsewhere, including in-board cable management and an integrated power supply. Prompter hoods are pre-assembled for rapid set-up; reinforced for extra stability; and a unique glass-holder mechanism makes the pane easy to clean or replace.
Sharing data is easier Harris has published the BXF 2.0 suite – a move that evolves the way broadcasters and new media organisations share and exchange business data and on-air content across the media workflow. BXF, or Broadcast eXchange Format, standardises the exchange of schedule, as-run, content metadata, and content transfer instructions between workflow systems – including servers, editors, traffic and billing, sales and scheduling, automation and digital asset management equipment. The publication of BXF 2.0 marks an important continuation in BXF development and implementation – an effort that began with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) in 2004, led by Harris CTO group lead Chris Lennon. BXF 2.0 consists of several backward-compatible enhancements to the existing standard including additional support for sponsored secondary events, re-use of house numbers, enhanced multi-language support, and the ability to communicate ‘aired’ events (previous, current and next). “Representing a collaborative effort by some 80 companies and already seeing widespread adoption, BXF is a success story for everyone,” said Peter Symes, SMPTE Director of Standards and Engineering. “BXF 2.0 and future extensions also underscore the vital role SMPTE plays in driving collaboration and standardisation in support of new technology advances and creating new revenue opportunities across the digital media ecosystem.” Harris has incorporated the original BXF version into 11 products to date, including ADC and D-Series automation, OSi-Traffic media software, and Invenio media asset management. Lennon, who also serves as chairman of SMPTE’s BXF Working Group, has spearheaded BXF development efforts, working with dozens of companies and well over 150 individuals since its inception. The SMPTE group now sets their sights on BXF 3.0, which includes a list of useful enhancements that advance well beyond the efficiencies published in BXF 2.0. 42 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Observing digital logging system
Continental pay-TV broadcaster SuperSport is using the Volicon Observer digital video logging and monitoring system to record 64 locally packaged channels (currently eight HD and 56 SD). The Volicon system – delivered, installed and supported by systems integrator Concilium Technologies – gives SuperSport a reliable, rapid and straightforward means to perform ongoing compliance monitoring and reporting, as well as ad verification, for all 64 of these channels. “Our mission is to be the best and most successful provider of premium pay-TV sports coverage across the continent of Africa. Volicon’s Observer system is proving to be an exceptionally valuable and reliable tool to monitor and maintain the integrity of our extensive broadcast offering,” says Eddie McAlone, technical director of SuperSport Media Solutions. “Staff from engineering to sales can provide proof of what was broadcast, and do so quickly and with ease.” The Volicon Observer system captures, stores and streams broadcasted content and gives SuperSport staff instant access to live and recorded content from an easy-to-use web-based GUI. Users throughout SuperSport can monitor the content going out to air or dial back as far back as 90 days to find and provide proof that content aired properly. The ability to play, pause and search recorded content on either a desktop or mobile device aids each department and its staff to maintain and demonstrate the quality and compliance of its programmes and commercials. The quality of experience module for Observer supports agile monitoring and troubleshooting at SuperSport by providing real-time alarms for faulty video, audio and closed captioning. Volicon’s patented Virtual Media Network (VMN) technology provides a unique architecture that allows for optimized video logging and monitoring, seamless and efficient streaming throughout the organisation, and efficient expansion and scalability.
Painting the future
Panasonic’s AG-HPX255E memory card camera recorder offers compatibility with Panasonic’s AG-EC4 Paint Box remote control. The EC4 extension control unit has the ability to control virtually all menu, set-up and gamma functions that can be accessed directly through the camcorder’s on-board menu, including shutter, iris, gain, filter positions and detail. The EC4 comes with a 10m BNC cable (maximum 50m with optional AJ-C10050G) that will output the menu onto a monitor. Specification wise the AG-HPX255E keeps the basic features of its predecessor, the AG-HP250E, including P2 card support as well as 10-bit, 4:2:2 independent-frame, full 1920 x 1080 resolution AVC-Intra recording and variable frame rate capability in 1080p from 1fps to 30fps (17 steps). As well as 720p from fps to 60fps (25 steps) at 60Hz for undercranking / overcranking to create fast or slow-motion effects. In addition to AVC-Intra 100/50 recording, the camcorders record in DVCPRO HD, as well as standard definition recording in DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV, and support international HD and SD standards – an added benefit to producers with global clients.
| TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY
Defining that ‘broadcast feel’
The new Sachtler Ace combines legendary Sachtler reliability with precision German engineering to create an affordable, high-quality professional fluid head and tripod. Compact and lightweight with smooth, intuitive operation, it offers outstanding balance, accuracy and control – giving the operator all the confidence, flexibility and support needed to produce that defining image. Sachtler’s renowned engineer Leonhard Jaumann has developed a completely new and patented damping technology, the Synchronised Actuated Drag (SA-drag). Jaumann has been with Sachtler since the company started and worked on its first ever fluid head. The SA-drag guarantees constant and consistently repeated drag using entirely new technology. When an operator turns a pan or tilt drag knob to increase or decrease the drag, the precisely designed damping segments inside the head engage or disengage to provide the desired amount. This provides levels of control, smoothness and reliability that the user can immediately appreciate. The glass fibre reinforced composite head makes the tripod ultra lightweight but it is durable and sturdy with robust rubberised feet. Ace is ideally suited for HDV camcorders and video-enabled DSLR cameras. With a payload range of 0 to 4kg, a five-step counterbalance and the SA-drag, the Sachtler Ace enables a genuine ‘broadcast feel’.
4K/3D colour grading
favourite with
Broadcasters, Post Production Facilities, Post Production Houses, Production Companies and Ad Agencies. MediaMove has adopted the CLEAR platform for archiving and delivery of television commercials to all the broadcasters. Broadcasters who have adopted this platform are SABC, MNet, eTV, Top TV, and CNBC Africa, further afield, MTV Africa, One Africa TV and NBC. Other African broadcasters to follow soon. CLEAR is also used worldwide and content can be delivered to other broadcaster outside of Africa through our CLEAR nodes around the world. MediaMove is now able to offer searchable TVC with intelligent tagging and Lucene searching capability to find exactly the TVC that meets your search criteria. MediaMove has changed the way content is received and distributed to the broadcasters, bringing this in line with the formats that the broadcaster require, this includes HD content. Content delivered via MediaMove will be searchable via the client’s portal. The client can then send a link to a TVC for review, a DVD can be made of the TVC or an email version can be sent through the portal. MediaMove in conjunction with Adsend and Onecom is able to offer you Brandfiler, a CLEAR portal for managing TVC’s, Radio, Print and new media advertising through one portal. This will enable your content to be searchable and made available with a click of a button anywhere in the world.
EDGE
EDGE
Last month Blackmagic Design announced that Hongdian Film Production Co., Ltd. had installed a Linux based DaVinci Resolve colour correction system with eight GPUs for real time 4K/3D colour grading. The installation is part of Hongdian’s goal to build China’s first end to end 4K/3D production line. Hongdian Film Production is located in Hengdian World Studios, also known as Chinawood, which is the largest outdoor studio in the world and consists of 13 shooting bases. The studio includes full scale replicas of the Forbidden City and the imperial palace of Qin dynasty, which were used as backdrops for many television shows and feature films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, The Forbidden Kingdom and Mummy 3. Before Hongdian Film Production began offering post-production services at this location, film crews that came to Hengdian World Studios for backdrops had to send their footage to post facilities in other cities. These same crews would often have to travel outside of China to find facilities that could provide 4K and 3D post production services. To meet customers’ demands for high quality advanced 4K/3D services, Hongdian Film Productions built China’s first end to end 4K/3D workflow around Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve, which includes support for the widest range of popular formats. DaVinci Resolve will be used to convert RAW files to high quality ProRes for Apple Final Cut Pro editors, MXF for Avid Media Composer 6 editors, and DPX or TIFF sequences for VFX designers. DaVinci Resolve’s powerful multiple GPU rendering provides real time format conversion, enabling colourists to quickly build timelines for real time 2D or 4K/3D colour correction and finishing.
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TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY |
Aiming high The PMW-200 is the successor to Sony’s well respected PMW-EX1/R camcorder which supports the 50Mbs MPEG HD422 codec and MXF recording. It is a good companion to the PMW-500 XDCAM HD422 shoulder mount camera. With its three ½-inch full HD Exmor CMOS sensor (1920x1280), the PMW-200 is able to achieve high resolution (1000 TVI), high sensitivity (F11@2000 lx), low noise (56dB) and wide dynamic range. The PMW-200 can be used for both SD and HD applications. It can be set to record 50Mbps MPEG HD422 as MXF files in UDF formatted cards, just like the PMW500 memory camcorder or the PDW-700/F800 optical disc-based camcorders. For SD applications the user can make DVCAM recordings as either MXF files or XDCAM EX compatible files. Features of the PMW-200 include a 31.4-439mm zoom lens; independent focus, zoom and iris rings; slow and quick motion; WiFi remote; picture profile; colour peaking; and cache recording (up to 15 seconds).
Streaming more efficient 3D Vizrt’s real time 3D compositing engine Viz Engine has had a major update to its capabilities in the form of IP streaming. The Viz Engine now has the capabilities to take streaming content in and out, adding flexibility to the engine’s configuration in the station environment since only a network connection is needed. Viz Engine renders real-time content and outputs the IP stream so the video can then be easily distributed to the web and mobile devices. The system is updated further with DVS SpycerBox integration. SpycerBox makes it possible for up to eight Viz Engines to play out full broadcast quality HD video clips from a single shared storage. A new plugin for the Viz Engine gives users the ability to trigger clips in an EVS instant replay system. The plugin allows designers to create interactive scenes and send commands to the EVS system. This allows operators during a live sport event control of the EVS and all graphics from a single interface.
Easier transition to file-based workflows
For video facilities transitioning from tape to file-based workflows for recording and playback, Ki Pro Rack from AJA Video Systems offers high-quality, ‘ready-to-edit’ file capture, designed to get material from source to editorial as quickly as possible. With a wealth of professional connections, Ki Pro Rack will fit right into your existing cabling and routing system and record 10-bit Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD files direct to removable hard disk or SSD Storage Modules, eliminating the need for time-consuming logging and capturing. The files can be used in most editing systems without the need for additional transcoding or importing processes. Recording 10-bit, full raster files, Ki Pro Rack gives you high quality images that easily stand up to post processing requirements – and client scrutiny. Compared to 8-bit recording devices, 10-bit 4:2:2 recording provides greater dynamic range, giving a superior representation of the original scene and allowing for more flexibility in post production when adjusting colour and balance. By utilising efficient ProRes and DNxHD codes, file sizes are kept in check so there is no need for extra storage. Ki Pro Rack features RS-422 control, enabling it to be easily integrated with editing systems, external controllers and even other tape decks, and fulfill all the functions of a traditional VTR. Systems can perform assemble edits direct to the Ki Pro Rack Storage Modules, often faster than rendering to ProRes or DNxHD files within an editing system. 44 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
| TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY
Solid support system
The TDT remote crane system from Egripment is a new concept for a lightweight remote camera crane and remote head combined as a single product. Portions of the remote head are built into the front section of the arm, and the controls at the back of the crane are built as a part of the weight bucket. Egripment maintains that there is no other crane system like this available on the market and stresses that the TDT
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Supplying broadcast video, audio, lighting and everything in between for 25 years...
system is a ‘different’ and completely ‘new’ design offered at a very low price, but with high quality. The TDT crane is a modular system with three arm sections of 1.5m long. This gives the user the ability to transport the complete arm in a very small vehicle. TDT remote head technology is a combination of the scanner head and the SuperShot head. The two motor sections (pan and tilt) of the head can be adjusted for completely nodal use. There are no slip rings available but both motor units have cleverly placed holes to guide the cabling to the camera. The SuperShot is the latest Egripment remote head to be added to the line-up of the HotHead, HotShot, MiniShot, MicroShot and Scanner Elite.
Meeting all your archive needs The SAMMAsolo product line from Front Porch Digital offers a range of migration solutions built to meet specific archive migration needs. From a single SAMMAsolo to a multiple-stream SAMMArobot, efficiency is maximised by encoding to multiple formats simultaneously, while also analysing content to ensure the quality of the migration. SAMMAsolo HD offers increased computing power so that the user can simultaneously encode to a higher number of file types than ever before. Multiple Preservation, Mezzanine and Proxy files can be created all at once without sacrificing CPU power. It provides the most flexible video format conversion on the market for the digitisation of video and audio, while the new 10-bit broadcast quality picture scaling from SD to HD allows the user to convert up their archive for future needs. Motion adaptive standard / frame rate conversion is built in for transparent operation with multi-standard archives. The system includes a 7TB RAID 5 storage cache, with an optional upgrade to 21TB RAID 5. The Motion Compensated Solo HD provides the highest broadcast quality standards conversion using phase correlation techniques to provide accurate motion vectors on a per pixel basis to enable the smoothest frame rate conversion possible. SAMMAsolo is also available as an SD version.
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AFRICA |
Reports by Martin Chemhere
Zimbabwean film goes global Issues resulting from interracial marriages form the backbone of a new Zimbabwean comedy drama. The recent UK launch and world première of The In-Laws, written and directed by Zimbabwean born Demetria Karongah, took place at the University of Bedfordshire and was presented by Sahara Movies in association with GMC Pictures. Described as a hilarious comedy drama, The In-Laws reveals Karongah’s creative maturity and marks her entry as a new voice in the African-diaspora film industry. Karongah herself features in the movie alongside Ashley Majaya, Julie Ann Burleton and King Alfred. “The film took 11 months to put together and the script went through numerous drafts to make sure it was an objective account of the popular custom,” explains Karongah. She elaborates that the film revolves around the clash of beliefs and differences of opinion that result from interracial marriages. It seeks to provoke dialogue to
bridge the gap. The film shows an elderly couple travelling from Africa to Europe for the first time to attend the graduation ceremony of their daughter. A culture shock awaits the conservative couple at the hands of their European daughter-inlaw who is married to their only son. The elderly couple dismisses their daughter-in-law as ‘a good for nothing’ and the mother stops at nothing to make sure she dissolves her son’s marriage. In the process she faces the wrath of the daughter-in-law who is determined to hang on to her husband. The daughter-in-law also has to contend with her sister-in-law, an ambitious, two-faced woman who has mastered the art of fuelling commotion while appearing to be a saint. She thrives on making her brother’s situation look horrendous in her parents’ eyes and deliberately pushes her African parents to the edge in order to fix her Caucasian
Ethiopian films infiltrate the south
audience members began to question the decisions of the characters.”
Cast Abay vs Vegas stars Solomon Bogale, Theodros Teshome, Blen Mamo and Rekik Teshome. Bogale (Negus) is a leading actor in the Ethiopian film industry. He plays a character in a popular local television drama and is currently starring in several Ethiopian films. Theodros Teshome (Salsawi) has acted in Fikir Seferd and Red Mistake. Blen Mamo (Menna) plays her first major film role. Rekik Teshome (Hanna) is among the most popular actresses in the Ethiopian film industry and has starred in several major local releases such as Yewondoch Guday and Pendulum.
Beyond the directorial exploits of Ethiopian film legend Solomon Bekele (Aster), very little is known about Ethiopian film in southern Africa. The recent opening in Kensington, Johannesburg, of a new cinema house dedicated to Ethiopian films looks set to change the situation.
Desperate measures
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE – A scene from Abay vs Vegas
The Abyssinia Cinema, owned by Ethiopian Jerry Bebela, opened with a screening of the Ethiopian feature film Abay vs Vegas, a dramedy about family love, deceit, determination and dreams from established Ethiopian director Theodros Teshome, who also appears in the film. It is produced by his company Sebastopol Entertainment PL / Teddy Studios. Time will tell whether the screening has spawned an interesting era for not only the Ethiopian community but also enthusiasts of the pan-African genre. 46 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
sister-in-law to her own advantage. A struggling Zimbabwe-born music producer is thrown into the mix. He is a father of three children, all with different women. The music producer drops the conventional African way in favour of another culture to suit his new identity and lives off unemployment benefits. Karongah states that throughout the unpredictable scenes in the film the parents and children are locked in a destructive debate on customary family and marital ideals. “The film also cleverly highlights the clash of beliefs when Africa meets Europe,” she adds. Set in the UK, The In-Laws was shot in English with some sequences in the Shona language. This is Karongah’s second film following her debut movie Thorns, in which she also appeared. This 2010 release won her the Best Up-Coming Female award at the UK-organised
Certainly no African filmmaker doubts that South Africa is an ideal launch pad and a sustainable market for good quality films from around the continent. The Johannesburg screening of Abay vs Vegas was presided over by Sebatopol Entertainment’s production manager, Samuel Demiss. He says: “It was interesting to watch the reaction of some audience members. They laughed of course but as the film took a more serious turn some of the
The film’s narrative revolves around Menna, a beautiful woman from the town of Bahir Dahr, home of Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile. Menna is desperate to leave Ethiopia for another country to cure her brother’s eye disorder. She is willing to do whatever it takes to reach America, including marrying a complete stranger to obtain a visa. By chance she meets the womanising Salsawi, a diasporan Ethiopian from Las Vegas, US, who is visiting Bahir Dahr with the intention of building a school for underprivileged children. Menna marries Salsawi and patiently
THE TAStE OF SUCCESS – Demetria Karongah
ZAFAA African FILM Festival and Academy Awards (2011). Currently on release in the UK, The In-Laws will have its summer premiere in Zimbabwe, followed by a theatrical release and worldwide DVD distribution. “The most effective distribution networks are still being assessed but it is likely that we will prioritise the African communities at home and abroad since they form the primary audience for the film,” concludes Karongah. waits for the US Embassy to approve her status as his wife. In the meantime she rethinks her priorities and meets the proud Negus, a typical Ethiopian farmer from the Bahir Dahr area. Negus becomes a reality check for Menna and causes her to re-examine her marriage with Salsawi. Abay is the name that Ethiopians currently give to the Nile River. Menna must choose between Bahir Dahr, the closest town to the source of the Blue Nile, or the man-made marvel in the US, Las Vegas. Like many Ethiopians Menna is tempted to go to the US or other countries in pursuit of material wealth.
Production According to Demiss, the film was shot on a RED One camera with Hollywood production standards. “We were lucky to have internationally acclaimed DOP Matthias Schubert, who has worked on several Hollywood productions. We shot in the Ethiopian locations of Bahir Dahr and Addis Ababa and in Las Vegas, for about six months. “Abay vs Vegas is a strictly Ethiopian story and written from the local perspective which authenticates the story,” explains Demiss. He notes that after its release in early 2011, the film became the country’s first Ethiopian production to open simultaneously all around the country in 18 different locations. The countrywide broadcast of the film’s première was also ground-breaking with performances by several musicians who appear on the movie’s soundtrack. The world famous and legendary Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie headlined the celebrity brigade that attended the event.
June 2012 | RATINGS & STATS This monthly feature selects prominent local productions and ranks them in terms of audience ratings (ARs). Selected foreign programmes are shown only for comparison. ARs are weighted over the period of transmission and the number of transmissions during the calendar month. Data is supplied by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and processed by Interactive Market Systems (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd.
Audience Ratings
M-Net Rank Programme 1 Carte Blanche 2 Bad Teacher 3 Thor 4 Fair Game 5 Idols SA e.tv Rank Programme 1 3 Ninjas Kick Back 2 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up 3 Rhythm City 4 3 Ninjas High Noon at Mega Mountain 5 Lotto Draw Live
Date Genre 20/06/2012 Soap 21/06/2012 Soap 15/06/2012 Sport 21/06/2012 Dram 20/06/2012 Soap
Date Genre 03/06/2012 Actu 24/06/2012 Movi 10/06/2012 Movi 03/06/2012 Movi 03/06/2012 Real
Date 02/06/2012 09/06/2012 07/06/2012 16/06/2012 16/06/2012
Genre Movi Movi Dram Movi Comp
AR 6.9 6.3 6.2 5.1 4.9
AR 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0
AR 13.2 13.2 12.7 12.6 12.5
We feature the top five shows viewed for each of the channels.
May 2012 AR
SABC3 Rank Programme 1 Isidingo:The Need 2 Days of Our Lives 3 Bafana Bafana vs Gabon 4 Macgyver 5 7de Laan – R
June 2012 AR
AR 13.1 10.9 10.2 9.0 8.9
Channel
Date Genre 05/06/2012 Dram 24/06/2012 Sitc 05/06/2012 Vari 07/06/2012 Soap 29/06/2012 Dram
Frequency
SABC2 Rank Programme 1 Muvhango 2 Stokvel 3 Powerball 4 7de Laan 5 Bophele Ke Semphego III
Day/s
AR 23.2 17.0 15.0 14.4 12.5
3 Talk
Talk
15:30
M-F
S5
3
2.8
2.8
3rd Degree
Actu
21:30
Tue
W
e
3.8
5.0
7de Laan
Soap
18:30
M-F
S5
2
7.6
7.8
Binneland
Dram 18:30 M-F S5 K
Carte Blanche
Maga 19:00
Sun
W M
1.2
1.0
Fokus
Actu
Sun
W
4.5
4.3
Generations
Soap 20:00 M-F S5 1 20.8 21.8
Gospel Gold
Musi
Inkaba
Dram 20:30 M-F S5 MM 0.3 0.3
Isidingo:The Need
Soap
18:30
M-F
S5
3
5.7
4.7
Jam Alley
Vari
18:30
Fri
W
1
6.3
6.6
Live Lotto Draw
Quiz
21.30
W/S S2
2
7.7
5.5
Morning Live
Maga 06:00
M-F
2
1.6
1.7
Muvhango
Dram 21:00 M-T S4 2
9.9 10.0
News at Seven
News 19:00
Daily D
e
7.5
8.2
News at Seven on 3
News 19:00
Daily D
3
2.9
3.0
Pasella
Maga 19:30 W W 2 4.0 4.4
Rhythm City
Soap
Scandal
Dram 19:30 M-T S4 e
8.7 9.3
Selimathunzi
Vari 18:30 Wed W 1
5.1 6.0
Special Assignment
Actu
21:00
Thu
W
3
1.3
1.5
The Wild
Dram 19:00
M-F
S5
M
0.1
0.1
Top Billing
Maga 20:00
Tue
W
2
2.7
2.7
Villa Rosa
Dram 18:00
M-T
S4
K
0.7
0.8
Yo-TV
Y-Ent Vari Vari D e 1.7 1.8
Name
Date Genre 21/06/2012 Soap 18/06/2012 Dram 05/06/2012 Dram 01/06/2012 Dram 15/06/2012 News
Start Time
The cream of the local productions Genre
The top five programmes
SABC1 Rank Programme 1 Generations 2 Zone 14 3 Montana 4 Tshisa 5 Zulu News
18:30
Sun
M-F
W
S5
S5
2
e
4.9
5.0
11.2 11.7
Days of Our Lives
Soap
17:10
M-F
S5
1
4.8
5.1
WWE Wrestling Smackdown
Spor
20:30
W
W
e
6.0
5.6
The Bold and the Beautiful
Soap
18:00
M-F
S5
1
7.1
7.1
• Television Universe estimated at 5.232 million households. • One ratings point of all viewers represents about 145 590 viewers
The Collective Dream laboratory in Cape Town and the FILM LAB @ Media Film Service have chosen not to release statistics at this stage. The Johannesburg lab is still busy with Long Walk to Freedom, and will be going into September with this feature. In this period two 35mm commercials were processed, one 16mm commercial and one short film. Bulk printing reveals that two features were printed (Expendables 11 and Die Wonderwerker). There were also seven commercials printed for cinema. Media Move reports that they did 1031 transfers of commercials in July, which is up on the previous month, while Adstream reports 780 transers – the same as last month. We would like to thank the Johannesburg laboratory, Media Move and Adstream for the information they have supplied to us.
Vari
2
Top foreign shows
Key: Day/s refers to the day or days of the week the programme is transmitted. Frequency refers to how often it is transmitted D=Daily, W=Weekly, S (followed by a number) indicates a series of that number of episodes. Key to genres: Actu: Actuality, Docu: Documentary, Dram: Drama, Educ: Education, Maga: Magazine, Musi: Music, News: News, Quiz: Game Show, Real: Real life, Reli: Religion, Sitc: Sitcom, Soap: Soap, Spor: Sport, Vari: Variety, Y.Ent: Youth Entertainment,
Film Lab Stats
18:30
0.9 1.0
The above represents a selection of programmes only, and is calculated on the total calendar month’s weighted average of the total audience over all age groups. If you want a particular programme included please contact Enid Venter on +27 (0)11 339-1051 or email enid@ihjoburg.co.za. The purpose of the schedule is to show the types of programmes South African audiences view, and to what extent.
Statistics for July 2012 Through the labs: Johannesburg Features 1
Shorts Commercials 1 2
Doccies 16mm 35mm 0 2 2
Commercials submitted to broadcasters via: Media Move: 1 030
Adstream: 780
We make no attempt to identify the title of the production, or the production house or any other information as this is often confidential information – we supply simply the numbers. We rely on the co-operation of broadcasters, suppliers of commercial material to broadcasters and local film laboratories for information however at the moment local broadcasters are not forthcoming in providing these vital statistics. Efforts will continue to be made to build on this statistical data base in order to improve the accuracy, and should readers have comments or other ideas in terms of statistic gathering, please send an e-mail to web@screenafrica.com. Your comments would be appreciated. September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 47
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Those productions in red are newly listed this month Production Updates Order of Information 1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre
IN DEVELOPMENT
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SERVICES INCLUDE FINAL MIX SOUND DESIGN COMPOSING & ARRANGING M U S I CA L D I R E CT I O N FO R C O R P O R AT E E V E N T S ADDRESS M i n i st r y O f I l l u s i o n B lo c k D S to n ewe d g e O f f i ce Pa r k N o 1 We d g ewo o d L i n k R d B r ya n sto n , J h b , 2 0 2 1
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80 MINUTES Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Drama AFRICAN NIGHTS Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker A LION IN THE BEDROOM Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature AMABHUBESI Inkwasi Television Prod: Bell Curle TV Magazine AMKA CORPORATE Panache Video Productions Exec Prod: Haroon Kalla Corporate At The Creek Without A Paddle Zen Crew Exec prod: Laura Tarling Documentary BAD MEDICINE Tin Rage TV Production Dir: Enver Samuel Documentary Bagged Izithulu Productions Exec Prod: Donovan Mulligan / Mike Westcott Short Film BLAST FROM THE PAST Sirius Films Prod: Ian Manly Documentary BODA BODA THIEVES Yes That’s Us Prod: James Tayler Feature BREAD AND WATER Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Documentary BREAKDOWN Bollysamo Pictures / Apeiro Productions Prod Man: Carolyn Gregorowski Feature CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature CHILDREN OF FAMOUS ACTIVISTS Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Film CHILLI CHICKS International Radio Pictures, Inc Kit Reynolds TV series COILED DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature CONSERVATION & BEYOND SuitePeople TVP Prod: Bell Curle Documentary DAISY Bamboo Media (PTY) LTD Dir: Marguelette Louw Feature Film do good design south africa Concept Interaction Producer: Karl Fedderke Educational ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION Gaonakgang Film Productions and Publications Writ: George Phuthiyagae Documentary ESCAPE Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Beata Lipman Feature Film Ex Pats Current Affrairs Films / French Connection Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Drama series
FOR THE NEW CITY – DANCE ON FILM SWiTCH / Resonance Bazar Prods: James Tayler / Julia Raynham Film FORSAKEN DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature Genius Inhlakanipo Films Dir: Dumisani Vusi Nhlapo Short Film GOUE STERRE Suite People TVP Prod: Bell Curle TV Series GRIZMEK Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature HISTORICAL KIMBERLEY Spike Productions Prod: Steve Mueller Bsc. Documentary IIQ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature IK1 – TOURISTS IN DANGER Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Inventing Africa Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving Documentary JAN SMUTS: AN INTERNATIONAL ICON AHEAD OF HIS TIME Tekweni TV production Prod / Dir: Sandra Herrington / Neville Herrington Documentary KADU’S JOURNEY DO Productions Prods: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature DYINGCRACY Sabstance Productions Producer: Edmund Mhlongo Documentary LEARNER TEACHERS Curious Pictures SABC Comedy Series LION GIRL DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën TV Feature Lonely Planet Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature MHLONGO Inhlakanipho Films Dir / Writer – Dumisani Vusi Nnhlapo Feature MUTI DOT MOBI Vuleka Productions. Prod / Dir: Julie Frederikse / Madoda Ncayiyana . Feature Film NEW BEGINNINGZ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhanhla Ncube Documentary Nongoloza Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Palace of the Faithless Production Company: White Heron Pictures Dir: Themba Sibeko Feature PASSARES (BIRDISH) White Heron Pictures / Casa De Criacao Cinema Prod: Themba Sibeko Feature RAF INDUCTION VIDEO Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate ROAD ACCIDENT FUND INDUCTION Panache Video Productions Dir: Liesel Eiselen Corporate SEBOKENG MPA (Motswako) Dir: Charls Khuele / Zuko Nodada Feature SHORT BUSINESS FEATURE WITH BBC / ABC Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Short Business Features SUPERMAMA GoogelPlex Productions Dir: Karen van Schalkwyk Feature
SWANK! International Radio Pictures Prod: D Gillard Musical The Black Blonde Steve Radebe Post Productions Prod:Steve Radebe Feature Film tHE blood kIng and the red dragon Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Mtutuzeli Matshoba Feature THE CONSEQUENCE DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature THE EDGE International Radio Pictures Kit Reynolds TV Series THE FILM MAKER Elle Bolt Productions Prod: Elle Bolt Reality Series The Scores Are In Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Game Show / Entertainment Series VULTURE KILLING FIELDS SuitePeople TVP Bell Curle Documentary WAY TO ROLL Blue Ice Productions Dir:Freddie Strauss Feature WARD 22 AKA SPECIAL OPS DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Documentary Welcome To The Club Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature ZERO DIET Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature ZEBRAS DO Productions Dir: Bruce Beresford Feature ZEN FILM CREW MANAGEMENT ZEN Film Crew Management Prod / Dir: Laura Tarling Commercial
PRE-PRODUCTION Chabela Day Spa Grey Cloud Production Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video Die Verhaal van Racheltjie de Beer Brett Michael Innes Films Producer: Brett Michael Innes Historical feature film Elegy: forsaken in South Africa Market Street Productions Prod: Paul Van Zyl Short film Holidays for Madmen Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving TV Series IMATU UNION VIDEO FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video LET HEAVEN WAIT Revolution real entertainment Prod/Dir: Deon Potgieter Sitcom Mandela Synergy Films Drama / Documentary MASTERS OF DREAMS Current Affairs Films / Hambrook Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Documentary MISTIFY Gleam studios/ Wilddogs productions Prod/Dir: Sonja Ter Horst / Johnny Swanepoel Independent short film NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SOUTH AFRICA Panache Video Productions Prod/Dir: Liesel Eiselen Genre: Corporate. ONE LAST LOOK Fireworx Media Pruducer: Dan Jawitz / Philip Roberts Feature
P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S PSALTED Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Variety RATE MY PLATE International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project Si-solutions International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project SAFE IN THE CITY Imani Media Comedy SLENDER WONDER INFORMATION VIDEO Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video TALK OF THE TOWN SuitePeople TV Productions Bell Curle TV Series The Black Out Dithakeng Projects and Flms Exec Prods: Thabang Nkunyane Short Film THE LOST ANGEL Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Dumisani Nhlapo Feature Film TO CARE FOR YOU ALWAYS Noble Pictures Prod: Claudia Noble Short Film TRUE DREAM South African Great Movies Production Dir: John Wani Feature THE MESSENGER Spirit Word Ministries/Footprint Media Academy Exec Prod: Annalise Van Rensburg Series THICK SKIN Media Navigation Prod / Dir: Dan Akinlolu Feature Film VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films PM: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video WAY TO FREEDOM Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker Feature film
IN PRODUCTION 3 Talk Urban Brew Talk Show 3RD DEGREE e.tv Investigative TV series 50 50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs A 400 year old bestseller – The King James Version of the Bible Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE 5 Endemol South Africa Reality ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI SAFETY SERIES SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Sean Gardiner Corporate ABC AMERICA NEWS SPECIAL ON MANDELA Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature News Special AFRICA FACTS SEASON 3 Lebapi Productions Dir: Daniel Moleabatsi TV Magazine AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music Show AFRO SHOWBIZ NEWS SABC News International Exec Prod: Jody-Layne Surtie TVMagazine AFROX AFRICA INSIGHT EPS 4 FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX YEAREND RESULT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video Agape Gabaza Productions Prod: Sarah Ngubeni Magazine
Alex: A history from below Uhuru Productions Dir: Rehad Desai Documentary ALL ACCESS Homebrew Films Prods: Paul Venter/ Hannes van Wyk / Tammy Anne Fortuin Magazine Show AMBUSH ALLEY NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary ANIMAL COMMUNICATION NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Awesome Africa Steplite Films Dir: Jacqui Logie Tv Series barbour and thorne: 60 years strong Our Time Productions Dir: Juan de Meilon Corporate Video BBC PLANET EARTH LIVE Wild Images Dir: James Smith, Tim Scoones, Roger Webb Documentary BINNELAND Stark Films Dir: Danie Joubert TV Drama Bopsy Bunny Firefly Animation Prod: Ant Steel Animation Short Bonisanani Kagiso TV Talk Show BOPSY BUNNY Firefly Animation Studio Exec Prod: Antony Steel Short Films Carte Blanche (inserts) Modern Times Prods: S Phirippides / J Pienaar Documentary Child Geniuses Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Prod: Paul Llewellyn Documentary Series Club Culture Bonngoe Productions Prod: Tumi Rabanye Variety DINEO’S DIARY: A MOGUL IN THE MAKING New Vision Pictures and S2 Multimedia Exec prod: Dineo Ranaka Reality The Communist Republic of South Africa Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary Codesign – commercial spot for furniture designers SWiTCH Dir – James Tayler Commercial Cooking With Siba Prod: Siba Mtongana Variety Cool Cats Red Pepper Exec Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films PM: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video Come Dine with Me South Africa Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality Cutting Edge SABC News Current Affairs DADDY’S MESS Dzunde Productions Prod: Thandiwe Mashiyane TV Sitcom DIE VIERDE KABINET Jan Scholtz Productions Prod: Jan Scholtz Series DIY Met Riaan Prods: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Magazine Programme Freeway Frog Firefly Animation Prod: Ant Steel Animation Short FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Palesa Mopeli Variety
GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Exec Prod: Mfundi Vundla Soapie GNLD AFRICA CONVENTION FC Hamman Films Prod: FC Hamman Corporate Video Gospel GOLD Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Music Show GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife HEAVEN – Africa Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Hectic 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine Show THE DR. MOL SHOW Prods: Michael Mol Magazine HOUSE CALL Izwe Multimedia / Urban Brew Series Prod: Annalie Potgieter Live Medical Talk Show Imizwilili Ukhamba Communications Music Inkaba Urban Brew Studios Prod: John Kani Telenovela INSIDE STORY Curious Pictures / Discovery Channel Dir: Rolie Nikiwe Feature ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Dirs: Raymond Sargent / Johnny Barbazano Daily TV Drama IT’S MY BIZ Urban Brew Studios Reality business makeover series JOU SHOW MET EMO en Wickus Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Variety Show Judge For You Self eNews Current Affairs Laugh out Loud Exec Prod: Rapulana Seiphemo Comedy Khumbul’ekhaya Urban Brew Prod: Enel Viljoen Reality Live Urban Brew Music Show Live Lotto Show Urban Brew Game Show Maggs on Media eNews Prod: Jeremy Maggs Current Affairs MASSMART CSI REPORT SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Roxanne Rolando/Sean Gardiner Corporate Million Dollar Race Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature MK Campus Homebrew Films Prods: Jaco Loubser / Ben Heyns Student Show MOFEREFERE LENYALONG Moja Movie Factory Sitcom Montana 2 Penguin Films Exec Prods: Roberta Durrant Drama Series MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Vesko Mrdjen Talk Show MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane TV Magazine MZANSI LOVE Fireworx Media Dirs: Myrto Makrides, Mmabatho Montsho, Neo Ntlantleng, Zamo Mkhwanazi Anthology series Music Moves Me Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Music Show
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News Night eNews Prods: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs NIGCOMSAT – TELEVISION COMMERCIAL SERIES SWiTCH Prod: Sarah Wanjiku Muhoho Commercial Nomzamo Tom Pictures / Authentic Images Comedy ONS MENSE Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Current Affairs OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Corporate Film PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Insert Dirs: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer TV Magazine Programme
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PEACE PARKS NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson/ Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series Phoenix Rising...The Business of Style Phoenix Entertainment and Production Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Reality Docu-tainment POPCRU 7TH CONGRESS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Event POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport – Martial Arts & Combat Project MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Video Religion and the ANC Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 49
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RHYTHM CITY Curious Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie RHYTHM CITY INTERACTIVE Curious Pictures / e.tv Prod: Viva Liles-Wilkin Interactive Platform Media Rivoningo Asi-B Films Exec Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Kids ROCKING FUTURE Summertime Productions Prods: Sean Gardiner / Tanya Vandenberg Educational Video ROER Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Cooking Show Roots Ukhamba Communications Music Show SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER Dirk Mostert Camera Production Dir: Dirk Mostert Talk Show SANPARKS YOUTH & PARKS Francois Odendaal Productions Prod/Dir: Francois Odendaal Genre: Natural History TV Series SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod/Dir: Kee –Leen Irvine Reality SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Series Prod: Romano Gorlei Daily TV Soap SELIMATUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira variety series Ses’khona Tswelopele Productions Prod: Phuthi Ngwenya Magazine SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety Shift Urban Brew Talk show S.I.E.S (SOCIAL IMPACT AND EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY) Penguin Films Dirs: Roberta Durrant and James Ngcobo Sitcom SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Vuyo Sokupa Variety Siyakholwa – We Believe X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment SKETCH U LATER Chris Morris Productions Dir: Genna Lewis Comedy series Soccer 411 Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Magazine
Soccer zone SABCSports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine Sony Presents Mgongo Sony Variety Spirit Sundae New Wave Productions Prod: Mishkah Roman-Cassiem Spiritual STRANDED NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary STUDIO 53 M-Net Inhouse Productions Insert Dir: Navan Chetty Mag Programme TASOL “Old Geezer” Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Commercial The B-Ball Show SABC Commissioning Ed: Dinah Mahlabegoane Variety The Chat Room Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show The Cypher Spoon Fed Generation Lerato Letebele Talk show The Justice Factor eNews Exec Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs THE RUDIMENTALS Periphery Films Prod: Simon Taylor Feature Documentary THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary The Tech Report Greenwall Productions Exec Prod: Nicky Greenwall Magazine THE WILD Magic Factory Exec Prod: Bobby Heaney Daily TV Soap TRANSFORMATION STORIES Media Village Productions Dir: Diane Vermooten Documentary THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary THERE ARE NO HEROES AFDA Cape Town Dir: Kyle Stevenson Science Fiction TOP BILLING Tswelopele Productions Prod: Patience Stevens TV Magazine Top 10 at 10 Don’t Look Down Radio/TV Simulcast TOUCHING THE DRAGON NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary
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Turn It Out Fuel Media Productions Dir: Ben Brewster Dance Reality show Verraaiers (Traitors) White Heron Pictures/Film Factory / Bos Bok Ses Films / Spier Films Dir: Paul Eihlers Drama VKB BRANDING LAUNCH FC Hamman Films Prod: FC Hamman Corporate Video VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dirs: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit TV Drama WEEKEND LIVE SABC News Current Affairs When The World Was Here Fuel Media Productions Dir: Mzilikazi Kumalo Documentary Series Why are We so Angry? Fuel Media Productions Dir: Scott Smith, Shaft Moropane Documentary Series Why Poverty? STEPS International Exec Prod: Don Edkins Documentary Series Wicket to Wicket SABC3 Lefa Afrika Magazine Workers World Series Cape Town Television Prod: Sharon McKinnon TV Series WORLDSOUTH Leago Afrikan Arts Foundation Dir: Sakhile Gumbi Documentary Xihlovo Grace Bible Church Religion Yilengelo Lakho Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs Zone 14 The Bomb Shelter Prod: Angus Gibson Drama
POST-PRODUCTION 4LIFE NETWORK Bragge Film& TV Dir: Guy Bragge Infomercials A BUSHMAN ODYSSEY Onetime Films Prod: Richard Wicksteed Documentary AFRICA CALLING Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX SHEQ INDUCTION FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercial ALL’S FAIR PianoJ Productions Prod: Pia van Rensburg Short Film AMBASSADOR II Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Animal Doctor (Working Title) Animal Doctor cc. Prods: Greg Simpson, Jonty Acton TV Series Bally Cullen Guesthouse Ad Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Bitter Root Imageworks Dir: Kerry Negara Documentary BLITZ PATROLLIE Diprente Films Prod: Kagiso Lediga Feature BUA NNETE Owami Entertainment Dir: Charles Khuele Short Film Calafornia: Valley Christian School Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary
P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S DEAR SISTER Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Short Film DRAGON’S FEAST 3D NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary ERFSONDES Imani Media Dir: Peter Heaney TV Drama Freedom Park installations Kevin Harris Productions Dir: Nadiva Schraibman Documentary FROM GUN TO TAPE Content House/Shadow Films Producer / Director: Jackie Lebo/David Forbes Documentary GETROUD MET RUGBY SEASON 4 Bottom Line Productions Dir: Jozua Malherbe Series HARTLAND Bottomline Entertainment / Fix Post Production Michael Modena TV Drama Hong Kong Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary INTEL HISTORY Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Corporate IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature Israel Inside (Working Title) Imagination Productions / Wayne Kopping Films Dir: Wayne Kopping Documentary Kemang? lmol Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature Film JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions,Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary Launch of the Academy of Young SA Scientists Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Documentary LIFE UNDER THE FLAG Lifeundertheflag.Com Prod: Prince Angelo Doyle Documentary LION’S TRACK Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature LOVE ABOVE ALL Firstfruits media Dir: Nthabiseng Gamede Feature Film MARRY – ANN Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary Melodi Jazz Festival 2011 L Dukashe Productions Dir: Lumko Dukashe Live Concert DvD MICROSOFT 365 Bragge film & TV Dir-Guy Bragge Corporate National Heritage Council Educational Outreach Programme Panache Video Productions Exec Prod: Amos Mlaudzi Corporate PERFECT SHISHEBO Curious Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena AFP – Cooking Show PURPLE TOWN Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary RESTYLE MY STYLE Curious Pictures Prod: Anita van Hemert Children’s Programming River of Stones Prod: Wiseman Mabusela Documentary SA JUNIOR MASTERS Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Series on SuperSport SCAREDYKAT Dirty Soul Productions Dir: Kyle Lewis Horror Feature Film
SCHOOL E-WASTE INITIATIVE/ DESCO/ INCREDIBLE CONNECTION Philip Schedler Productions Prod: Philip Schedler Corporate SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video South african Field Band Foundation Championships Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Documentary STETSON HATS Fourth Dimension Films / Creative Photo Services Dir: Neil Hermann Corporate Stolen Time Prod: Eric Myeni Feature Tanzanian Investment Opportunities Benchmark Productions Dir: Dermod Judge Corporate Technology Innovation Agency CEO Address Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Technorati Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Dir: Maxine Nel Technology Magazine Show The Animal Communicator NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary TO THE POWER OF ANNE FX Productions Prod / Dir: Robert Haynes TV Series TREASURE GUARDS Tandem Communications Exec Prod: Jonas Bauer / Rola Bauer Feature Triple O Monarchy Prod: Mosibudi Pheeha Feature TRUE DREAM ( Revised Version) South African Great Movies Production Dir: John Wani Feature Film Vallejo Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Corporate Vehicle 19 Forefront Media Group / Pictue Tree / The Safran Company Exec Prod: Paul Walker Feature VERITAS Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Documentary VIENNA BOYS’ CHOIR MUSIC STUDY TOUR SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Tanya Vandenberg Corporate WALKING IN VICTOR’S SHOES Current Affairs Films SA Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Documentary WELLBODI BIZNES Plexus Films / Four Corners Media Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Documentary WOLWEDANS IN DIE SKEMER The Film Factory Dir: Jozua Malherbe Movie ZION Letcosmart Prod: Zibusiso Nkomo Feature
COMPLETE AFRICA CALLING Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature AFRI-INFRA OVERVIEW 2010 Panache Video Productions Dir: Adele de Klerk Corporate AFROX AFRICA INSIGHT EPS 3 FC Hamman Films PM: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video All the president’s ELEPHANTS NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary
Angels Of The Sky CDS-Films Exec Prods: Chris Dos Santos, Andrew MacDonald Feature Film AYESAN – FIGHT TO LOSE SMS Multimedia Inc Dir: Seyi Specialborn Akanbi Feature AWOYE – RETRIBUTION Sms Multimedia Line Prod: Temitope Akanbi Feature CHAMELEON NHU Africa Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary CHEETAH DIARIES 3 NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Child On-Line Protection Week Imageworks Dir: Anthony Irving TV ad CHINESE SCHOOL, PRETORIA Video clip productions/Panache video productions. Prod/ dir Rudi Kruger/Liesel Eiselen. Corporate. DANGEROUS TRAILS – ELEPHANTS IN THE MINEFIELDS NHU Africa Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Dept of Social Development Congress FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Three-day corporate event DUMISANI FILM TOUR Creative Pictures / Genius Productions Dir: Vusi Dumisani Nhlapo Documentary ENDANGERED NHU Africa Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series Evocative AfricaVentures of Discovery Clifton Publications Gerald Cubitt Photographic book publication FIRESTONE Street Smart Creative DOP: Peter Palmer Commercial Food with Friends Studio Republic Prod: Darren Kerr Talk Show Free State Balloon Fiesta Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving Corporate JAM ALLEY CREW VS CREW SEASON 2 Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Melody Xaba Music Reality Competition GLAMOUR – THE REALITY BEHIND DREAMS ZG Films Prod: Javed Jafferji Feature GULUVA BIP Films Dir: BI Phakathi Feature Film I Am Woman – Leap of Faith Plexus Films and Lisa Chait Prod: L Groenewald, M Redelinghuys, L Chait Television Series IMATU 3 DAY CONGRESS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Three-day Corporate Event Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference Jerusalemonlineu Prod: Raphael Shore Documentary JOURNEY TO STATE HOUSE ZG Films Prod: Javed Jafferji Documentary JOURNEY INTO WILDERNESS Tekweni TV Productions Prod: Sandra Herrington Documentary KAN EK SO LEEF Liquid Gate Creative Studios Prod: Kobus Swart Music Video Ke mo fumane StreTalk Productions Bobby Mokhema TV drama KING NAKI Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Documentary
Events | SEPTEMBER 15 – 23
Creative Week Cape Town
Cape Town www.theloerieawards.co.za/
18 – 23
Africa in The Picture Film Festival
Amsterdam http://africainthepicture.nl 21 – 23
The 34Th Annual Loerie Awards
Cape Town www.theloerieawards.co.za/default.aspx?link=awards_background
OCTOBER 1–4
SABA AGM
Namibia 5 – 7
Colchester Film Festival 2012
Colchester, United Kingdom www.colchesterfilmfestival.com
13 – 21
Fcat Córdoba African Film Festival
Spain www.fcat.es/FCAT_en/
18 – 21
Photo and Film Expo 2012
The Coca Cola Dome, Northgate, Johannesburg www.photofilmexpo.com/ 18 – 28
15th UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival)
Palo Alto, Stanford University, East Palo Alto and San Francisco www.unaff.org/2012/ 19 – 21
Citizen Jane Film Festival
Columbia, Missouri www.citizenjanefilm.org/
22 – 28
Short Films In Competition
Cape Town www.sustainourafrica.org
25 – 2 Nov Africa in Motion Film Festival
Edinburgh 30 – 31
IP&TV Me and North Africa 2012
Dubai http://iptv-mea.com/
31 – 2 Nov Discop Africa
Johannesburg www.discop.com/ci/pages/show/da7_index_en
27 – 28
My Content
Dubai www.mycontent.ae/
NOVEMBER
27 – 6 Dec Cairo International Film Festival
Egypt www.cairofilmfest.org/
Lepelle Northern Water SummerTime Productions Prod: Sean Gardiner Corporate Lepelle Water Safety Induction SummerTime Productions Exec prod: Elaine Tribe Corporate MENTALIST MARTIAL ARTS Panache Video Productions Dir: Ryan Blumenthal Training Mutshenzhe Dzivha Production Exec Prod: Walter Gumbu Feature Film My Perfect family Bunt Onion Productions Prod: Rethabile Ramaphakela Comedy NATIONAL HERITAGE COUNCIL EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMME Pananche Video Productions Documentary PASEKA EASTER ELEPHANT NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary PROGRESS Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor Feature Documentary ROCKING FUTURE Summertime Productions Prod: Sean Gardiner / Tanya Vandenberg Educational Video SAVING RHINO PHILA NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Shoprite Showcase SummerTime Productions Exec prod: Janine Truter Corporate SUZUKI “ Braveheart” Bragge film & tv Dir: Guy Bragge Commercial Sweet Serinity Our Time Productions Dir: Juan de Meillon Corprate
TASTE OF RAIN Luna Films / On Land Productions Prods: Bridget Pickering / Richard Pakleppa Feature TERMINATRYX – “Midnight” (The Awakening Remix) Flamedrop Productions Prods: Paul André Blom, Sonja Ruppersberg Music Video TIMELAPSE Team GR8 (for 48 HFP) Writers: Carl Roddam / Deon van der Merwe Short Film THE BETRAYAL Shakarny Inovations Prod: James Kingston Feature THE MEDUPI WAY Panache Video Productions Exec Prod: Adele De Klerk Corporate TOUCHING LIVES SEASON 2 GHANA Launch Factory Dir: Spero Patricios TV Series Supreme Launch Video (Joe Public) Fuel Media Productions Dir: Paul Llewellyn Corporate VISCOUNT DOWN Msasa Enterprises Dir: Harmon Cusack Feature WEC Projects Corporate Video PSP Productions Dir: Philip Schedler Corporate YOUR LOVE NEVER FAILS: FRED DE MEILLON Our Time Productions Dir: Juan de Meillon Corprate ZAMA ZAMA Kokamoya Productions Prod: Bertus van der Walt Feature
Screen Africa relies on accuracy of information received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. E-mail production updates to: online@screenafrica.com September 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 51
Social | Villa Rosa 1 500 episodes celebration
AFDA Durban Launch
Producer Johan van der Vyver, and line producer Marna Gey van Pittius
Harald Richter, Lieb Bester and Jana Nortier M-Net Head of Afrikaans Channels, Karen Meiring, with commissioning editors for kykNET, Marida Swanepoel and Janine Opperman
Therese Benade, Harald Richter, Jana Nortier, David Louw and Marcus Muller
Jana Nortier, a Villa Rosa competition winner and Jaco Vermeulen
Sanabelle Ebrahim and Mikhail Peppas
Applicants to the new campus
AFDA Durban’s marketing officer Milena Gevers with prospective student
AFDA’s Garth Holmes
SA’s Got Talent Media Launch
Alexia de Souza and Melissa Fredricks
Ipeleng Ndebele, Dambisa Maqoga and Seishane Leshaba
Gilda Narsimdas and Phakamani Mvelase
Kabelo and Fred Nyamukachi
Kabelo, Clint Brink, Shado Twala and Ian von Memerty
Lesley Mofokeng, Matla Ragoasha and Kabelo
Monde Twala
Big Brother StarGame Final
Big Brother winner Keagan with show host IK
Darryl Senekal, Liza Kleitman, Eileen Sandrock and Charles Povey
Lucky Bean Media launch
Pet Tasara, Lemo Mokwele, Zanele Ngwenya and Thabiso Mjo
Olufemi Ashipa and Roki Josphats
52 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2012
Chris Green, Unathi Msengana and Donald Clarke
Una Cupido, Nokubongwa Phengani, Clayton Morar, Mphume Madlala and Ona Thekisho
John B Wale and Sheila Pires
Teclar and Maneta
Advertisers List | Aces Up..........................................31
Monarchy........................................37
AJA Video Systems.......................17
MultiChoice DStv....... FDPS
Atlas Studios .................................49
Mushroom Media.............FC
Avmark Systems ..........................50
Obeco..............................................44
BlackGinger......................................3
Panasonic........................................15
Blackmagic Design..........................7
Promax BDA Africa.... OBC
Case Connection, The.................48
Pro-Sales.........................................45
Discop Africa.................. IBC
Puma Video........................48, 49, 50
Flic....................................................33
Sony..................................IFC
General Post..................................50
Spaghetti.TV...................................29
Howard Music ..............................48
Sphere Animation.........................35
IDC..................................................39
Telemedia........................................25
Jasco.................................................19
The First Day.................................38
LaserNet.........................................43
Upstairs Post Production............13
Macro Video...................................41
Vision Cases .................................50
M-Net TAG.......................................9
Wicked Pixels................................27
31 Octobre Novembre 2012 FILM &- 2TV MARKET SandtonCO-PRODUCTION Convention Center FORUM • Johannesburg CONFERENCE PROGRAM
The N°1 event dedicated to the commerce, the production and the distribution of multiscreen, television content across Africa
31 October - 2 November 2012 Sandton Convention Center Johannesburg VISIT DISCOPAFRICA.COM FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK.COM/DISCOPAFRICA HOTLINES LOS ANGELES +1 323 782 13 00
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