BROADCAST, FILM, TV, COMMERCIALS, NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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VOL 30 – May 2018 R38.00
| IN THIS ISSUE
20 Supa Modo – A Kenyan superhero film
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Rafiki is the first Kenyan film invited to premiere at Cannes
Cinematographer Rick Joaquim test drives the FUJIFILM X-H1 camera
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28 Southern Lighting Solutions lights up Germany’s biggest reality show
Colourist Donovan Bush shares his thoughts on DaVinci Resolve 14
NEWS | The Ladima Foundation set to present at ZIFF and DISCOP Zanzibar.................. 3 Rafiki is the first Kenyan film invited to premiere at Cannes................................ 4 Creating a film community in the Southern Peninsula........................... 6 Orange and Vivendi partner with CanalOlympia to make the big screen more accessible in Africa............... 7
TRAINING | Film schools in Africa: The future of the industry ..................... 22
TECHNOLOGY News | New Sommer Cable DVM-HDT-KIT to make HDMI testing effortless.............. 8 Teradek announces VidiU Go: Bonded cellular HEVC live streaming solution..... 9
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ADCETERA | Chicken Licken embraces AI and robotics in new TVC................... 10 All content strat needs to include short form video.................... 12 PROFILE | Ten years of Legend Manqele................. 13 CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES | Cinematographer Rick Joaquim test drives the FUJIFILM X-H1 camera........ 14 FILM | Director Speak: Legend Manqele........... 16 Grapefruit intertwines love and cannibalism.................................. 18 Supa Modo – A Kenyan superhero film......................... 20
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TELEVISION | Script2Screen Africa: Igniting positive transformation across the continent................................. 23 BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY | Botswana Television employs TSL Products’ advanced broadcast solutions................................... 24 NAB 2018: The year of Artificial Intelligence.................................. 27 LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES | Southern Lighting Solutions lights up Germany’s biggest reality show........ 28
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IPTV & OTT | An inside look at the meteoric rise of OTT and VOD services in Africa...... 30 Does OTT make sense for smaller broadcasters and media organisations?......................... 32 POST-PRODUCTION | Blade handles post and VR on Survivor SA........................................... 34 Colourist Donovan Bush shares his thoughts on DaVinci Resolve 14............ 36 REGULARS |
SOCIAL Screen Africa Golf Day 2018..........38 – 39 Marketplace................................................. 40 Upcoming Events....................................... 40
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From the editor
The Team Editor
As always in our May issue, following the muchanticipated NAB Show – which ran from 7 to 12 April 2018 – Screen Africa’s resident tech writer, Ian Dormer, presents his annual report back covering everything from product releases, conference strands, trends and themes. According to Ian, this year the main trends at NAB Show seemed to revolve around RGB lighting, large format cameras, and a “game changing codec”, whilst the conference sessions heavily favoured next-generation technologies, namely artificial intelligence, immersive media and cyber security. Read all about it on pages 26 and 27. It seems the African film industry is in somewhat of a revolt, what I mean by that is that we are finally saying ‘’NO” to discriminatory censorship – and it’s about time! Following the banning and unbanning of the awardwinning South African film Inxeba (The Wound) by the Film and Publication Board, Kenyan film Rafiki has also recently been banned in its home country. The film, which beautifully depicts a love story between two women, is the first Kenyan film to be invited to screen at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The producers of the film are not taking the ban lying down and will be appealing it, rightfully so. For too long bureaucracy has silenced filmmakers and artists alike from telling real African stories about real African people, and we are finally saying “enough”. We chat to Rafiki producer Steven Markovitz on page 4 of our News section. In our Cameras & Accessories section, cinematographer Rick Joaquim test drives the FUJIFILM X-H1 camera while shooting and directing a music video for Bongeziwe Mabandla. Rick takes us through some of his favourite features of the camera, giving his un-biased opinion on pages 14 and 15. Other noteworthy contributions to the issue include two case studies. The first, on pages 24 to 25 in our Broadcast Technology section, comes from TSL Products product manager Dan Bailey, who takes us through the why and how behind a recent installation and upgrade of TSL Products at Botswana Television. When you’re done with that, head over to pages 28 and 29 in our Lighting section where Sean Boyce, technical director at Southern Lighting Solutions takes us behind the scenes on Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar, shot in December 2017 at Sun City in the North West Province. We close out the issue with valuable insights on the rise of OTT & IPTV in Africa where Screen Africa contributor David Cornwell chats to some of the heavyweights operating within the local streaming industry. Till next time! – Chanelle Ellaya
SCREENAFRICA Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com Editor: Chanelle Ellaya: editor@screenafrica.com Journalists: Gezzy S Sibisi: news@screenafrica.com
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Chanelle Ellaya is a writer and a journalist. She completed her BA Journalism degree at the University of Johannesburg in 2011. While writing is her passion, she has a keen interest in the media in various capacities. Chanelle is an avid social networker and a firm believer in the power of social and online networking. Between writing and tweeting, she finds time to feed her love for live music.
JOURNALISTS Gezzy S Sibisi is a journalist and photographer with experience in print, broadcast and digital media. Her portfolio of work includes working as a lifestyle reporter as well as contributing business and education articles to The Times, Sowetan and Daily Despatch publications. As a freelancer she has worked on content development for corporate newsletters, community newspapers, blogs and educational websites.
Louise Marsland is an editor, journalist and columnist in the media and marketing communications industry in South Africa, who has been writing about the industry for over two decades as a former editor of publications: AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Bizcommunity.com. She currently writes extensively about industry trends and consumer insight.
Lara Preston is a passionately committed marketer and strategist with a focus in promoting African content and events. Two decades of working across Africa have provided her with insights and experience that she puts to work for the projects she manages. In 2006, Lara founded, and still personally manages, Red Flag Content Relations, a full service below-the-line agency that also focuses on African entertainment and lifestyle brand marketing, strategy, and publicity.
David Cornwell lives in Cape Town, where he writes fiction, films and features for a variety of publications. His debut novel, Like It Matters (Umuzi, 2016), has been long-listed for the 2017 Sunday Times Fiction Award.
Ian Dormer was born in Zimbabwe and has been in the TV business since the 1980s, having served in various positions at the SABC, M-Net and SuperSport. Ian currently works and resides in New Zealand.
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The Ladima Foundation set to present at ZIFF and DISCOP Zanzibar
The Ladima Foundation – established as a mechanism to support women filmmakers from across the African continent and in an attempt to further gender equality within the industry – will present a variety of programmes in Zanzibar from 7 to 15 July, in partnership with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), DISCOP Zanzibar and the Africa in Motion Film Festival (AiM).
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n order to further its objective of supporting women in a variety of roles within filmmaking, video production and related content development avenues through a range of projects and interventions, the Ladima Foundation will once again present its flagship project, the Adiaha Award for Best Documentary by an African Woman Filmmaker – presented annually at ZIFF. The Adiaha Award consists of a cash prize and this year the winning film will additionally be awarded the opportunity to be screened at the Africa in Motion Film Festival in Scotland. Lizelle Bisschoff, the Africa in Motion Film Festival founder, alongside well-known academic and writer Stefanie Van de Peer will be in attendance at ZIFF to present a workshop and selected film screenings under the theme of Africa’s Lost Classics: Histories of African Women
in Film. This half-day event will see the screening of two lost classics – for the first time in Africa – that have been subtitled in English, restored and digitised by AiM. The films, Mossane (Safi Faye, Senegal, 1996) and Fatma 75 (Selma Baccar, Tunisia, 1976) have hardly been seen or screened publically. Mossane is the last feature film by pioneering Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye, and Fatma 75 was the first non-fiction film by a female Tunisian filmmaker – a feminist essay film documenting strong female figures in the history of the country. “After a highly successful run of screenings of ‘Lost African Film Classics’ across the UK during 2017, we are delighted to extend this to screenings in Africa, and specifically at ZIFF, one of the continent’s best and most high profile film festivals, as part of our partnership with the Ladima Foundation. The two
films we are presenting at ZIFF, Tunisian director Selma Baccar’s Fatma 75 and Senegalese director Safi Faye’s Mossane, are both hugely important films by pioneering female directors which have not been seen or screened widely at all. We know that female and black directors are underrepresented in film industries across the world, which makes it all the more crucial that the artistic labour of these filmmakers are recognised, celebrated and preserved. Persuasive and impassioned campaigns such as #OscarsSoWhite, Time’s Up and the work of South Africa’s SWIFT (Sisters Working in Film and Television) have irrevocably demonstrated the need for prioritising diversity and marginalised voices within the film industries. Celebrating the work of female African directors does exactly that,” comments Bisschoff The Ladima Foundation will also be presenting a programme at the inaugural DISCOP Zanzibar that will take place from 11 to 13 July at the Hotel Verde. The Ladima Foundation will present the Women of Influence Conversation, which will bring together some of the most creative, iconic and culturally relevant women in Africa’s entertainment and media industry.
Additionally, Ladima will be sponsoring five young women in the industry – from East Africa – to attend DISCOP Zanzibar 2018. The Ladima Foundation is also working with the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam on the She Directs workshop series that will see a selection of young East African women filmmakers having the opportunity to hone their craft. These projects reflect the core mission of the Ladima Foundation and its stated key interventions, which include: professional training, educational support, recognition, and networking and community. Lara Preston, co-founder of the Ladima Foundation comments: “The Ladima Foundation’s programme taking place in July in Zanzibar, in partnership with AIM, ZIFF and DISCOP Zanzibar, is a reflection of our commitment to key areas of intervention including professional development, recognition, mentoring and networking. Our Women of Influence programme at DISCOP Zanzibar will continue at all DISCOP Markets across Africa, creating a pan-African dialogue and community. These programmes are just the start of the many projects and partnerships that we will be initiating across Africa. As we work to actively and sustainably address some of the key issues that are barriers to entry for women in the content production industries, we will ensure that all of our projects have long-term and tangible outcomes.” – Chanelle Ellaya
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Rafiki is the first Kenyan film invited to premiere at Cannes
Banned from its country, Rafiki – a film that tells the love story of two women – is the first Kenyan feature film to be invited to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
A scene from Rafiki
“We hope the film will contribute to bringing
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dapted for the big screen by Kenyan director-author Wanuri Kahiu and South African writer-director Jenna Bass, with Kahiu directing, Rafiki (‘Friend’ in Swahili) is based on the Caine Prize-winning short story Jambula Tree by Ugandan author, Monica Arac de Nyeko. Producer of the film Steven Markovitz comments: “It is a beautiful love story and we don’t see many of those stories being made in Africa. I’m not talking about romantic comedies. I had worked with Wanuri before on her science fiction short film Pumzi (Sundance), and I believed in her as a talented director. I approached her with the view to develop African literature into film, and she came back to me with Monica Arac de Nyeko’s Jambula Tree.” Markovitz is a South African film and television producer, founder and owner of Big World Cinema – a film production company based in Cape Town – who co-produced the recent award-winning documentary Winnie, which also stirred much controversy. “I look for originality and a unique voice or point of view,” he
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these stories out of the shadows in Africa. For too often officialdom have tried to suppress these stories, but we know they are part of our society and therefore should be reflected in the cinema we make and watch.
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– Steven Markovitz
comments. “I also look for material that challenges the dominant narrative of Africa in general and the African country in particular. I also look to work with people who I like and that I feel we could have a mutually respectful working relationship.” Markovitz shares that after struggling to secure financing from South Africa and Kenya, he decided to look to other countries. The film is therefore a co-production between Kenya, South Africa, France, Lebanon, Norway, Holland, Germany and USA. However, in addition to Kahiu and Bass, the remainder of the film crew are predominantly Kenyan, with a few South Africans. “There are now eight countries
involved! It took seven years to make this film, I went all over the world looking for finance, and we picked up pockets of money and wonderful co-producers along the way… The film is a coproduction between Kenya, South Africa, France, Lebanon, Norway, Holland, Germany and USA.” Rafiki will be making its debut at the Cannes Film Festival on 9 May 2018. Markovitz confirms that they have already signed with two sales agents, Orange Studios and MPM Premium, to distribute the film internationally. He is hopeful that the film will sell to other territories after its Cannes showcase. “The film is a lesbian love story; we hope the film will contribute to bringing
these stories out of the shadows in Africa. For too often officialdom have tried to suppress these stories, but we know they are part of our society and therefore should be reflected in the cinema we make and watch,” he expressed. Sadly, Rafiki is currently banned for distribution, exhibition or broadcast in Kenya. The film’s ban was announced in a statement by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KCFB), for its “homosexual theme and clear intent to promote lesbianism in Kenya, contrary to the law.” So far, Markovitz and his team have been very vocal in the media regarding their stand against the banning of Rafiki and will be challenging the ban through the appeal process. “We are very disappointed about the banning of the film in Kenya. We believe artists should have freedom of expression to reflect society through our cinema. We will not take this banning lying down and will be announcing our plans in this regard soon,” he concluded. – Gezzy S Sibisi
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Creating a film community in the Southern Peninsula The Southern Peninsula in Cape Town is quite a distance from the buzzing film hotspots that the Mother City is well-known for. So when film practitioner Bryony Roughton – who, for more than 15 years, provided youth development programmes in the Eastern Cape through SAY Media Education – moved back to her hometown in Southern Peninsula, she decided to relaunch SAY Media, and later the ForwardFund Academy. Photos by False Bay Echo
Tina Thiart and Bryony Roughton
ForwardFund Academy students
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n the spirit of collaboration, Roughton paired up with women’s rights activist and non-profit fundraising expert, Tina Thiart to launch the ForwardFund Academy. “This is a community-based initiative. South Peninsula also represents the tip of the African continent, the far South. The world needs more media from Africa, and the developing world, we need creators of content, we need our people telling their own stories, it is vital we equip our communities with the skills to do this and to offer their voices to the wider world! Launching something like this from the tip of the continent is a great strategic place to create some momentum for the idea of ‘Stories from
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the South’, and ‘Visions and Voices from the South,’” explains Roughton. On 10 April 2018, the Academy was launched at the Solaris Office Park on Kommetjie Road, Sunny Acres. The inaugural affair was attended by the DA Shadow Minister of Women in the Presidency, Denise Robinson; and programme manager of Business Development for the Department of Social Development, Nomvume Ralarala, amongst other distinguished guests as well as community members. At the grand opening an impressive twenty film bursaries were awarded. “We have been actively recruiting from the community since March and have
selected twenty students who are studying film for the first time. We have another six students who already have one year of study from other film training institutions and are joining the programme as senior students,” shares Roughton. The SAQA Accredited National Certificate in Film and Television Production is a one-year certificate course that enables previously disadvantaged students the opportunity to acquire film and television skills. Furthermore, the course gives students the necessary expertise to be able to freelance and work within the film and television industry, while still actively studying.
Guest lecturers who will be providing practical workshops for the duration of the course include: Alison Coetzee, Meg Rickards, Marius Boden, Julan Briant, Di Davis, Gerald Peterson, Mark Roughton, Claire Ryan, Lydia Plaatjies, Tim Spring, David Barkham, Goeff Hookins, Jennifer Carbutt, Gwen Meyer, Simon Tatt, Alison Geduldt, Omar Dick, Greg Copeland, Lee Otten, Clair Titley and Judy Sole. In addition to providing film studies, the academy is working with schools within the Southern Peninsula in order to relaunch the School Film Festival as well as to commemorate 100 Years of Fish Hoek. Roughton expands: “The School Film Festival has the theme of ‘One in a Hundred’ and invites short film scripts from Grades 10 and 11 learners from any school in the South Peninsula. Learners can interpret the theme however they like. Selected screenplays will be produced with the writer directing their short film, and gathering a team of learners to support as the crew – who will receive training. Casting of acting roles happens from within the school. Our film students will assist the learner crew during the production phase. Our industry team mentor the crew throughout the process, so it is not necessary to know anything about filmmaking before writing a screenplay or joining the crew. This is the model we used with the Nab’Ubomi Film Competition in the Eastern Cape, except this time we have film students in the mix as well.” Only five of the chosen submissions will be developed and filmed by students of the ForwardFund Academy. To see how the competition was rolled out in the Eastern Cape, head over to SAYmeTV on YouTube to view some of the submissions. – Gezzy S Sibisi
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As part of this partnership, Orange will offer its Cinédays programme in all the CanalOlympia cinemas where Orange is present.
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range and Vivendi have joined forces to meet the expectations of the fast-growing African continent, keen to consume cultural goods and rediscovering – after three decades in which cinemas had all but disappeared – the unique experience of the big screen in the best technical conditions and comfort. CanalOlympia is the leading network of cinemas and performance venues deployed by Vivendi in central and Western Africa, with eight cinemas open to date, twenty by the end of 2018, and several dozens more set to roll out in the next few years. Every week, some thousand spectators visit each of the
cinemas, all equipped with a cuttingedge projection and sound system. As part of this partnership, Orange will offer its Cinédays programme in all the CanalOlympia cinemas where Orange is present; eight African countries and a dozen multi-purpose cinema and performance venues. Cinédays was launched in the UK in 2004. Today, it is available in Romania, Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Morocco. It enables Orange customers to benefit from a 2 for 1 cinema ticket offer once or twice a week and to invite a person of their choice to share in the experience. The offer will initially be launched in Cameroon, quickly followed by Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry and Niger, then Mali, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the CanalOlympia network is deployed.
Photo CREDIT: CanalOlympia
Orange and Vivendi partner with CanalOlympia to make the big screen more accessible in Africa
The CanalOlympia cinemas offer a varied programme including French films, films from different African countries, American blockbusters and productions specifically aimed at young people. Orange Studio may contribute to the programming with new co-productions as well as its extensive catalogue of European and African films. Orange will provide its expertise and know-how to ensure the best connectivity and to improve the digital distribution
of films in the various CanalOlympia cinemas. Orange’s contribution to this ambitious project will also include the integration of Orange Money, its flagship mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer, now available in 17 countries with over 37 million customers. For the first time, cinema-goers will be able to pay directly at the cinema using their mobile, thanks to the digital tills.
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New Sommer Cable DVM-HDT-KIT to make HDMI testing effortless Sommer Cable’s vision of solving problems caused by incorrect cabling, setup, HDCP or EDID communication has led to the development of the innovative Sommer Cable DVM-HDT-KIT (HDMI 2.0 Engineers Toolkit).
The easy-to-use measurement system which is capable of handling all common HDMI video resolutions and bandwidths, including HDMI 2.0 signals with 4K resolution, is also useful for testing video/ audio streams for installations, controlling HDMI sources, sinks, and cable routes. The DVM-HDT-KIT, consisting of HDMI signal generator and HDMI analyser, allows for extensive signal analysis capabilities, an audio metering display for
eight channels, real-time signal monitoring with error counters, and Integrated Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) memory for up to 14 EDID sets. You can watch what is happening at the input/output on the display in real time for analysing and eliminating problems which may be caused by a faulty set-up, wiring, EDID communication or High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).
In order to make this flexibility possible, the desk version has built-in battery packs with low power consumption coupled with 24-volt power supply units, two compact HDMI cables, knobs, buttons and a front panel headphone socket for signal control. A mobile version is available for the toolcase or rackmount set, which means engineers and project designers can now think beyond location limitations. The kit also comes with software that, facilitates the setting of all function parameters, configures and monitors all aspects of system functions. For instance, the HDMI input can be activated or deactivated via software for on/off switching simulations. The PC software
can also be used for checking individual devices and large device compounds – setting a new standard in professional integrated cable check solution. Sommer Cable, known as a global leader in manufacturing cable solutions for the professional broadcasting industry, completes the innovation circle by combining comprehensive features, compact dimensions and practical functions controlling, which facilitates the highest possible testing quality and reliability in one solution. The company has teamed up with their South Africa partner, Broadcast Lines, to customise and distribute its products to South Africa.
Intelligent Solutions. Mastered
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| TECHNOLOGY News
Teradek announces VidiU Go: Bonded cellular HEVC live streaming solution The popular VidiU series of live streaming encoders is getting its first new addition in several years: VidiU Go. Built on Teradek’s venerable Cube HEVC platform, VidiU Go streams to Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and any other online video platform in pristine 1080p60 video quality. VidiU Go is a live streaming encoder for businesses, freelancers, and enthusiasts seeking the cutting edge of broadcast technology. With H.264 and HEVC built-in, the Go gives you the flexibility of delivering live video in the widely accepted AVC format or taking advantage of the efficiency of H.265 during bonded cellular broadcasts. Bandwidth challenges are never an issue for the VidiU Go with its state of the art bonding capabilities taken from Teradek’s professional line of Bond Backpacks. The Go includes two USB ports designed for Teradek’s new Node for VidiU G o modems, the very same high performance 3G/4G /LTE modems found in the company’s high end professional systems. Additionally, the Go can add even more bonded bandwidth via its gigabit Ethernet port and built-in dual-band WiFi. To take your live streaming even further, the VidiU Go offers integration with Teradek’s Sharelink and Core platforms, which provide remote encoder configuration and HEVC /AVC transcoding (Core only). Most importantly, Sharelink and Core offer multi-platform delivery, allowing you to stream to any and all of your favourite streaming platforms at the same time. With both HDMI and SDI inputs, the VidiU Go is equally at home on small camcorders as it is on larger broadcast cameras. The Go is powered via a USB-C port, which makes it easier than ever to power the system with external Li-Ion batteries. Like the VidiU and VidiU Pro, the Go is compatible with Teradek’s iOS video production suite, Live:Air Action, and the VidiU app for iOS, allowing users to quickly configure and monitor their stream, as well as overlay graphics and lower thirds right onto their live feed. VidiU Go begins shipping May 2018. Master Dealer Africa is the official distributor for Teredek in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Chicken Licken embraces AI and robotics in new TVC
Chicken Licken TVC, titled Sbu 2:0
In the new Chicken Licken TVC, titled Sbu 2:0, a local science teacher builds a robotic replica of himself to step in for him whenever he needs to feed his Chicken Licken craving.
“W
e try to showcase real South Africans in the fore of global playing fields in an entertaining and humorous way. So whether it involves sending a South African into space, a South African archaeologist exploring an ancient Egyptian tomb, or like now, a South African science teacher that has built a real-life, functioning, robotic replica of himself, we’re always trying to inspire and create a sense of pride and patriotism through our Chicken Licken commercials,” says Martin Schlumpf, creative director at Joe Public.
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However, for this more recent campaign, Schlumpf cites the fact that the world is on the brink of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution as the inspiration behind the commercial. Furthermore, the ad showcases a wishful thought that some of us would love to explore. In this fast-paced world we live in, don’t we all wish that we could sometimes have an exact replica of ourselves to run our errands? In the spot, we meet Sbu, an unassuming science teacher from a small town, who seems to be up to something in his garage workshop late at night. Sbu
has been busy piecing together a robotic invention, using a mismatch of recycled metal and computer parts, resulting in a functioning, somewhat autonomous, robotic version of himself – his very own Sbu 2.0. The advert plays out a variety of scenarios where the real Sbu has been replaced with his robotic version. From his science class at school, to date nights with
his long-term girlfriend Sibongile, Sbu 2.0 even chips in for those unfortunate work functions and becomes the life of the party with his old school robotic moves. Meanwhile, the real Sbu is enjoying the benefits of his invention, spending his time doing what he loves, that is until his girlfriend recognises him while passing by a Chicken Licken store with Sbu 2.0. Greg Gray from Romance Films is the
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TECH CHECK EQUIPMENT • Camera: Arri Alexa Mini
director of the advert. He expands: “We took bits of inspiration from moody sci-fi classics such as E.T., Super 8, and the like, giving it a contemporary slant in the same way that Stranger Things has done.” Casting took place in Johannesburg with Grays Casting and in Cape Town with Chery Battersby. Well-known actor and lead character Mothusi Magano (Sbu), was the first person to audition in JHB, and he managed to find the exact balance between robotic physicality and comedic performance, shares Gray. The spot was shot on the Arri Alexa Mini. “The Mini is a light and manageable versatile camera that suited our needs and assisted us in being able to set up and move fast between setups,” says Gray. Gray worked closely with DOP Jamie Ramsay in order to maintain the visual style they had envisaged from the treatment stage. A specific colour palette, lighting and camera style was also developed very earlier on in production, which was integral to maintaining the
integrity of the spot. CGI and special effects were used to enhance the lead character’s robotic moves. “Our lead created a very strong foundation through his physical performance, so the post-production needed to be executed subtly to complement the humour, not take center stage. We felt the more realistic the situation appears, the funnier it would ultimately be in the end.” Cosmesis provided cosmetic additions which included contacts, a latex mask, wig, and fake teeth to make Sbu 2.0 look more artificial. Additional work was done by Chocolate Tribe and Bladeworks who were responsible for bringing the VFX elements to life in the workshop scene. “We shot plates of the environment, followed by Sbu 2.0 in the environment with his torso dressed in a ChromaKey suit. This was keyed out in post, and animated robotic innards were added,” shares Gray. Since the ad first aired on television, the public have taken a liking to Sbu,
even posting Sbu-inspired fan art (all on their own accord) to the Chicken Licken social media pages. The Chicken Licken YouTube page has also garnered close to 90k clicks along with an abundance of positive comments from viewers. Schlumpf comments: “What makes this commercial so special is that it will resonate with all audiences, most importantly here at home, but also internationally. Yes, we’ve incorporated various local insights because we’re a proudly South African brand, but I think the most important lesson we’ve learnt here is that we don’t need to talk down to our audience and that good advertising will always work. It’s a universal idea with a local flavour that will hopefully appeal to everyone that watches it.” Gray added: “Looking forward to the next instalment of the Sbu story … perhaps an experiment with cloning?” – Gezzy S Sibisi
“The Mini is a light and manageable versatile camera that suited our needs and assisted us in being able to set up and move fast between setups.”
KEY CREW Director: Greg Gray DOP: Jamie Ramsay Executive producer: Helena Woodfine Editor: Ricky Boyd, Deliverance Audio: Louis Enslin, Produce Sound
“What makes this commercial so special is that it will resonate with all audiences, most importantly here at home, but also internationally. Yes, we’ve incorporated various local insights because we’re a proudly South African brand, but I think the most important lesson we’ve learnt here is that we don’t need to talk down to our audience and that good advertising will always work.
”
– Martin Schlumpf
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S al es - Ren ta ls - Training - Project M anag ement - Instal l ati o n - Co ntr a c t ed O n S i t e S up port Screen africa adcetera May 2018 no logos_ROSS Ultrix.indd 1
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ADCETERA
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All content strat needs to include short form video Short form video needs to be part of any content marketing strategy.
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he production industry is currently facing disruption from brands and media owners who want short, impactful and instant video coverage, more often – and at a greatly reduced cost, although still of good quality. Many brand and communications experts have been predicting the rise of visual content, particularly video content over the past two years as smartphones got smarter and video started to dominate social media platforms globally. It’s not just about adapting your content to today’s shorter attention spans to maximise effectiveness, it’s also providing an entertaining and engaging way to connect more intimately with your customer or audience. The kicker though, is that short form digital video has now become the primary source of news for younger audiences. Campaign magazine reports that 52 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds now prefer it to reading the news.
ENGAGEMENT According to research by AOL, as reported by Campaign: Short form digital video – video between one and 10 minutes in length – has experienced a surge in popularity in the past couple of years where viewing of short form videos has increased by more than 50 per cent. This, says Campaign, is the obvious place for brands to engage with consumers. YouTube powered the short-form commercial standard which has now transitioned across traditional media; the smartphone brought us first-person breaking news accounts to our screens and television sets via global news networks and social media; and content marketing as a strategy is dominating communications and brand strategy – including video. The global Mobile Marketing
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Association, which runs the Smarties Awards for effective and creative mobile advertising annually, recently released its inaugural MMA EMEA Smarties Business Impact Index, which ranks agencies, networks, brands and technology enablers that deliver the highest level of business impact through mobile-first advertising campaigns. Four South African agencies were ranked in the four top spots: Digitas Liquorice, Yonder Media, Gloo@Ogilvy and Gorilla. Sarah Utermark, country director for MMA SA, said this was a significant achievement for the South African digital agencies. Digitas Liquorice won in the 2017 Smarties for a series of short video content for the brand SA Homeloans. With current trends in video content and mobile in Africa, short video content is going to be a major game changer in the near future in advertising. “Mobile is without doubt seen as the most dominant screen for video consumption. It’s impactful and with the attention grabbing qualities video content possesses, has proven to yield impressive results as the most effective storytelling platform.”
STORYMAKERS Storytelling is of course key here. With content on the rise as content marketing and branded content compete with traditional paid media advertising as ways to build brand loyalty, video brings depth to brand storytelling with short-form video. Relevance, creativity, instant view, quality, snackable videos are all the rage and research is showing that the shorter the video, the more likely the consumer is to watch it to the end. And key here is that the consumer prefers it if the brand is somewhat integrated into the video storyline, rather than as a standalone advert before or after the video. The
Written by Louise Marsland
opportunity here is for brands to own the story. Utermark continued: “A recent Facebook report showed that last year, the average length of a video published was between 3-4minutes, yet the average time watched tends to be approximately 10-15 seconds or only 4 per cent of the full video length. “However, the formula for success is far more complicated than a 15-30 second spot, it needs to be relevant to the audience, there needs to be a consideration of brand relevancy and trust, in relation to the channels in which the content is being consumed through, but most importantly, video also offers greater opportunities to be innovative and creative, making the most of a captive audience. With attention grabbing content paramount, it’s always worth adding short titles to your videos, especially in the first few seconds, to captivate the audience.”
Utermark said that with data prices falling, smartphone devices becoming more affordable, Wi-Fi hotspots more accessible, as well as the continual mass sharing of content via social media, it’s no surprise that there is a huge rise in video content. She said that according to Mary Meekers Internet Trends Report, at the end of 2017, it was expected that online video will account for 74 per cent of all online traffic. “We’re already seeing this with social media platforms across the board adopting a ‘video first’ approach to how we share content.” Utermark quoted stats from Big Brave Digital which presented at last year’s Smarties Forum: •
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AMPLIFY CONTENT Entrepreneur.com reports that it is about more than just the consumer having a shorter attention span so marketers have to provide shorter content: “Short-form videos give you more freedom to produce hard-hitting, relatable videos that get to the point, without the overhead of creating more in-depth content.” Short-form video content can be used as a livestream; a Snap; an Instagram story; to tease a campaign; or as branded content to provide the sizzle to your brand, says Entrepreneur magazine, and what video does do extremely well, is amplify your content effort, whether it is earned, owned or paid media. The advice from Entrepreneur is to “capture everything”. Social media is a stage and the more a brand document’s what is relevant to the brand, or a company ethos, the more emotional connections will be made and the more relationships the brand will build. In fact, treat every brand moment and experience as an opportunity to showcase it on the “social media stage”.
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The top three social networks – Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube – gather 22 billion video views a day. YouTube reports that mobile video consumption rises 100 per cent year-on-year. 82 per cent of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter. YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of total internet users. More than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day. More video content is uploaded in 30 days than the three major US TV networks have created in 30 years. 72 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds.
Online video advertising is also expected to grow by 17 per cent year-on-year by 2020, as television viewing and TV video ad expenditures decline, Utermark reported, while mobile advertising grew by 33 per cent in 2017 and was expected to grow by 18 per cent per year by 2020.
ADVERTORIAL
Ten years of Legend Manqele
empower him. To this day, he’s passionate about up-skilling his staff through gestures as simple as having pitch decks readily available on the company’s server and exposing them to other facets of the creative business. What he’s not interested in, however, is dwelling on his earlier struggles, even though he had to work twice as hard as many of his industry competitors, he has never felt hard done by life, he explains. He does however, want to thank all those who have walked this journey with him. Those who he says have given him a hand up, those who have given him a chance and even those who have said no, because each of those experiences have given shape to the man and business mind he is today. Manqele’s story reads somewhat like a modern-day fairytale, but it was saying ‘Yes’ to everything and an impeccable work ethic that got him to the top over the 10 years. “We work in an industry where the guy who is bashing cables could easily become your boss. I’m proof of that and so are many others,” he says. To improve his staying power, he’ll continue to trust his gut more than just being reliant on a strategy, it’s a balancing act. “It pays you to understand yourself and the space you’re playing in, as meaningful thought produces meaningful work. Beyond the success we all need to realise that what truly matters is that this ecosystem of storytelling relies on all of us to work together in ways that will serve our country” he concludes. What lies ahead in the next ten years and beyond for this challenger brand will be most intriguing to watch.
M
Legend Manqele
For Manqele, creating quality content isn’t just a craze, it’s a calling. His new ventures The Bar and TRILAB are both aimed at raising the content creation bar to compelling heights. The former is a website set to create one-of-a-kind content around the film and television industry, while the latter is a branding, strategy and digital agency that aims to assist brands with communicating distinctively by drawing from their contexts and histories. The Bar will have a CSI arm titled The Classroom, a series of film and television lectures that Manqele will be hosting with other industry thought leaders. Manqele cut his teeth at Urban Brew Studios and later Don’t Look Down Productions. As an employee, a constant
PROFILE
Written by Motlatsi Radebe
The Barleader TV CEO, Legend Manqele, isn’t an overnight success nor is he a oneshow wonder executive producer. If anything, he’s a content whizz. We get a glimpse into his business-savvy mind on his path to building an empire
anqele’s on a mission to form a sentimental connection with the month of May, in the same way that Jay-Z treasures the number ‘four’. His birthday is on 12 May, his production house The Barleader TV went live on the same day and he now plans to launch two more ventures this month. As the 29-year-old celebrates a decade working behind the scenes of the TV and film industry — three of which have been spent at the helm of building The Barleader TV into one of the fastest growing production companies — he still has more to achieve. Not one to commemorate milestones — including his own birthday — Manqele, instead, plans to launch two new business ventures to mark this turning point. “As much as it’s important for me to have been around for this long, I haven’t thought of celebrating because it’s too much work to plan something then be anxious about whether people will attend,” he says, before breaking into a short chuckle. He adds: “I’m learning that the key to success is to be malleable, shape-shift all the time and not stay married to one idea.” Longevity, after all, is pivotal to building a trusted brand in this industry.
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feeling of inadequacy haunted him, forcing him to admit that he didn’t enjoy living up to anyone’s expectations. And so his company was born. Channel O Top 50, Dineo’s Diary 4, The Cover, Rich Kids 2, Living The Dream With Somizi Seasons 2 and 3, Being Bonang and Cishe Ngafa are some of the productions under The Barleader banner. “I never set foot at a tertiary institution and as a result, I’ve had to learn to bargain with my Imposter Syndrome throughout my career. However, when I went into business, I realised that I already knew most things about the industry but lacked the know-how to package them for clients,” he says, adding that studying information that wasn’t privy to juniors during his formative years helped
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CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES
TECH CHECK EQUIPMENT • Camera: Fujifilm X-H1
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Cinematographer Rick Joaquim test drives the FUJIFILM X-H1 camera Bongeziwe Mabandla’s latest music video offering for ‘Bawo Wam’ is a visual delight shot on the FUJIFILM X-H1 camera. The music video was both directed and shot by award-winning, Johannesburg-based cinematographer and Director of Photography (DOP) Rick Joaquim.
Official Fujifilm X-H1 Highlight Specs: • X processor Pro • Integrated 5-axis image stabilisation (IBIS) • Vibration-free closure • Professional video features (including Cinema 4K) • Large electronic viewfinder with 3.69 million pixels • Folding and swivelling 7.6 cm (3 inch) 1.04 million touch screen LCD pixels • 25 cm (1.8 inch) shoulder display • Particularly robust housing • Splash-proof and dust-proof • Cold-resistant to minus 10 degrees • Improved AF algorithm • Dual memory card slot • Wi-Fi function • Film simulation modes (including ETERNA) • Creative filter effects
KEY CREW Director and DOP: Rick Joaquim Focus puller and additional camera operator: Martin Bleazard Lead animator + VFX: Charl Naudé – Kilroy Was Here! Productions Offline editor: Gideon Breytenbach – Kilroy Was Here! Productions Opening title design and online edit: Dan McCauley + Jesse Konrad Coetzee – Dolph Grading: Jarryd Duthoit – Mushroom Post Gear rental house: Media Film Services
“L
ast year December I was given the opportunity to shoot a music video on the then unreleased FUJIFILM X-H1. I had been toying around with the idea of a Double Exposure music video for quite a while and thought this would be the perfect project to try it out on,” comments Joaquim. The music video employs the use of Double Exposure, which is a photographic technique that combines two different images composited over one another into a single frame and is something that Joaquim says he has always found extremely beautiful and interesting. The technique has been implemented for years in photography but the cinematographer, signed with the Exposure Crew, really wanted to apply it to his cinematography. “So the way I went about this was that we shot all the foreground plates and people against a green-screen, this allowed us to superimpose any images and footage I would shoot later on over the characters as well as affording us way more flexibility in postproduction,” Explains Joaquim.
The FUJIFILM X-H1 takes the seat as the top performing mirrorless camera in Fuji’s X Series range and shooting the music video with the brand new X-H1 offered Joaquim many benefits that he had become accustomed to while using other cameras. The X-H1 records actual 4K (4096 x 2160p) internally but can also output 4k to an External Recorder, such as the Atomos Shogun Inferno. Although the output is only 8-bit, internal recording is done at 4:2:0, and 4:2:2 can be output over the HDMI port. Full HD footage can now be recorded at either 50 or 100 Mbps in 1080p at 120 fps – “slow motion is always a welcome addition to any camera,” says Joaquim. Another added feature that Joaquim enjoyed was that the FUJIFILM X-H1 also offers F-log, which is Fujifilm’s flat video profile that allows for more dynamic range and options in post when pushing the footage. The X-H1 is also the first camera in the X Series to include ETERNA, a new film simulation ideal for shooting movies. This mode simulates cinematic film, creating understated colours and rich shadow tones, greatly enhancing creative freedom during post-processing – it can be used as an end-point in itself or to give yourself a degree of latitude for colour grading. “The X-H1 also brings amazing In-Body Image
Stabilisation (IBIS) for hand-held shooting and not to mention Fujifilm’s Dynamic Range modes to video recording for the first time, allowing you to capture more highlight information,” comments Joaquim. “I have to thank my crew on this project, I was able to work with some of my industry friends on this music video. A big thank you also has to go to my animator, Charl Naudé who was a huge part of this music video and helped me handle a huge part of the postproduction on this. We had 142 shots that were shot on green screen and needed to be keyed, composited and graded,” says Joaquim. “We also decided very early on that we wanted the whole music video to be in black and white, and shooting for black and white is something I quite enjoy as both a cinematographer and photographer, as it makes you think in terms of tones and contrast instead of colour.” “I feel this camera could be quite a game changer in the mirrorless video market, it’s going to offer a lot of filmmakers a new tool to shoot with. Especially for those trying to break into video and coming from stills originally. It’s a great hybrid camera, and although it won’t replace dedicated video cameras it offers a lot of Pro Video features that we were able to make use of for this project,” Joaquim concludes. Bongeziwe Mabandla’s ‘Bawo Wam’ music video releases officially on 4 May 2018. – Chanelle Ellaya
Scenes from the Bongeziwe Mabandla Music Video 14 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
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CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES
Rick Joaquim on the set of the Bongeziwe Mabandla Music Video
“I feel this camera could be quite a game changer in the mirrorless video market, it’s going to offer a lot of filmmakers a new tool to shoot with. Especially for those trying to break into video and coming from stills originally.
”
– Rick Joaquim
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United States and/or other countries.
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FILM
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Director Speak
d Legeqnele Man
This month Screen Africa caught up with Legend Manqele, director and founder of Barleader Productions… WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW HAS THIS SHAPED YOU AS A FILMMAKER? I come from a small family but growing up as a middle child I always felt like no one loved me (like most middle children, I suffered from middle child syndrome). So I think everything I have done in my career has been about making bold moves and the biggest statements, because as a middle child I know how to easily escape from all the eyeballs and go about my business which is meaningful to me. WHAT LED YOU TO OPEN YOUR PRODUCTION COMPANY – BARLEADER PRODUCTIONS? I was too much of an outsider! I needed a production house that understood that times were changing. I also look up to people like Retti from Burnt Onion – a young company doing great things – and I felt that I was ready to take on the world. I started my company with the hopes that other young creatives would also feel inspired to make bold moves in starting their own businesses!
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WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DO YOU ENJOY CREATING? I enjoy creating all types of content…I hope I find myself with a library of content. I am always looking to reinvent myself in the content space. I have a fear of being boxed. YOU’VE WORKED WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST MEDIA PERSONALITIES, INCLUDING BONANG MATHEBA ON HER RECENT REALITY TV SERIES – WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE? Bonang is one of my favourite people in the world. She has a standard and I love that. “Working up” is a great challenge. I love her! WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? We are working on a lot of international content including a film pilot in Australia. WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? My childhood is still fuelling a lot of my inspiration but I have to say the global community is really producing some amazing content.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CAREER CHALLENGE TO DATE? People pleasing is not a great thing to have to do as a director…I’m still working on this. WHAT HAS BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR CAREER THUS FAR? The people who work at Barleader are truly a highlight. I love the Barleader family. I’m proud to have the opportunity to lead them. TOP THREE FAVOURITE FILMS OF ALL TIME? If I must: The Hours. Revolutionary Road. The Reader. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM SHOOT LOCATION? Port St. Johns is the most beautiful place in the world. ANY ADVICE FOR EMERGING LOCAL FILMMAKERS Be malleable and agile. It may hurt but just bend.
at the Durban Internat
ional Film Festival 20
20-23 JULY 09hOO-17h30
Visit www.durbanfilmmart.com to register
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Grapefruit intertwines
Lesotho is well-known for its sprawling mountain ranges, its kingship and the archival reports of cannibalism during the Lifaqane – a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous ethnic communities in southern Africa during the period between 1815 and about 1840. While some refer to the historic reports of cannibalism in Lesotho as a grim moment in the Basotho history, others tell a very different tale.
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G
rapefruit is a short film that tackles the subject of cannibalism through the journey of a young couple with a shared taste for human flesh. Lesotho-born and Cape Town-based filmmaker, Ts’episo Mahase recalls the history lessons she was taught in primary school, and the childhood games she used to play that were inspired by rumours and tales told about the country’s cannibal past. One such game stems from an old folk story and the song Ke ledimo, ke ja bana, whereby one child would pretend to be a cannibal who eats snotty kids and the other children would
sing along and run away when the make-believe cannibal child would try to snatch his victim. However, in the film Grapefruit, Mahase chooses not to focus on cannibalism from what she already knows or has heard. “It [cannibalism] was not a means of survival when it came to the characters in the film, it was more of a fetish... It is not normal, but to them, it is a shared bonding experience, which further motivates them to keep doing it until they get caught,” says Mahase. The film stars Ramosoeu Lesoli as Molise and Mpho Sephelane as Neo. Molise is a herdsman and a well-versed
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love and cannibalism
Film
TECH CHECK EQUIPMENT • Camera: Sony a7s ii and Zhiyun stabiliser
man in his mid-twenties who knows his way around the village of Phamong. Neo, on the other hand, is a manipulative and calculating woman – far more menacing than her partner. What she thinks on, he acts on, so they complement each other in that way. “They are truly themselves around each other... Neo looks at the world and sees how it can serve her, and that causes her not to be as empathetic as Molise. He is evil with remorse, but she is without remorse,” Mahase shares. “I’d describe it [the film] as a thriller if I really had to. I wanted the audience to be a part of the problem because they feel like they are witnessing a terrible crime
but they do not have all the details to solve it. So it isn’t really a film about finding a problem and solving it… Hence there is very little about the character’s actual lives and their backgrounds. It [the film] places the audience almost as a witness or even a voyeur.” The film commences with Molise, a seemingly regular herdsman in his environment, and his love interest Neo, a well-dressed, striking woman of mysterious character, who has just arrived at her grandparents’ village of Phamong. The viewer witnesses the couple’s journey as they become lost in their own world and their shared, atrocious interest brings them closer together. However, their blissful union and wicked, carefree ways are suddenly disrupted when the couple discover that they are expecting a baby. “Molise I’d say becomes more remorseful, especially after he learns that he is about to become a father. Neo isn’t remorseful at all, but she does become more thoughtful about her life,” explains Mahase. Inspired by the film noir style of cinematography, the film unfolds with little dialogue, while creating suspense and mystery through swelling sound. Mahase says that she referenced various films for inspiration including, Shame by Steve McQueen which she says was more of a character development/assessment tool; Stoker by Park Chan-wook; the music video for indie rock band Dirty Projectors’ song ‘Little Bubble’; as well as Klute by Alan J. Pakula for sound and music.
Grapefuit, which exquisitely captures Lesotho’s mountainous beauty, was shot in just three days in the district of Mohales Hoek which can be found in the small village of Phamong. Mahase adds that one scene was shot in the country’s capital – Maseru. The film was shot on the Sony a7s ii camera with a Zhiyun crane stabiliser. The gear was sponsored by Fell + Co, with additional equipment secured by the production crew’s industry connections. “We used natural lighting, and it helped that the weather was consistent throughout the days we shot. Nothing was really extravagant; we just had the Sony a7s ii with a lens and filter, either on the Zhiyun stabiliser or tripod. Editing-wise wise I was fortunate that I have a boss who strongly encouraged me to learn how to edit, and it helped to get some practice a month or two before the shoot, so that went a long way. Initially, someone else was going to do it, but driving back from the shoot I thought, ‘hey why not do it myself?’” Post-production duties were also handled by Mahase at Kin Media’s post-production facilities in Cape Town. Grapefruit has so far enjoyed great media coverage including in the Lesotho Times and on Between 10 and 5. The short film has also been submitted to several film festivals, with Mahase anticipating positive responses. – Gezzy S Sibisi
KEY CREW Executive producer: Jurie Muller Producing, directing, editing: Ts’episo Mahase Cinematography: Yanga Ngam Sound recording: AudioDreams Studio Sound mixer: Cauwen Williams
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FILM
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Supa Modo – A Kenyan superhero film The heart-wrenching story of a mother taking her terminally ill child home from hospital to live out her final days, could certainly be portrayed onscreen as misery and immense grief. However, in the Kenyan movie, Supa Modo, the emotional tale is depicted to bring comfort, showing viewers that one can always find happiness, even in the face of death.
T
en-year-old Jo (Stycie Wawewru) plays the courageous, sick little girl, who is obsessed with superheroes, because they offer her an escape into a fantasy world where heroes live forever. As a result, her big sister, Mwix (Nyawara Ndambia) wishes to make her little sister’s dream of possessing real super powers come true. In order to do so, Mwix conspires with the entire village, setting up a series of incidents that she hopes will lead the little girl to believe that her powers will save them all. However, Jo ends up discovering their scheming tactics but she plays along anyway, to keep her community happy. It is only after an unfortunate accident that the village discovers that the girl knew all along about their noble gesture. In order to salvage their good deed, the community sets out to make a movie that includes the other village children, with Jo playing her lifelong dream role of a superhero.
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Director of the film, Likarion Wainaina comments: “I wanted a world that had colour but was very muted which reflects what our film is about. So what we did is have the film in muted colours in the beginning but as we progress and our characters change we bring in more and more colour and saturation. We also split the film into three distinct feels/looks. We had ‘The Real World’, in which we omitted the quintessential African sunset look; ‘The Dream World’, which was darker and had more contrast; and lastly, we had ‘The Film World’ which is essentially the film the community is making and for that we went with the more orange African sunset look in order to reflect how Africa is portrayed in the cinematic world.” Supa Modo is Wainaina’s debut film and is produced by Ginger Ink Films Africa in partnership with One Fine Day Films (OFDF). OFDF has released other awardwinning African films including Kati Kati and Nairobi Half Life. It was at the One
Fine Day Films BrainRoom – a two-week masterclass that allows writers to pitch and develop their ideas – where Wainaina’s story idea for Supa Modo was pitched and selected for production. Wainaina admits that Supa Modo’s original story idea was much darker compared to the final script; it was with the help of his production crew that he managed to turn things around. “Yes, the original story was very dark. One can always get sucked into the darkness when dealing with such heavy materials and themes but the producers really encouraged us to explore it from a new angle, a new way of looking at the situation, and that leads us to explore hope and humour to deal with such a dark theme,” said Wainaina. The film is set in Limuru, in a village called Kabuku outside Nairobi. The Supa Modo production team had castings in June then shot the film in July in just 22 days.
“We shot the film on the Arri Alexa and some second unit shots were done on the Black Magic Cinema Camera 4.6k; we also edited using Avid Media Composer, and the colour grading process was done courtesy of Arri Media,” shared Wainaina. There are a few VFX shots on the film, which were handled by a VFX supervisor who helped achieve the effects in camera. Green screen effects were also pulled off some scenes during post-production. Supa Modo had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February this year to a full house where the film earned the Children’s Jury Special Mention.
TECH CHECK
| FILM
EQUIPMENT • Camera: Arri Alexa and Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera 4.6K
“One can always get sucked into the darkness
The film then had its local premiere at the Nairobi Film Festival where it was a crowd favourite. The film’s success at the Kenyan box-office has been compared to Black Panther’s reign and is rated a must-see family film where kids get to go to the cinema donning their favourite superhero outfits. Supa Modo is currently playing for a second month at cinemas in Nairobi and Mombasa, with a VOD release due in the upcoming months. The film had its US premiere at the 14th Annual New African Film Festival and also showcased at the 37th Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival where it was selected for the Youth Jury Award for cinematography, acting, and pacing that emphasised the natural bond between family and community in Kenya. The film is also showcasing at festivals in Belgium, Spain, Norway and Australia. Rushlake Media has acquired the film’s world sales rights, with several African countries making offers to reproduce the film in different languages, and for different African communities. – Gezzy S Sibisi
when dealing with such heavy materials and themes, but the producers really encouraged us to explore it from a new angle…and that lead us to explore hope and humour to deal with such a dark theme.
”
– Likarion Wainaina
“We shot the film on the Arri Alexa and some second unit shots were done on the Black Magic Cinema Camera 4.6k.”
KEY CREW Director: Likarion Wainaina Producers: Sarika Hemi Lakhani, Siobhain ‘Ginger’ Wilson, Tom Tykwer, Guy Wilson, Marie Steinmann-Tykwer Cinematography: Enos Olik Editor: Charity Kuria Sound: Sean Peevers
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TRAINING
| OPINION
Film schools in Africa:
The future of the industry How do we ensure that the next generation of filmmakers in Africa have the skills and tools necessary to compete in the global environment? Are there enough film schools across the continent to provide the training and resources that are needed? What bodies and organisations are working towards supporting and developing film and content production skills in various countries?
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hese are just some of the questions I have been asking myself and others in the last few weeks. Working towards putting together the second annual Film School Programme for this year’s Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), has gotten me almost obsessed with the state of film and related training in the region. It has been unexpectedly challenging to develop this year’s programme in terms of finding partners and sponsors willing to “put their money where their mouth is” in support of young people and their future. The Film School Programme at ZIFF started last year and the festival was overwhelmed with the response from young people, educators and facilitators. Over 80 young people travelled for two days across Kenya and Tanzania to attend two days’ worth of workshops and events. However, attempting to expand the
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programme this year with the support of related brands and organisations has proven virtually impossible. The demand and hunger for these skills continues to grow, and one can pretty clearly correlate the size and growth of a national film industry to the amount of film schools that exist. Africa’s leading countries in terms of film production (albeit original films or servicing international productions) are South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, so not surprisingly one finds these countries also have the most opportunities for film related education. Of course in South Africa there is a wide array of film schools and programmes to choose from; AFDA, Big Fish, City Varsity, University of Cape Town (UCT), SAE Institute, University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), just to name a few. In fact, the Wits School of Arts was even named as one of the top 15 film schools
in the world by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 and a cursory search can find at least 50 different institutions or programmes across the country. There are also festivals such as Behind the Blazer Film Festival, presented in association with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF). The Behind the Blazer Film Festival is an event that showcases films made by South African high school students from townships, developing cities and rural areas. Nigeria also has over 50 film schools across the country, and not just in the major urban centres. The film school landscape in Nigeria is not just quantitatively large, but also diverse in approaches and programmes. The schools include well-known ones like the National Film Institute, Jos; African Film and Media College, Lagos; Cifraz Film Institute, Bauchi; Disciples Film and Television Institute, Lagos. Many of these schools are also creating international partnerships, for example, in the last few years the Asian Academy of Film and Television has partnered with the National Film Institute, Jos to present the International Student’s Film Festival at Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. It was also just announced in March 2018 that the French, German and Japanese Embassies in Nigeria are collaborating on setting up film schools in the country, according to Denys Gauer, French Ambassador to Nigeria. Kenya is also really gearing up in terms of film and related education and training, with the government even considering the inclusion of visual and performing arts within its new school curriculum. There are about five public institutions offering
degrees and a host of other smaller private academies and institutions offering both short and long courses. In fact, most of the young people who attended last year’s ZIFF Film School Workshops came through two Kenyan based programmes – both of which provide technical content production training in high schools and primary schools. Re-tuning Cinema in Africa is a programme headed by Mark Wambui that teaches filmmaking in a host of schools in Nariobi, while the University of Nairobi has a project that reaches into dozens of high schools and primary schools across the country. The number of film schools in a country however is not always an indicator of the quality of the education or the outcomes being produced. The quality of degrees available across the continent varies, and also the ability of many young people to pay for this kind of education is another major stumbling block. As with most educational needs in Africa, the only way to really ensure that enough students are able to attend quality institutions is to create partnerships between the schools, government and the private sector. Projects such as the Film School Programme at ZIFF is but one of these initiatives that needs support from the East African region. This year’s programme may only take place in a very limited format unless sufficient funds and partners can be found. Anyone interested in getting involved can email workshops@ziff.or.tz. – Lara Preston
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TELEVISION
Script2Screen Africa: Igniting positive transformation across the continent The Script2Screen filmmaking project has revamped and refocused in an impactful way. Now titled Script2Screen Africa, the annual workshop programme is now also a prime-time reality TV show, bringing aspirant actors and filmmakers from across the African continent to compete in a series of workshops while standing a chance to produce their own film.
Winners of the Overall Best Short Film award
B
right Obasi, the founder and president of High Definition Film Academy and pioneer of the Script2Screen initiative, launched the project in 2011 and decided it was time to raise the standard in 2017. A call for entries took place last year, whereby 60 finalists were selected from auditions across three continents and seven countries – including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, USA, UK, and Canada (for Africans in diaspora) – to be part of the reality TV project. “We wanted to have workshops where we bring in veteran filmmakers, actors and celebrities to come together and impact the next generation of actors and filmmakers beyond the regular film school we have. People across the continent can come to intensive workshops and work directly with these veterans,” informed Obasi. This year marks the sixth edition of the project, with the main theme being, ‘Film as a catalyst for revolution!’ Another modification to the Script2Screen offering is a focus on the plights of different countries and the positive transformational effect that filmmaking can yield. “With the pan-African reach of the programme, it was important to have a particular focus for each country, and we decided to tackle Nigeria first, under the theme #CorruptionFreeNigeria,” Obasi said. “We have looked at the African continent and the country of Nigeria, and we asked ourselves, what is the greatest
The winning film, Isidore
challenge that our country is facing, and we realised if corruption was solved, then half of the problems will be solved. For us Scrpit2Screen Africa is not a show designed for leisure or laughter; these are elements of a bigger picture to create positive change in the country and continent by exploring the transformational effect of film.”
The Reality Show The show started with 60 hopefuls, from 24 March to 21 April participants
underwent a series of workshops and tasks that encouraged them to use their skills for positive change, while tackling issues related to the themes. Veteran actors and filmmakers including Steve Gukas, Teco Benson, Stella Damasus, CJ Obasi, Pascal Amanfo, Niyi Akimolayan, Majid Michel and Kalu Ikeagwu were called in as mentors and jury members to set daily and weekly tasks for the participants, and to hold topical discussions. “We have a theme that is strong, and things could get very serious, but we are not approaching the project from that perspective. We want to create great entertainment for our audience and then embed a message within that entertainment. We have very controversial and engaging topics presented in a very entertaining manner so that our audience can enjoy being part of the project but also get the message that we have to raise and create this change we seek,” said Obasi. Each week the group got smaller, as viewers voted for their favourite contestants and to save those who had been selected for eviction. The jury and audience measured 50 per cent of the votes respectively, and as the competition intensified, five groups
“Script2Screen Africa is not a show designed for leisure or laughter; these are elements of a bigger picture to create positive change in the country and continent by exploring the transformational effect of film.
”
– Bright Obasi
were left to compete for the ultimate prize of 1 million naira and a chance to produce a feature film titled, If I Am President.
Final Teams The final test for the group came when the teams were tasked to create their own short film. Teams were instructed to touch on different aspects of corruption including: The Power of Corruption, The Power of Exemplary Leadership to Overcome Corruption, The Power of Empowering Young People to Deplete Corruption, and How Corruption Can Be Reduced by Quick Execution of Judgement. “Through the films, we want to repaint the picture of what Nigeria is, we want to reconstruct the headlines, and we want to change the narrative,” Obasi expressed. The final teams produced five films, namely: The Catalyst, The Anonymous, Torn, Idam, and Isidore. On 19 April at the Silverbird Cinema in Lagos, the short films had their official premiere which was followed by an awards ceremony. The winner of the Best Screenplay award went to Anita Abada, Best Filmmaker went to Oghenetejiri Idogho, while the Best Actor/Actress award went to Lydia John. The much-anticipated Overall Best Short Film award went to the fourth team for their film, Isidore, directed by Nuhu Dalyop. “The winning team will be working with veteran filmmakers and trailblazing Nollywood actors and actresses to produce a film that will be showing not only in Nigeria but across Africa as well as internationally in the USA and UK,” concluded Obasi. – Gezzy S Sibisi
May 2018
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BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY
| CASE STUDY
Botswana Television employs TSL Products’ advanced broadcast solutions Botswana Television (BTV) became Africa’s first fully digital TV station when it first went on air in 2000. Operating from a greenfield studio and playout centre in the country’s capital city, Gaborone, the centre was regarded as state-of-the-art and an early adopter of a tapeless workflow.
S
ince then, the systems have been increasingly under pressure and repaired as they aged. BTV, which transmitted two channels, was also under pressure to migrate its digital transmission to HD. At the same time, the operational and engineering team had developed strong workflows and working practices and were reluctant to make too many changes. The requirement and decision, therefore, was to implement new technology to provide additional functionality, renewed levels of reliability, and the agility to handle new requirements, while remaining familiar to operational staff.
A New Technology Platform Systems integrator Dega Broadcast Systems (Dega) was contracted to design and implement the new technology platform. The technology upgrade was 24 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
intended to cover three production studios, two playout channels (capable of expansion to four) and a post-production area including graphics and editing. BTV had a legacy control layer, which provided some integration of hardware systems. It wanted to retain existing functionality – including software control as well as hard panels – but it needed the system to be much more allencompassing. It also wanted the flexibility to control multiple devices in a logical way. Working together, Dega and BTV selected appropriate technology for the move to HD. Dega proposed the TallyMan intelligent unified control platform from TSL Products. BTV was immediately ready to consider this suggestion, as one of the few parts of the original station installation still working well was the under-monitor display (UMD) from TSL.
Written by Dan Bailey,
product manager – Control Systems, TSL Products
An Advanced System for Current and Future Needs In a sense, TallyMan – as its name suggests – grew out of UMD control, but it has become a smart automation platform as well as a control layer. The BTV system is one of the first of more than 1 000 global installations to widely deploy the new TallyMan Virtual Panels. The TallyMan Virtual Panel has achieved this level of success because, most importantly, it is a completely agnostic platform. It supports interfaces for virtually every vendor and product commonly used in the industry. Where it does not exist, an interface can be quickly implemented. For example, this was accomplished when BTV needed full remote control of a Canon BU-47 robotic camera on top of a 35m mast. Along with seamless third-party integration, the Virtual Panel offers a powerful control engine for grouping multiple actions into a simple, drag and drop control surface. Broadcasters can establish production pre-sets that trigger actions from multiple pieces of equipment with a single key-press. Logic trapping ensures all elements of a path
are established before it can be taken to air, helping to eliminate operational errors while providing simple access to complex actions. This intuitive user interface ensures that the end user’s engineering team can adapt existing pre-sets and add new operations or equipment at any time in the future.
Leveraging Hardware Panels and Software Control88 Dega and BTV’s engineering team had begun migrating towards a mixture of hardware panels and software control. Recognising that hardware panels are often operationally the most logical control surface, TSL Products includes several rack-width button panels in the TallyMan range. Dega and BTV selected the 16 button hard panels for the new installation. While having the familiar format of a simple router panel, the TMCP-16 panels include active matrix displays on each key, making the precise functionality clear while allowing the panels to include dynamic control and multi-page switching. BTV will also benefit from virtual panels where control surfaces are built on the
CASE STUDY
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BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY
“In a country like Botswana, it is very important that technology be resistant to various environmental factors, as the weather can be harsh resulting in power
outages and air conditioning failures. TallyMan is a distributed system that does not rely on all system components to be working all of the time. This is a very strong architecture to have in this sort of unpredictable environment. modern generation of touchscreen PCs that allow context-aware screen layouts, presenting precisely the right controls to the user at any time. TallyMan’s software includes a substantial graphics library to speed the design of virtual panels. This includes rotary and slider controls for precise setting of levels for audio, lighting and more. The TallyMan Virtual Panel also supports the ability to import graphics such as logos, maps and charts to create completely customised and immediately obvious user interfaces. Using the design software, Dega was able to tailor panels to the precise needs of the individual user. The Canon external remote camera is an excellent example. An operational camera would have pan, tilt and zoom controls; an engineering panel would have white balance and iris controls. The identity of the user determines what functionality is available. Again, the aim is to maximise quality and
eliminate errors by ensuring staff are only presented with the controls they need. As a control layer, managing signal paths without directly handling it, this allows for effective management of any underlying infrastructure, including SDI, IP or a transitional mixture of the two. Moving from a SAM SDI router to an Ethernet switch would simply require a change in the API in TallyMan to ensure precisely the same operational logic continues to be provided. TallyMan itself controls devices either over point-to-point serial interfaces or over an IP network. Simple actions can be triggered by GPI. In all cases, timing precision is accurate enough to trigger large numbers of actions simultaneously.
”
– Philip Pullinger
Achieving Maximum Resilience in Changing Environments “In a country like Botswana, it is very important that technology be resistant to various environmental factors, as the weather can be harsh resulting in power outages and air conditioning failures,” says Philip Pullinger, BTV project manager for Dega Broadcast Systems. “TallyMan is a distributed system that does not rely on all system components to be working all of the time. This is a very strong architecture to have in this sort of unpredictable environment.” Dega has specified TM1 MK2 controllers for BTV to provide the logic processing, equipment database, SNMP monitoring and switch control for the entire network. One of the key abilities to design the logic based on the facility’s requirements is the ability to create multiple failover conditions. This allows the system to work around any failure in the equipment under its control, ensuring that key activities like playout remain live even if compromises must be made. This is one of the great advantages of unified intelligent control: it allows technical resources to be shared and reallocated dynamically in response to changing requirements. This is critical for the levels of reliability expected in broadcast environments today. The project to upgrade the facilities at BTV is a primary example of the way in which intelligent, unified automated control and monitoring of technology can deliver added value. While maintaining a familiar style of operation, TallyMan allows production values to rise while limiting the need for staff to be retrained and to devote time to complex operations. It delivers richer solutions, and it makes them easier and more reliable to operate.
May 2018
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2018
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REPORT
NAB 2018: The year
This year attendance at NAB 2018 was down on previous years but despite the lower visitor numbers the conference content and exhibition produced the buzz and excitement that NAB is synonymous for.
T
his year’s show had a little bit of everything, but the main trends seem to revolve around RGB lighting, large format cameras, and a game changing codec, whilst the conference sessions followed some interesting threads under the umbrella of next-generation technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), immersive media and cyber security. From production to distribution, artificial intelligence has taken the broadcast and filmmaking industries by storm. The 2018 edition of NAB dedicated time and space to showcase some of the developments in AI with conference sessions like “Machine Intelligence: The Evolution of Content Production Aided by Machine Learning”, “Optimising Production with Neural Networks”, “How Machine Intelligence is Transforming Editorial”, “New Frontiers in Animation and Computer Graphics”,
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“From Dailies to Master – Machine Intelligence Comes to Video Workflows” and, finally, “The Future of Content with Machine Intelligence”. The series of sessions looked at machine learning, deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies and at how studios, networks and creative service companies can use them to help produce content. In the Future of Cinema conference sessions, perhaps the most intriguing was one hosted by Annie Chang, VP of Creative Technologies at Universal Pictures entitled “Do Androids Dream of Making Movies?”. Artificial intelligence still sounds very futuristic to most of us and the main questions asked at the session were: Are machines going to take over the creative process? Will we all lose our jobs? Luckily, it was established that we seem to be safe, in the short term at least!
Another highly attended special NAB conference session was on cyber security. IP connectivity and the cloud means that both the intellectual property and the infrastructure of broadcast and media companies is now at risk of cyber-attack and discussion points were expertly handled by industry leaders from media delivery companies like Aspera and Signiant. In general the overall outcome seemed to indicate that the media industry is having to catch up fast as the presence of cyber-threats constantly challenges data integrity, system resilience and intellectual property theft.
Exhibition – truly industry changing It’s rare for Apple to show their faces at NAB or IBC, so great excitement was generated when they unveiled a new video acquisition codec called ProRes RAW – a development that will make a huge impact on both the production and post sides of the industry. Apple said that creators will be able to use it right away via updates to DJI’s filmmaking drones and Atomos recorders allowing RAW recording for cameras from Panasonic, Sony, Canon and others. Never before has a codec created such a stir within the
REPORT
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2018
of Artificial Intelligence
industry so watch this space, I think it is going to be a game changer in acquisition circles. Showcasing a new era of VR content, Fraunhofer HHI, Ericsson, Harmonic and Nokia demonstrated a world first ultra-high resolution, live virtual reality and 360-degree video at the NAB Show. Attracting goggle eyed delegates from all corners of the conference centre, the 10K capture and live rendering for high-resolution VR360 video, used the Fraunhofer HHI Omnicam-360 and tile-based live encoding with the Fraunhofer HHI HEVC encoder to great effect. VR is still considered to be part of the future of broadcast television and the exhibition halls were bursting at the seams with newly developed and prototype VR technology. One of the big drivers for buyers at NAB was LED lighting. The technology just keeps getting better and there were huge numbers of interesting light fixtures to consider. The trend is definitely moving away from multiple, visible, LED diodes and moving towards creating fixtures that produce a soft, single source of light. One of the most impressive fixtures on display was the current versions of ARRI’s SkyPanels which utilise RGB and LEDs, and can do some pretty impressive things. Canadian manufacturers Westcott wowed filmmakers with a prototype of their new 2x1 Flex LED panel lights with new RGBW LED technology. The RGBW Flex Light uses clusters of red, green, blue and white LEDs to output light that’s much more controllable than a simple
Kelvin temperature adjustment. Water resistant and flat packable, there’s nothing quite like being able to gaff tape a light fixture to a ceiling or a wall. As always Blackmagic Design never fails to disappoint at NAB. Their announcement of the release of their new Pocket 4K Cinema Camera, set Las Vegas and the internet buzzing. The 4K Pocket Cinema Camera uses an all new fibre reinforced polycarbonate based body design, it produces a full 4096x2160 resolution picture and your footage is recorded to CFast 2.0 cards or high speed SD. But the winning feature here is the USB port. If you have a USB-C HDD you can simply plug it right in to the camera body and record directly to it. Your footage is then completely NLE ready by plugging it into your editing computer. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K will be available later in 2018 with a price tag of $1,295 (What! That price is insane!) from authorised resellers around the world.
It’s no real surprise that Sony decided to update their entry level digital cinema camera with the launch of the Sony FS5 MKII. With new competition in the form of the Canon C200, Panasonic EVA-1, and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro, Sony thought it wise to give the FS5 a makeover. Most of the FS5 II’s improvements are under the hood. The camera uses the same 4K Super 35 EXMOR sensor that features 14 stops of latitude as the original FS5. What is different is when it comes to the image processing and to try and keep in front, Sony has slightly tinkered with the high frame rate options. The FS5 II can internally record 2K (2048×1080) at 240fps (in 8 second bursts), FHD (1920×1080) continuously at 120fps, and 8 seconds of 480fps and 960fps at lower resolutions through a cache to SDXC media. Price? The same as the old FS5 which will now become a little cheaper once the MKII is released in the market place. There was a lot of excitement over at
the Vimeo stand who took the opportunity to use NAB as their platform to announce and introduce their new Over-The-Top custom streaming apps. One of the great things about Vimeo is that it allows anybody to upload their content and make money from it, either through voluntary donations, or from pay-per-view. The new streaming apps allow anybody to create a Netflix style subscription service for their content. This is potentially a huge thing, opening up the possibility for all sorts of niche subjects to be covered by content creators in a very open and transparent way. The fact that Vimeo can be left to deal with the complexities of actual delivery leaves creators free to focus on the quality of their videos and marketing of their subscription service. I think as time goes on we’ll be hearing a lot more about Vimeo OTT Live. I love NAB, where ground-breaking technology is unveiled, innovative solutions are displayed and gamechanging trends are exposed. 2018 didn’t disappoint and luckily for us not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, I’m off to buy a new camera…and some lights…and… – Ian Dormer
May 2018
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LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES
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CASE STUDY
Southern Lighting Solutions
lights up Germany’s biggest reality show December 2017 saw some 100 plus German crew and contestants from Germany’s most popular Reality TV show DSDS, descend into sunny South Africa for their Top 25 Recall shoot.
D
eutschland Sucht Den Superstar (DSDS), which roughly translates to Germany Seeks the Superstar, is RTL Networks German version of the popular Idols franchise. Now in its 15th Season, DSDS looks at ways of making the ever-popular show even more exciting. Previous seasons have been shot in exotic locations like the jungles of South America, the heli-pad of the Burj Al Arab, and in front of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. So how do you top that? Well, how about shooting in the middle of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, amongst the BIG 5? Southern Lighting Solutions (SLS) were contacted by lighting designer, David Kreileman (dk Design) to provide lighting equipment and technical support to the production team from DSDS for their South African leg of the shoot. David is one of Europe’s top TV lighting designers, with many big name shows under his belt, including, Dancing with the Stars, Germany’s Got Talent, The Bachelor, and many more. David requested that SLS join the production team on a three-day recce, to go through all possible locations and
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setups. Freelance gaffer Andre Beumer and I – Sean Boyce, Southern Lighting Solutions’ technical director – joined the team to scout some 20 plus locations in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, Black Rhino Reserve and Sun City. Amassing large amounts of technical information in a short amount of time was needed for the shoots. This ranged from lighting requirements, power distribution, grips and rigging to location access provisions and crew management. Andre and I worked closely with David in the following weeks to ensure lighting plans, equipment quantities and crew numbers would match the design requirements. They also had to keep the producer happy by staying in budget, which in today’s entertainment industry is almost never possible. With equipment, crew and transport assembled, the SLS team were ready for DSDS. The gear selected for the various locations was meticulously researched to ensure the equipment gave the production the best results for the budget provided. The Contest Village at Black Rhino Lodge would be the home of the contestants for most of their stay. Here,
Written by Sean Boyce,
technical director, Southern Lighting Solutions they would have rehearsal rooms and lounge areas at their disposal to enable them to perfect their performances. Groups of contestants were placed in lodges all connected by bushveld pathways. SLS was requested to light all areas well enough for the ENG crews to film in, but to also to enhance the natural beauty of the lodge. The impending arrival of the contestants and inclement weather meant the crew worked well into the night, through downpours and the sound of jackals near the lodge fence, to ensure all lighting was ready in time. David had originally specified incandescent parcans to light up the trees and bushveld surrounding the lodge. However, with the sheer quantity that would be needed, we quickly agreed that powerful LED parcans would be a better choice. The SuperSolar RGBW Zoom cans were the perfect lights for the application. These are IP65 rated and have great quality light output – 70 units were used. Next up was to light the pathways. David suggested the Osram 50w warm white LED Vance flood lights. The fixtures create a soft yet powerful light for a compact, waterproof, 50watt LED flood light. The multitude of long pathways and entrances to the lodges meant 40 units were attached to trees along the routes. The music and rehearsal rooms were lit with a mixture of 1kw and 2kw Jemballs
outside, while we matched light quality inside with Chinese lanterns and photo flood globes. The ENG crew made use of Rosco Silk 110 LED Panels for additional lighting. The DSDS production team picked out two magnificent locations for shooting Elimination Rounds. The first was at a popular area of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, the Hippo Loop, at the waters’ edge of the Mankwe Dam – the lowest point of an ancient volcano. Here the crew and contestants were protected by a team of game rangers who ensured their safety from the surrounding wildlife. At this location, the lighting designer required lighting to work with the natural South African sun. A mixture of 6kw and 4kw Cinepars were requested along with 12x12 and 8x8 Bounce textiles. Power would be an issue as we needed special permission to bring the 100kvA generator truck into the reserve. It exceeded weight limits and size for the little game reserve’s roads. Rangers blocked off the Hippo Loop area to the general public and kept a watchful eye on the imposing herd of hippos. The gear remained the same for the second of the two Elimination Rounds. The second venue was again tricky to access. An eight ton lighting truck and a 100kvA generator truck navigating dirt roads, made for 4x4 access, required the
drivers to do some skilful manoeuvring to make their way through the bushveld landscape of the Black Rhino Reserve, which borders the Pilanesberg. A second lighting team from SLS loaded up another eight ton truck with the lighting and rigging equipment required for the Sun City Palace and Amphitheatre locations. The crew were given two days to setup and program the Final Elimination round in the amphitheatre. This proved to be quite a challenge. The area stayed open to Sun City guests and the crew had to contend with the elements in the outdoor venue. The summer thunder storms meant the crew had their work cut out for them. With little time remaining, the last of the cabling was completed and the rig was fired up. Following the Black Rhino shoot, we focused lights and programmed through the night, preparing for the next evening’s performances. David specified a large amount of LED fixtures for the Amphitheatre and surrounding garden. This was to give the feeling of being in ‘The Lost City’. The Amphitheatre would be filled with a live audience of locals, cheering on the contestants. For this, he requested 50 LED
moving through the bushes and shrubs of the Lost City gardens. Chris Sroka, David’s German lighting desk operator requested a Grand MA 2 full size, to be used alongside his MA wing, to control all the equipment at the Amphitheatre. Chris was given all the music for the next evening’s performances to which he could program timecode sequences for each performance. 24-way ETC Sensor racks were used for both dimming and as power supplies to all moving light fixtures, making long runs of power easy by using Socopex cabling. Multiple, venue-supplied, 3-phase plugs were in use, with a 140kvA generator on standby. The Palace Hotel was used as the Contestant Village for the Final Elimination round, which meant there were new rehearsal rooms and lounge areas to be lit. Similar lighting setups were required for these as in Black Rhino Lodge, allowing the ENG crew to follow contestants wherever the drama took them. Due to working hotel constraints, SLS were only able to setup the holding area for contestants and part of the Palace staircase to be used as the entrance to the final performance at the very last moment.
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On the set of Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar (DSDS)
wash lights with possible effect capabilities as back lights. Sean suggested the Robe Robin 600 fixture. A total of 14 ETC Source4 Profiles were also used to light up the judges and contestants within the Amphitheatre. David requested two DMX controlled Followspots, which seemed to be the one fixture no South African rental company could supply, until a suggestion was made by Theo Rood from MJ Event Gear to use the Robe BMFL in follow spot mode. These moving lights are able to disengage the pan/tilt motors to allow it to be used as a followspot while still giving the desk operator full control of the rest of the parameters. David requested 60 high powered RGBW LED parcans to light the garden. The SuperSolars were the correct fixture for the job. In addition to the LEDs, the lighting designer needed six 575w HMI fixtures to create silhouettes throughout the surrounding trees, for this I recommended the Filmgear 575w Cine Par BIB. This unit has a built-in ballast, making it easy to move around on set; ideal for
Studio Production
Lighting designer, David, wanted to light the contestants walking down the staircase without being able to see any fixtures. The Osram LED Vance fixtures were again called upon. These were fixed to the trees alongside the walkway, deep enough into the garden that the fixtures could not be seen, but close enough for contestants to be lit. Short setup time meant the holding area at the top of the staircase needed to be lit by battery powered units, 24 Chauvet EZrail RGBA LEDs were chosen for this application. Also used were four ETC Source4 Profiles. To create depth within the background, three Film Gear F18 Faceted Pars were used to light up the dense forest near the Palace. The venue was rigged and programmed, and filled with locals from Sun City eagerly awaiting the contestant’s performances. The lights and cameras were ready and the Amphitheatre came to life with beautiful lighting and harmonic voices – yet another unforgettable location for DSDS. The Sun City Amphitheatre never looked so good!
AES 67
SDI / IP
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21.03.18 15:54 Uhr
IPTV & OTT
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An inside look at the meteoric rise of OTT and VOD services in Africa
South Africa – and the continent of Africa more generally – is currently undergoing a broadcasting revolution. The astronomical rise of Over-The-Top (OTT) content, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Video On Demand (VOD) services has already wrought major changes throughout the film and television industries, with all signs pointing to even greater innovation on its way in the coming years.
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n this article, we speak to industry professionals about the quantum leap in broadcasting that OTT and IPTV have initiated, discussing the technologies that have enabled their development, their various benefits, and how we can expect the South African broadcasting landscape to transform further in the near future.
What is OTT, IPTV and VOD? Although Over-The-Top content and Internet Protocol Television are similar in that they use the same mechanism (the internet) to deliver content to consumers, there are some key differences between them. The most important distinction is that OTT uses open, unmanaged and publicly accessible internet to deliver its services, while IPTV uses a dedicated, closed network – sometimes referred to as a ‘walled garden’. This means that IPTV setups require additional hardware, as
the consumer needs a way to connect directly with the provider’s streaming services (usually via a set-top box). Both platforms offer Video On Demand (VOD) services, which refer to the consumer’s ability to watch or listen to content whenever they choose (and on whatever device they have available), rather than at a pre-scheduled broadcast time. This programming system is undoubtedly the most exciting thing about OTT and IPTV services, and the chief reason for its deepening impact on the entire media landscape. As Pierre van der Hoven, founder and CEO of the OTT company Tuluntulu – “a content distribution platform for TV and radio, focusing on the African content” – explains, businesses like his can now offer “a one-stop technology, content creation, content management, distribution, marketing and monetisation service.”
What has enabled the development of IPTV and OTT in South Africa? According to Richard Boorman, head of Communications at Showmax, there are two key components that drive the uptake of OTT video content. These are “affordable devices capable of supporting OTT video, and affordable, ideally uncapped, internet data. We’ve seen this happen in waves across the world – North America, western Europe, and parts of Asia were amongst the first to get ubiquitous high-speed uncapped fixed data connections at home. At the same time, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, media players like Apple TV, and gaming consoles all reached the point that they were both affordable and advanced enough that they could process video. As soon as both were in place, OTT usage took off in these regions.” In terms of the local market, Stephen Watson – managing director of Discover Digital, whose VOD service is called DEOD – agrees that “greater access to broadband data and the qualitative advancement of internet connections through Fibre To The Business (FTTB) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH)” is the “first and most obvious answer” to the rapid proliferation of OTT services in South Africa and across the African continent more generally. However, he points out that “this unfortunately does not yet impact the mass market segments, for whom FTTH is either unaffordable or inaccessible. This market segment remains reliant on mobile broadband data, which is expensive for the streaming or downloading of video content.”
This represents an enormous market opportunity, and Watson is confident that service providers will find ways to bridge the gap: “Soon the market will be littered with either zero-rated data or subsidised data for content streaming, downloading and other OTT services. Telkom and Cell C are already playing in this space with LIT TV and Black TV, respectively.”
How do VOD services benefit the film and television industries? For Tuluntulu’s van der Hoven, “everybody benefits from more eyes watching more video content on more screens. For creators and producers, there are more opportunities and a growing market demand for video content. For consumers, the power to choose is increasingly in their hands – there are now many more options for consuming video content. For the industry in general, the use and consumption of video is exploding, and this will drive growth.” Watson adds that “OTT platforms are opening up new distribution opportunities for creators, producers and brands that can be monetised via subscription video on demand (SVOD) and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) models, but with the added benefit of real big data accumulation. Questions such as who watched, when did they watch, what device did they watch on, where did they watch it, all become known and – more importantly – further direct engagement with your viewers or fans becomes possible. This direct-to-consumer approach is transitioning the industry, not only for original content but even for sports bodies. Any broadcaster in Africa not offering an OTT service for their viewers to consume content on the move – on their mobiles, tablets, PCs and smart TVs – will soon become irrelevant.” And Boorman goes even further when discussing the benefits of OTT to the television industry, discussing how the medium of TV entertainment itself has been transformed. “It’s hard to underestimate the impact of OTT video on both the art form of the TV series and on people’s viewing behaviour,” he says. “Twenty years ago each episode of a TV series was a self-contained story. Typically, within the constraints of a 40-45 minute time slot (the rest being filled by ads), a problem would emerge, the protagonists would have a setback, there would be an ‘aha’ moment, and then a final showdown in which the good guys always won. Other than the soapies, there was very little – if any – backstory from episode to episode. The reason for this was that these shows needed to accommodate people missing the episode when it first aired, and catching things out of order as they watched repeat broadcasts.” “But then,” he explains, “along came OTT video and binge-viewing and
IPTV |&Film OTT
everything changed. With the ability to watch multiple episodes back-to-back, and with the ability to keep returning to a series day after day until all its episodes (or even seasons) are finished, the complexity of the storytelling involved has changed dramatically. Think of series such as Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones – all of a sudden, two-hour movies seem limited and shallow compared to the complex plots in these shows that weave stories through multiple seasons, with incredible character development.”
How can we expect things to develop over the next few years? When asked about the future prospects of VOD platforms, all three contributors were bullish about their outlook. Boorman ventures that, “As affordable uncapped data options expand across South Africa and ultimately across the rest of the continent, we expect to see usage growing exponentially.” He adds that, as far industry-specific innovations are concerned, “enhanced video compression, to enable more efficient use of mobile data, would be a game-changer.” In Watson’s view, “As the larger cloud-based services like Amazon, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure become more accessible and present in the African market, the cost of content storage, content delivery network services and digital content workflows are plummeting, making it more affordable for VOD services to access the market. For example, we are launching our LIVE2VOD functionality this month, which essentially converts a linear programme just played out by a TV channel into a VOD asset on the fly. The programme can subsequently be streamed, downloaded or scheduled for download at off-peak times for consumers to enjoy. In addition, greater adoption of HEVC/ H265 streaming protocols will decrease the broadband consumption and improve the quality of streaming services, too.” Finally, van der Hoven echoes Boorman’s expectation of “exponential” growth over the next few years, and predicts that “the quality and popularity of local content will continue to increase, allowing ‘Africans to tell the African story’ themselves. User-generated content and new forms of content creation will further add to the impetus and growth of OTT platforms in South Africa and across the continent at large.” – David Cornwell
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IPTV & OTT
| THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Does OTT make sense for smaller broadcasters and media organisations? Written by Ken Haren,
solutions engineering manager, Telestream
Over-the-Top (OTT) services are now well and truly in the mainstream of broadcast operations. It isn’t just big national/ international broadcasters that are investing heavily in OTT provision. Many smaller organisations are launching OTT services – but are the business issues facing all broadcasters the same. In this article, I look at the big OTT picture and asks when smaller or regional broadcasting channels decide to shift to OTT, what are some aspects they should keep in mind with the technology implementation?
W
hat impacts the cost of OTT services? One of the great benefits of an OTT strategy is that the costs associated with a successful channel launch can often be minimised through the use of cloud and social media channel origination and delivery services. Social media is often times a great tool for creating awareness around a broadcaster’s brand, entice new viewers to their programme offerings and affordably distribute content to a broad audience. Cloud solutions provide the programmer with the ability to rapidly try out new delivery approaches, different promotions and novel programming line-ups to entice a broader audience. Whether as second screen experiences or as a premium channel, social media and cloud origination can dramatically cut up front investment costs and enable rapid development of an internet scale audience. While OTT delivery costs often scale with the size of the audience, novel approaches provide a path to testing and validating audience response to your programming and marketing efforts 32 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
without the need for very large initial investments. It’s not uncommon for programmers and broadcasters to leverage cloud services and social media to develop the audience, and once established, look to pull ownership of the end user experience, video hosting, ad trafficking and content rights enforcement in-house. While this can increase costs, it can enable the programmer unique audience insights and new monetisation opportunities. As mentioned, cloud service offerings can deliver value by scaling out much of the technology investment typically associated with new content channel launches. However, it’s not uncommon for there to be requirements that may benefit from investment in on-premises “accelerated” processing appliances and private cloud deployments that are optimised for fast content turn around and processing of large libraries without the overhead associated with moving large files in and out of cloud service offerings. Ensuring that the technology stack supports the optimum mix of on-premises, private and public cloud
deployment options can be essential to launching a new channel and supporting growth and scale. Another factor a new OTT service requires at launch is a differentiation strategy; focusing on premium features like quality (4K, HDR, Premium Audio, etc…), library size or exclusivity, content localisation and others enhancements designed to entice subscribers or broader audience engagement. While content transcoding for the OTT marketplace may seem to benefit from commodity transcoding services, the overall business drivers will often require very sophisticated tools to implement those differentiators at scale. Choosing technology partners who offer premium capabilities in a deployment model that makes sense for the business is a critical element to a successful channel launch.
What’s a prudent ROI for OTT implementation and its success rate? Return on investment (ROI) may vary depending on the business model for the OTT implementation. Advertising based
programming, subscription services, and transaction oriented OTT channels will each have different approaches to garnering audience share and optimising costs. A common thread for ensuring ROI across platforms is to have good visibility in to what features of the OTT service are delivering the most “bang for the buck”. It’s very important to not only deliver a differentiated experience, but to also measure how the audience experience is being received. Actionable analytics that enable you to dynamically monitor video and network quality all the way down to the player is an essential component of successful OTT channels. Programming delivered over-the-top enables the broadcaster unprecedented capabilities to interact and entice a direct audience. Being able to understand and rapidly react to production and distribution problems that are impacting audience engagement are critical. An abundance of indexes that measure the overall Quality of Experience being delivered, in multiple geographies and across delivery networks combined with a rich set of analytics that describe how
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
audience engagement varied with those performance indexes enables smart investment with the production and delivery solutions that are most benefiting your audience. Investment in QoS/QoE monitoring ensures that a new channel launch excites the audience while providing almost immediate ROI in the form of service optimisations that can dramatically reduce operational expenses.
Boost audiences by targeting specific viewers For broadcasters, it’s essential to reach increased numbers of viewers while optimising costs. Audience reach can be delivered in a number of ways. Many OTT services are increasingly leveraging live programming to entice new viewers. Delivering a live experience while blasting real-time highlights out to your social media followers is a highly cost effective way to create brand and programme awareness. Compelling editorial metadata enriches the content, creating relevance and searchability that, when missing, can be very frustrating and lead to a poor viewer experience. Metadata driven content discovery also lends itself to audience engagement. An extensive VOD library is only a differentiator if you can direct your viewer to content that engages them. By continuously investing in and enriching the metadata around the library you can create interesting ways to dynamically package and promote licensed programming. An emerging tool in the metadata enrichment domain is machine learning services that include offerings
like speech-to-text, OCR and other pattern-based algorithms to pull out more descriptive information that can be used to create relevance and relatedness within your library. Interactivity is increasingly used to attract viewers and elevate brand awareness. Curating an active community around your premium programming can deliver an intensely loyal fan-base and multiply your marketing efforts. Interactive second screen experiences, behind the scenes features and social media events create excitement, awareness and engagement with your audience. A rich community experience is rapidly becoming a cost effective and compelling way to grow audiences and open new potential revenue streams within the existing channel. Is OTT distribution too expensive for smaller broadcasters – the need for agility in your OTT strategy? Some smaller regional broadcasters shy away from OTT platforms because the incremental cost for every stream keeps increasing prohibitively, while the reach gets narrowed to limited viewers. Is this reality? This is one of the great challenges with effectively launching a direct-toconsumer OTT channel. Nobody wants to scale a business that is losing money, and there are risks associated with launching OTT services that are compounded by the dynamic nature of the OTT marketplace today. Traditional broadcast mediums typically offered a set capital investment. Once made, only marginal costs were incurred as the audience size
scaled. However, the traditional model offered very limited direct consumer interaction and little to no direct targeting and personalisation. Advertisers are dramatically increasing their investments in digital video advertising and seeing the benefits of creative targeting and campaign management, paying higher average CPMs (price per thousand views) and delivering greater volumes of ad content. Paid sponsorship is another way to offset costs. It’s unlikely that the number of minutes an average viewer spends watching video each day grows much moving forward, but a growing percentage of overall viewers are spending an increasing amount of their video viewing time in OTT and social media video platforms. The risk to not having an OTT strategy is irrelevance as the audience and advertisers shift to OTT consumption. Because of the increased audience acquisition costs associated with OTT, broadcasters are increasingly looking to increase ROI in the areas that they control, and chief among these is operational efficiency. Implementing flexible technology solutions that automate production and dynamically apply service and delivery cost optimisations ensures maximum ROI through operational efficiency.
Can intelligent tools and data analytics help map audience viewing habits?
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IPTV & OTT
would likely disagree. These providers are investing billions of dollars in new content development and many would argue that some of the most compelling content exists today in the form of these OTT offerings. Having said that, the “long tail” of the web creates an incentive for low budget, low quality content to proliferate and there are many examples of poor quality libraries filled with unsuccessful films and TV shows. Niche content owners now have a vehicle for reaching their audience that they’ve never had before, and you see that some of the most successful small-scale OTT channels often offer something unique in their programming mix to entice a loyal and devoted fan base. To conclude, the single most important investment that an OTT channel operator has to make is licensing and rights deals. No amount of technology investment will entice viewers to tune in if the underlying content library is unpopular and of poor quality. However, if you have not invested in an agile OTT technology strategy, then all the content in the world will not make your OTT business successful. OTT represents a fantastic commercial opportunity to many sorts of media and broadcast organisations. Just like all new business start-ups, it requires careful planning and an agile business plan.
Is OTT no more than a means of recycling old and poor performing content as some commentators suggest? Premium OTT providers that offer “web series” content
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POST-PRODUCTION
| CASE STUDY
Blade handles post and VR on Survivor SA
Written by Warren Bleksley, Bladeworks Post Production
Survivor is certainly one of the world’s most successful reality shows and this year M-Net has commissioned their sixth local version.
34 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
CASE STUDY
T
he previous season was produced back in 2013 with Survivor South Africa: Champions, filmed in Malaysia and featuring a change to the format by introducing ex Springbok captain, Corne Krige and Bafana Bafana footballer Mark Fish to the game as captains of two tribes. This season has an all public cast who are all avid fans of the game. The location is a collection of various islands off the town of El Nido in Palawan, Philippines. This season also saw the extension of the amount of days stretching to 39 days, considerably longer than any of the previous seasons of Survivor SA. Le Roux Botha, series director of this season of Survivor South Africa, is in charge of ensuring that the creative roll out is consistently appealing for viewers to keep coming back for more. “The Philippines location consisted of various islands that were utilised for challenges. This meant that the design of the challenge and the location needed to be integrated. All the challenges took place on different islands which meant a lot of logistical consideration in setting up the challenges by the Art and Construction team, led by Val Groenewald. The Filipino construction crew were incredible, having intimate knowledge of the locations and how to set up challenges on the different islands. Some of the local crew had worked on several previous Survivor versions, including the US, French, Swedish and Australian versions. We had 12 different islands that were alternated to give a different look to each of the challenges,” explains Botha. Survivor SA producer, Darren Lindsay had to keep a close eye on moving 871 crew flights and getting two and a half tons of gear across the world to start on time for 39 days of the game: “For Survivor South Africa 2018, we used Visual Impacts’ services to supply a variety of cameras to ensure that the imaging aspect was of the highest quality,” Lindsay informs. “The main camera choice for all the games, reality and Tribal Council was the Sony PMW400. This camera is the workhorse in the reality market in camera rentals. It is extremely tough and reliable and was the only choice for a physically challenging shoot such as Survivor. Complementing the PMW400 was a variety of Canon 2/3” ENG zoom lenses including the HJ11, HJ22, HJ17 and 2 x HJ40’s. The pairing of Canon Glass and Sony PMW400’s always delivers crisp clear images and has a really pleasing colour response.” A complete multi-camera fly-away system with full CCU Control (Camera Control Units) was needed to ensure perfect colour and exposure control by an engineer. This was done by using a bespoke fibre system custom built by Visual Impact South Africa that was used on all of the games challenges as well as Tribal Council. Lindsay explains: “By using fibre we were able to take racks control into areas that are traditionally inaccessible to conventional Triax systems. We also provided a line cut to the editors by using a Data Video Vision mixer and a Video Devices Pix270i ISO Recorder. This way of working provides a visual link to the post team in one file of a particular game play
scenario or Tribal Council.” The choice to use a complete fibre system with Video, Audio, Comms and CCU control was vital due to the distances to set from the control area/room as well as having to run over water for many of the games locations. Su-aad Mouton, the post-production producer for Survivor SA at Blade, adds: “Post-production prep starts long before the actual project lands on the island. Preparing edit suites, ingest machines, a server and ensuring all necessary equipment needed for the set-up had to be packed to be shipped half way across the world,” informs Mouton. “We then had to create a workflow that runs smoothly to accommodate various cameras and their codecs. This would include: night cameras (Sony CX560, Sony Pxwx70), gimbles (which includes underwater footage), PMW 400’s, GoPros, drones, Jib, Sony Fs7, Sony A7s. The workflow had to include copy and transcode methods and time to ensure that all media is ready and accessible to editors – based on the island – for edit on an Avid system.” Blade engineer, Peter Hangelbroek, had to ensure that all the post-production requirements were met. “We used the old school Avid Isis 5500 and multiple External Raid Drives for storage. About 90-100TB raw media was shot… We used two HP Z8 series, for ingesting of multiple card formats and cameras. The Avid MC 8 and DaVinci Resolve 14 was utilised for transcodes, and we chose to use HP LTO 6 and MacBook Pro for Raw archiving.” “The responsibility of managing all the camera cards for the various cameras was a challenge. A missing camera card meant missing footage. The post-production set-up had to accommodate the shoot schedule and factor in the tight turnaround time for receiving the cards, dumping the media and getting the cards back out to cameramen for the next shoot scheduled just a few hours apart… Meticulous logs were kept for clip count to ensure we could always track media back after 39 days of shoot and eight months of postproduction,” adds Mouton. Survivor SA reality edits are crafted in post-production by Craig Bleksley – who has edited all seasons of Survivor SA – as well as Andrew Dixon and Nic Archer. Archer, who has worked on Survivor SA Mozambique, Maldives and now Philippines had this to say about editing the show: “This is one of the most challenging productions to edit. The sheer volume of material means that an episode can be approached from any angle, and there are a lot of compelling stories to tell.
Including the best plot points in an episode, whilst still working in sub-plots and texture is a difficult task, so getting an early start on the content is vital. Compared with the US franchise, the post-production team is small – three offline editors and one assistant cut the entire season. This year we filmed over 2640 hours of footage which Bladeworks manages on a day to day basis.” Mouton believes that being on the island with production gives the editors invaluable insight about what happens each day. “A complete post-production team from Bladeworks is responsible for ingesting, transcoding and backing up all the material on site. The daily footage is then synced up and the editors start watching and marking important plot points within days of it being filmed. A great advantage of having this happen on location is that any potential issues can be identified and corrected early.” This season of Survivor SA also sees the introduction of the Virtual Reality platform – another first for M-Net, the platform gives viewers the opportunity to immerse themselves into the islands’ locations and games as if they were physically there. Botha says that he is incredibly pleased to be part of another M-Net first: “When Bladeworks suggested their VR for Survivor SA, we jumped at the chance to get involved.” Mandy Biart, VR producer at Blade, believes in the prospects of this new platform, “Virtual Reality adds another medium to market, which is the first person experience in which the consumer can experience the brand in a whole new tactile way.” The VR team used the Insta360 Pro camera that was made available by Visual Impact. Francois Venter from the Blade VR team runs down some the specifications: “The camera has six 200 degree lenses along with a camera control app which made it a breeze to work with. We were able to get the perfect placement for the shots as well as see what the final stitched image was going to look like before continuing. The 360 images we captured were also seamlessly stitched together using the Insta360 Optical-Flow based stitching software. One of the biggest challenges we faced when capturing the 360 images was finding a hiding spot for the crew. Not seeing the crew at any point during the show is one of the elements that makes Survivor such a great show. The fourth wall is never broken by a camera man in shot or a light stand somewhere in the frame.”
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POST-PRODUCTION
TECH CHECK EQUIPMENT • Camera: Sony PMW400 • Lenses Canon 2/3” ENG zoom lenses
“We used Visual Impacts’ services to supply a variety of cameras to ensure that the imaging aspect was of the highest quality. The main camera choice for all the games, reality and tribal council was the Sony PMW400. This camera is the workhorse in the reality market in camera rentals. It is extremely tough and reliable and was the only choice for a physically challenging shoot such as Survivor. Complementing the PMW400 was a variety of Canon 2/3” ENG zoom lenses. The pairing of Canon Glass and Sony PMW400’s always delivers crisp clear images and has a really pleasing colour response.” – Darren Lindsay
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POST-PRODUCTION
| OPINION
Colourist Donovan Bush shares his thoughts on DaVinci Resolve 14
Written by Donovan Bush, colourist
Before the industry gets stuck in with v15, here’s what we’ve learnt about v14.
36 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
OPINION
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POST-PRODUCTION
O
ver the last few years, DaVinci Resolve has steadily evolved from a “colour grading only” tool into a sophisticated editing and finishing suite. DaVinci Resolve 14 continues down that path to incorporate Fairlight – a complete DAW. Blackmagic Design claims that the move from Resolve 12.5 to Resolve 14 (they must be superstitious) represents their biggest upgrade yet, and they’re not wrong. As a professional colourist here in South Africa I use Resolve daily, and v14 has been jam-packed with new and extremely useful features. There are almost too many to mention in this review, so I’ll stick to what I feel were the most important impressions from using v14 throughout my professional work so far.
First Impressions For me, the most significant improvement to Resolve with version 14 are the updates to its performance. BMD has overhauled the playback engine, making performance up to 10 times faster than before, and it’s very noticeable when put to the test. As soon as you upgrade, you can tell that the JKL keys are much more responsive, and playback on h.264 files is much smoother, making it a lot more user friendly as an offline editing tool. Resolve 14 Studio also supports frame rates of up to 120 fps, and resolutions up to 16000x16000. Another new feature that impressed me was Resolve’s collaborative workflow for multiple users. This allows editors, colourists and audio mixers within the same post-production facility to work on the same project at the same time. Apart from dramatically streamlining the post-production process, working on one project on one common application eliminates any conforming issues, and any changes are immediately updated – there’s even a dialogue function so the operators can communicate any changes. There’s also a new “Live Save” function, which saves any changes as they happen for anyone working on the project, although the legacy “auto save” option is still available.
Colour Grading Though it seems to me that most of BMD’s efforts have been concentrated on the Edit and Fairlight pages with Resolve 14, there are still some very interesting new features in the colour page such as the new OFX plugins, which really help add to the colourist’s arsenal of tools. The De-banding plugin, for instance, is very useful for situations where an image has suffered some compression artefacts. It’s also possible to confine the plugin to specific areas of the image by using a window or a key. De-mist is great for scenes that have a lot of atmospheric haze, and Warper is very useful for adjusting the geometry of elements within a frame to make something smaller or larger. One thing that surprised me was the Face refinement feature – this got many
people excited when it was first demonstrated, as it allows users to track and edit specific elements of an actors face such as their lips or eyes. However in practice, I’ve found that it doesn’t always work that well, and sometimes analyses the facial features incorrectly. The Camera Shake plugin, however, is a different story. I never thought I’d use it, but recently I had a situation where a 2nd camera operator had his camera mounted on a tripod, while the 1st camera was handheld. The two camera styles were noticeably different, until I used this function and adjusted the “randomness” of the movement to match the main camera. The soften/sharpen filter is also incredibly useful. It’s a great alternative to the blur tool, as colourists can now choose between softening or sharpening fine, medium or large detail. This is great for taking the “edge” off of GoPro and drone footage, and also useful to smooth out skin tones for beauty re-touching.
instance, as well as perform a replace edit on an empty track, and set in/out points on the media pool thumbnails. Previously, the playback speed has always been one of the biggest drawbacks to using Resolve for editing, especially when using a laptop outside of a normal post-production environment. With Resolve’s new speed enhancements, though, it looks like this problem has been solved – I’ve been using a 6 core Mac Pro without any playback issues, and if that’s not enough, there is always the option of using optimised media. An important thing to note, of course, is that for now, editors still seem to be sticking with tried and tested NLE’s – partly because of their familiarity. If Blackmagic continue to develop Resolve down this NLE path, though, I do believe this will probably change as a new generation of editors embrace Resolve from the offline to finishing stages of post-production. There is a free version available after all, for anyone to try!
Editing
Fairlight Audio
DaVinci Resolve’s editing functionality has definitely improved in version 14, and there are many additional features that support what BMD seem to be doing in terms of making Resolve offer the same toolset as other dedicated NLE’s. You can now open a separate floating bin window on both the Edit and Media pages, for
When Resolve 14 was first released, this was Blackmagic’s big news. After acquiring Fairlight in xxx, with version 14 the development team announced they had integrated Fairlight into DaVinci Resolve to result in an entirely new audio page. Since it is a dedicated audio tool, the timeline is presented with “audio
only” tracks, which can now be colour coded in the Edit page for easy identification (such as dialogue, music, FX etc). Each audio track on the Edit page is split into individual audio “lanes” in the Fairlight page – so a single stereo clip in the Edit page will be separated into its component channels in Fairlight. This is huge – I do believe it to be the holy grail of post-production. Yes, you can argue that Resolve 14’s editing and Fairlight pages aren’t currently as feature-rich as its industry-standard, award-winning colour grading toolset. But that, to me, is minor – it’s something that will only improve for the future (if BMD’s Resolve development history is anything to go by). Keeping an entire project – editing, grading and audio mixing – within the same application makes complete sense. It means no more metadata getting lost, no more conforms that don’t work, and no more issues with speed ramps or frame sizing being interpreted differently from one application to another. And oh, did I mention that they have also dropped the price for the studio version from $999 to $299?
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Four-ball
Golf Day 2018
Patrick Sutcliffe (Paradigm), Andy Grealy (Jumping Dust Productions) with MMPA’s Steve Moss and Rob McLardy
SABC’s King Matshaba, Teke David, Cortell Monametsi and Alan Seager
Quentin Mouton, Clive Watts, Dirk Ryneke and Ted Heron
Phumelela Gaming & Leisure Limited’s Matthew Britton and Andrea Reitz with Eclipse’s Wesley Lloyd and Ewald Nienaber
Rythm City’s Nina da Silva, Byron Abrahams and Gerard Savenije with Nathi Maramnco (Quizzical Pictures)
Moviemart’s Colin Benade, Deon Truter with Greg Nefdt (Alfacam) and Cliff Lomberg (Moviemart)
Ronald Salis (T-Systems) with SABC’s Bakhe Montshima and Dennis Herold and Shaun Kerr (Protea Electronics)
James Garden (Eclipse Innovations) with Teletrack’s Rob Scott, Mark Kinsman and Dieter Wohlberg
Jimi Matthews with SABC’s Lester Reetley and Carl Naude and Yousuf Mohamed (Concilium)
Rob Avice, Michael Knight (Knight Studios), Philip Kirby (Easylife Kitchens) and Brad Freeman (Savvy Concepts)
Jon Cooke (eMedia), Benjamin Oelf (Silverline 630), Riaz Ebrahim (eMedia) and Charl van der Merwe (Silverline 360)
Kiruben Reddy (Honeywell), Kelvin Govender, Suraj Sewlall and Sam Moodley
Steve Cairns (Questek), Victor Retief (Telkom) and Noel Sanders (Avitel Distribution).
Concilium Technologies’ Alan Visser, Pieter van der Walt, and Andrew Cole
Robin Watkins (Lion Mountain Media), Thomas Lebreton (Avid), Paul Divall (Jasco) and Tseliso Ralitabo
Gallo’s Dominic Mitchell, Rob Cowling, Rod van der Werken and Con van der Werken
Chris Darnley (Fujifilm), John Stevens (Global Access), Henk Germishuysen (Puma Video) and Jaycee Milner (Sony)
Dimension TV’s Henk Spangenberg, Joshua Reynders and Hennie Reynders
Telemedia’s Divesh Maharaj and JP Meeser with Irdeto’s Etienne Du Preez and Anil Ranchod
SuperSport’s Tony Jordaan, Mark Boyle, Jacques Barnard and Vincent Weller
Sony’s Christian Haghofer, Ash Fisher, Dean Secha and Brian Rosenkrantz
38 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
Harambe’s Adriaan Shipilana, Ron Morobe, Stephen Kheleli, Buti Seipei and Ntsane Kolisang OVERALL WINNERS: Anil Ranchod and Etienne Du Preez
Mango Domestic Return Flight Tickets: Anil Ranchod and Etienne du Preez
SECOND PLACE WINNERS: Noel Sanders and Steve Cairns receiving prize from Bronwen Shaw (Fair City Hotel Group)
Prize Winners
Thursday, 19 April 2018 at Eagle C anyon Golf Estate
SilverCam’s Vaughan Ashford and Lynton Allsop and Sony’s Archie Henson and Scott Idle
THIRD PLACE WINNERS: Dean Sachar (absent) and Brian Rosenkranz
Most Golf: Robin Watkins
Fujinon Instax Camera (Lucky Draw from Contact Cards): Mark Boyle
Quinton Mouton (absent) and Ted Heron
Rob and Any
Alan Mendes (Concilium Technologies), Yusef Raja (KweseSport), Archie Sethaelo (SABC) and Gavin Flanegan (KweseSport)
Dennis Herold and Shaun Kerr
Yousuf Mohammed and Carl Naude
Dr Robert Du Bois and Mike Knight
Henk Spangenberg and Josua Reynders
Mark Wernberg (Kwese Sports), Keith McLintock (BRAVEChannels), Tom Whittam (SuperSport, Ryan Brown (Jasco)
Heindrich Petrus and Greg Bester
Greg Nefdt and Cliff Lomberg
Paul Divall and Keith McLintock receiving on behalf of Tom Whittam and Mark Wernberg
Mike Todd (Saigo Solutions), Rudie Booysen (Lansurf Consulting), The Brand Connexion’s Ernest van Niekerk and Gary Laidler.
SABC’s Julian Govender, Nkhensani Phaweni, Heindrich Petrus and Jerry Mashego
C-Squared’s Chris Dobson, Warren Bleksley, Steve Harris (Bladeworks) and Ralph Hohls
Julian Govender, Heindrich Petrus, Nkhensani Phaweni and Christian Haghofer
Sam Moodley and Kiruben Reddy
Deon Truter and Lynton Allsop Anil Ranchod and Deon Truter
Con van der Werken
*Due to the absence of some winners at the prizegiving, prizes were received by representatives
Colin Benade and Deon Truter
Ralph Hohls and Steve Harris
May 2018
|
SCREENAFRICA
| 39
M arketplace
UPCOMING EVENTS MAY 26 APR – 6 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Toronto, Canada 8 – 19
Festival De Cannes Cannes, France
24 – 27 South African Independent Film Festival Cape Town
JUNE 31 MAY – 10 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival Cape Town 11 – 16 Annecy International Animation Film Festival Annecy, France
JULY 19 – 29 Durban International Film Festival Durban 20 – 23 Durban FilmMart Durban
Broadcast Brands To Africa
Master Dealer Africa Tel: +27 (0) 762569255 info@mdafrica.com
www.masterdealerafrica.com 40 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2018
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