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VOL 30 – April 2017 R38.00
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| IN THIS ISSUE
4 SA Eco Film Festival 2017 launches Talent Campus
16
12
SA scenery exquisitely captured in iconic feature
32
22 Cyborg filmmaking in virtual reality 360 production
NEWS BeyondSound launches first Auro-3D® studio in Africa.......... 3 Mumford and Sons immortalises its SA tour into two films.................... 3 SA Eco Film Festival 2017 launches Talent Campus....................... 4
TECHNOLOGY NEWS VSN WEDIT............................................ 5 AJA IPR-1G-SDI Mini-Converter ...... 5 Datavideo SE-650 HD video mixer/switcher............................ 5 AZilPix Studio.One .............................. 6 ELEMENTS updates Workflow Manager................................ 6 JBL 200 Series two-way ScreenArray cinema loudspeakers..... 6 Kino Flo SELECT LED 30/20 DMX Systems............................. 7
The Recce: Telling a local story in a universal language
Outside broadcast: Then and now
DPA Microphones GSM4000 Gooseneck Shock Mount Accessory and MMP-G Modular
SA scenery exquisitely
MAMs in the era of
captured in iconic feature..................16
democratised filmmaking...................28 Solving the Media
Active Cable for MicroDot................. 7 Crystal Vision FTX-VF and FRX-VF
CTICC East: The sequel.....................19
fibre transmitter and receiver............. 7
ADCETERA TBWA launches virtual entrepreneurship academy in Tanzania................................................ 8 Audi campaign kicks off with epic commercial..........................10 Thuthuka celebrates a decade of educating youth.............11
Film The Recce: Telling a local story in a universal language........................12 National Film Days – The next level of festival....................14
Director Speak: Uga Carlini..............18
Factory puzzle......................................29
Outside Broadcast
NEW MEDIA Cyborg filmmaking in virtual
Focus on Outside Broadcast.............31
reality 360 production........................22
Outside broadcast: Then and now...32 The effects of IP in the
Television From the producer’s mouth: Kgalalelo Sibanda..................................24
POST-PRODUCTION
television OB environment................34 Axon enables SABC’s High Definition coverage ..................36 Ghana’s GH One commissions first ever OB truck..............................37
Colourist essentials with Mushroom Media’s Warwick Allan...25
REGULARS Marketplace............................................... 39
MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
Upcoming Events..................................... 39
Digital video archiving – keeping up with today’s broadcast demands ............................26
Social Ludus Joburg turns two......................38 e.tv press preview 2017.....................40
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From the editor
The Team
As we welcome you to our April edition, it seems 2017 is well on its way and what a year it’s been thus far. As I write this, there is a solemn mood hanging over South Africa as we awake to the news that President Jacob Zuma has gone ahead with his controversial cabinet reshuffle, overnight no less. The president has announced 20 changes to his Cabinet including, and most shockingly, replacing Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan with former ANC Youth League president Malusi Gigaba. South Africans and the world alike are at a loss for words, could this be the start of a journey to a new post-liberation government? Something to think about. March 2017 also saw the tragic loss of esteemed actor, film producer and songwriter Joe Mafela. Mafela had a legendary career in performance, both in front of and behind the camera, touching the lives of many through his impeccable craft. The local film, television and music industry would not be what it is without Mafela’s valued service. It is with heavy hearts that we bid him farewell. On a more internal note, this month we say goodbye to journalist Cera-Jane Catton who has made the decision to move on after one year here at Screen Africa. A beach girl at heart, Cera has decided to move back to the coast and work as a freelancer for the time being. I want to take this opportunity to thank Cera for her contribution to Screen Africa and wish her all the best in her new ventures. A large portion of this issue is dedicated to the Outside Broadcast sector, where we include case studies, opinions and a very noteworthy contribution by Ian Dormer on pages 32 and 33 where he traces the origins of the sector to where we are today. In our Media Asset Management feature, among other stories, Jasco’s Paul Divall discusses the best way to handle digital video archiving (pages 26 – 27). This is my third month at the reigns of Screen Africa and I am still learning the ropes. Content is key for us and I sincerely hope that we can collaborate more on the type of content we are putting out going forward. Feel free to drop me a mail with any suggestions or ideas you may have, I am always eager to hear feedback from our readers regarding what you would like to see more or less of and what we can do better. Until next month! – Chanelle Ellaya
SCREENAFRICA Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com ACTING Editor: Chanelle Ellaya: editor@screenafrica.com Journalists: Chanelle Ellaya: news@screenafrica.com Cera-Jane Catton: cera@screenafrica.com Greg Bester: greg@suncirclegroup.co.za James Sey: editor@pro-systems.co.za
Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@suncirclegroup.com Website Updates: Tina Tserere: tina@sun-circle.co.za Subscriptions: Tina Tserere: tina@sun-circle.co.za Delight Ngwenya: admin@sun-circle.co.za Accounts: Helen Loots: accounts@sun-circle.co.za Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Graham Grier: graham@sun-circle.co.za
Editor 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: In 2012 she co-presented the entertainment and lifestyle show Top Entertainment on TopTV and later that year she was handpicked as part of a panel of five dynamic young Africans to interview Winnie MadikizelaMandela on a youth focused television show called MTV Meets. 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 Cera-Jane Catton is a writer and journalist with years of experience in community newspapers, blogging and freelance journalism. She has migrated to Jozi from Durban to join the team at Screen Africa in the hope of sampling lots of free popcorn. Cera has worked in a cache of capacities, often finding herself behind or in front of the cameras, intentionally and less so. She has been a stunt double in two Bollywood movies, has worked in various capacities on a number of natural history documentaries, and other international productions shot in South Africa. She studied journalism and photography and is always eager to learn something new. She speaks up for the voiceless, is a dedicated movie lover and a wannabe doccie maker.
James Sey is a writer, academic and journalist with many years’ experience in business to business journalism. He is the current editor of Screen Africa’s sister publication, ProSystems Africa News.
Ian Dormer – Born in Zimbabwe, Ian 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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Editorial Disclaimer The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Screen Africa or any employee thereof. Sun Circle Publishers makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. Sun Circle Publishers reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable. All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
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BeyondSound launches first Auro-3D® studio in Africa Belgium-based immersive audio technology company Auro Technologies has partnered with Johannesburg-based BeyondSound to launch the first certified Auro-3D® audio post-production and exhibition studio in Africa. The newly upgraded theatre and studio, located in Johannesburg, South Africa, will feature Auro-3D® to offer producers the ability to mix in immersive sound – be it for feature films, music, TV or radio. Due to a unique combination of technology and speaker layouts, Auro3D® allows producers to create the most natural immersive sound experience on today’s market, offering listeners the sensation of being there. Auro-3D® achieves this through acoustic reflections, generated and heard similarly to how they are produced in real-life—capturing the sense of sound originating from both above and around the listener. The Auro-3D® concept was created as an end-to-end solution bringing in the most efficient way and, as intended by the creators, the most natural immersive sound to all entertainment sectors, offering this totally new immersive sound experience not only in cinema theaters but also at home or within cars and more recently even on
Auro 3D immersive sound certified theatre
mobile and through headphones. “This heightened emotional experience created by Auro-3D® reaches the subconscious in a deep and impactful way. It is probably the most powerful tool that creative people can apply nowadays to enhance their story-telling” said Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies and inventor of the Auro-3D® format. “When I visited BeyondSound, I was surprised to experience such a passion for sound quality, everything has been done to achieve the best control over the sound mixing in order to serve their clients with all the deliveries they need in the most efficient way. It is a top reference for the movie industry in Africa.” BeyondSound has chosen to install the speaker layout of “AuroMax”, Auro-3D®’s
| News
screen_africa
hybrid format that includes the most advanced object based technology with a unique 3-layered Auro 13.1 channel based system (beds) in addition to 128 objects, making it the ultimate cinema sound system on market. AuroMax was recently launched by Barco, a leading company in the cinema projector market and exclusive partner of Auro Technologies for digital cinema. BeyondSound initially explored opportunities to enhance its production services with immersive sound originally implemented through a Barco DP2K-10S with Alchemy server and AP24 Sound Processor equipped with Auro-3D® software. “We have a passion for quality at BeyondSound and wish to contribute to the next iteration of production
and post-production industry,” said BeyondSound CEO Fiaz Mahomed. “Our aim is to support content creators across Africa in offering different experiences to the market, and being the first Auro-3D certified facility on the continent allows us this privilege.” AuroMax by Barco is able to playback all other cinema, TV and radio formats, not only the new Immersive Sound formats but also the existing 5.1 or 7.1 system because the AuroMax system is based on the existing 5.1 installed speaker layout, which makes it compatible. The Auro-3D® system is based on a ‘vertical stereo field’ that is positioned in front and all around the audience allowing for the reproduction of the original 3D reflections around the objects, which are key for the brain to analyse sound in 3D. The Auro-3D® format also has the vertical stereo field on screen, which delivers exceptional screen sound. It enhances not only the precision of the localisation of the objects on screen, resulting in a more natural audio-visual coherence, but also creates a much higher transparency in the hundreds of sounds coming nowadays simultaneously from the screen. Due to more depth, more place for the dialogue which enhances the intelligibility, Auro-3D creates a much more relaxing experience for the brain to analyse the sound field and as such, less fatigue.
Mumford and Sons immortalises its SA tour into two films Mumford and Sons fans got to see the band live in South Africa for the first time in February last year. SA event production company Hilltop Live brought the band to the country, an event which they say broke box office records with both shows selling out within ten minutes of going on sale. For those who missed the live and big screen action, or can’t get enough of the band, as of February 2017, the show is available on DVD and Blu-ray. Live From South Africa: Dust and Thunder chronicles the first tour of South Africa for this British band, as award-winning director Dick Carruthers captures the venues of SA. Filmed live, the band performed their most recent material and classic hits, and a single written for the tour, which is covered in a separate documentary: We Wrote This Yesterday. “In Durban the band opted for the famous Botanical Gardens. And in two sold-out shows for the culmination of
Mumford and Sons live from South Africa DVD covers their SA tour, the crew transformed the outdoor amphitheatre outside the evocative space of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria,” says editor of Pro-Systems, James Sey, who covered the live event. Sey says, “The set-up for the Pretoria shows was further complicated by the band deciding to record the gigs for a special DVD release.” The filming of the set-up was done by local broadcast specialist Militia
Broadcast, and featured a live to screen fibre optic workflow incorporating Blackmagic Design’s studio cameras, ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K and HyperDeck Studio Pro. “Coverage of the shows consisted of five ground positions, including two Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K with 400mm and 600mm long lenses, two 24-105mm pit cameras on dollies as well as an interchangeable, shoulder mounted stage camera for capturing any down the line shots and pickups. A Micro Studio 4K was also used to capture a reverse shot of the piano, alongside two Pocket Cinema Cameras on the drum kits,” explains Sey. An Eagle Rock Film Production in association with Gentlemen of the Road, Live From South Africa: Dust and Thunder and We Wrote This Yesterday are now available to order. Unlike the film, Dust And Thunder, which hit big screens worldwide at the end of 2016, the documentary was released for the first time in February this year. We Wrote This Yesterday follows Mumford and Sons as they explore the craft of song writing and the people, events and influences
that dictate that. The film showcases the band at their most open and collaborative as they relish the excitement of playing to crowds in new cities. We Wrote This Yesterday was filmed and directed by Sam Wrench, with DOP Bud Gallimore. It’s a behind-the-scenes look into the story of how the Joburg mini-album was recorded in just two days. Inspired by their first trek through the country, and the exceptional excitement from their South African fans, the band was moved to record five new songs with artists Baaba Maal, Mamadou Sarr, The Very Best, and Beatenberg. The blending of ideas and musical styles from Senegal, Sweden, Malawi, Cape Town, and London resulted in their acclaimed album which was released globally in June 2016. The doccie was produced by Sophie Robinson, with executive producers Terry Shand, Lesley Williams and Geoff Kempin. It was edited by Reg Wrench with Simon Hill on sound. We Wrote This Yesterday was chosen to be a part of the DOC NYC film festival.
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 3
News
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SA Eco Film Festival 2017 launches Talent Campus Still from the documentary Kayabike
When a number of impactful and pertinent documentaries didn’t make it onto the South African cinema circuit, the SA Eco Film Festival was born. It began as the Cape Town Eco Film Festival in 2014, soon became the South African Eco Film Festival in 2015, launched a Directors Showcase in 2016, and now in 2017 they are introducing a Talent Campus. Besides dynamic growth the festival continues to bring to light enlightening international and local documentaries to raise the level of communal consciousness around global issues.
4 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
“W
e are now in our fourth year and it seems to grow quite organically each year,” explains founder and programme director of the SA Eco Film Festival, Dougie Dudgeon. “Of course our sponsors help, their consistent support over the years allows us to plan ahead. We are particularly proud that with Ballo, Sustainable.co.za, Reliance and Hemporium we have sponsors who walk the walk when it comes to green, eco-living, sustainable business and ethical trading. This is a key part of what the festival aims to do,” he says. Not only does the festival screen films that highlight some of the most important issues that face the world today; including pollution, exploitation, over population, deforestation, and climate change, but they aim to offer solutions. “Our films and our supporters all trade in solutions, often on an individual level, with scaleable, do-able things. We try to remain positive. We try to entertain and inform at the same time,” says Dudgeon. Furthermore the festival will now be training. Dudgeon explains that the SA Eco Film Festival’s inaugural Talent Campus is held over the seven days of screenings. From 23 to 30 March, nine young potential film makers and story tellers have the chance to attend all the screenings, to interact with the audiences there, and to attend dedicated workshops and mentoring sessions. At the workshop sessions, Talent Campus participants will develop concepts for short films that express their own experiences of environmental issues. They will then pitch these film concepts to a panel. The three pitches selected will then recruit a three person team from the remaining six participants. Each team of three will be guided, supported and mentored to produce three shorts which will be filmed and produced for inclusion in next year’s festival. “We are grateful to Reel Lives and Shack Dwellers International’s Know Your City initiative for helping us find our film makers of tomorrow. The Talent Campus is supported by Panalux and Reliance,” says Dudgeon.
When designing the festival programme, Dudgeon says they look for influential films that are influencing the international festival circuit. He says they are also open for submissions directly, or via Film Freeway. “South African films are always invited to submit free of charge and we do have a modest fee for international films,” he explains. The selection process includes consultations with experts in the fields discussed, and sponsor suggestions. Dudgeon says they watch all the films and ultimately choose the ones that have moved them in some way; made them think, laugh or cry. The festival has one award: the Silver Tree award. “Since its inception the SA Eco Film Festival has solicited audience votes to determine each year’s Audience Choice Award,” explains Dudgeon. “The laurels presented to the winning film are based on the Silver Tree. This plant is particularly suitable to represent our festival as it is an endangered species endemic to a small area of the Cape Peninsula. Classified as Rare it is currently threatened by urban expansion, alien plant invasion and habitat fragmentation.” Audiences are invited to score films out of a maximum of five, and once averages for all films are calculated the winner is announced on the festivals website and social media pages. In previous years the award has been won by Bringing It Home (The Hemp movie), Cowspiracy and LandFill Harmonic. Attending this year’s festival are two directors whose films have a South African link. Mattia Trabucchi is an Italian independent documentary filmmaker and director of Kayabike. He was in SA working on an environmental research project at the University of Stellenbosch, when cycling took him to Kayamandi, there a programme that uses bikes to empower youth and improve their environment caught his eye. The resulting film screens at the festival where Trabucchi talks about his experiences in SA. Trabucchi says “I am on a constant search for truth. I am particularly interested in exploring
environmental and social justice issues, and my experience in Kayamandi gave me just that opportunity.” Jay Mac, director of What Is Real – The Story Of Jivamukti Yoga, is the co-owner of AIR Yoga in Cape Town, a Jivamukti yoga teacher, a vegan chef and the creative director of his agency, Great Scott. What Is Real is his first feature length documentary, where he was both director and producer. “I gave up being a creative director to become a full-time yoga teacher, but found myself drawn to both. And then the opportunity to make this film came along. That’s the irony and that’s the charm of the yoga practice we call life.” In addition to attracting outside producers to aid in the making of the film, Mac also successfully crowdfunded part of the budget, something he plans to do again for his next film project. Other African films at the festival include: The Valuable Waste from Nigeria, about waste management problems but a clean and healthy environment seems a possibility through a sustainable development in West Africa. Cyclologic from Sweden and Uganda, about Kampala by bike, and the challenges and dream to have a cycling lane in the city. “They all are standout films,” says Dudgeon. “For me this year The Age Of Consequences stands out for its purpose and intent, Can You Dig This for its uplifting message, The Chocolate Case as living proof that true ethical business is possible, Seed: The Untold Story for its hope and inspiration and Sea Of Life is a great film. I’m also delighted to have Kayabike in the line-up as it raises social issues right in our back yard, and of course What Is Real a truly inspiring South African made film about personal change, and after all this year’s festival theme is #ChangeIsHere.” So it is, and proof is in the remarkable national and international films being screened in SA through the dedicated team at While You Were Sleeping. – Cera-Jane Catton
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| TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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Datavideo SE-650 HD video mixer/switcher Macro Video has announced that the long awaited small, cost effective, SE-650 HD digital video mixer/switcher from Datavideo is now available. The SE-650 is the perfect mixer/switcher for small scale video productions using professional cameras with SDI and HDMI equipment. The SE-650 features a built in audio mixer with microphone and unbalanced RCA audio inputs which allows analogue audio to be embedded on the HD Video outputs. It offers two HD-SDI and two HDMI inputs that support video formats up-to 1080i. The SE-650 features one SDI output plus ( user assignable) two HDMI outputs, one is user assignable, the other is Multi Preview output. Advanced features include Chromakey, Luma key, PiP, wipe generator, still store, logo insertion, streaming feature with future firmware upgrade and tally outputs The unit sells for under R 20 000, excluding Vat (based on ROE at the time of writing) and comes with a two year guarantee (second year via online product registration). *Macro Video Pty Ltd is the official distributor of Datavideo equipment in Southern Africa.
VSN WEDIT
Innovation and media solutions provider VSN is launching WEDIT, a highly functional web-based editing tool integrated within VSN Explorer, its media and business process management platform. Developed in HTML5, this quick and easy tool allows journalists and editors to edit videos and prepare them for broadcast from a single and unique interface, without having to switch to another system. Within the VSNEXPLORER interface and integrated with a full-featured MAM, WEDIT users can work on footage and clips located in deep archived, nearline or online storage. In effect, WEDIT is a cloud content editor, because it allows users to access and edit files on the cloud, a capability that can boost collaboration between editors and departments. In terms of editing features, WEDIT users can edit sequences quickly by cut; generate cut AJA Video Systems recently announced that its new IPR-1G-SDI Minilists; mark-in and mark-out segments with proxy frame accuracy; associate Converter is now available. IPR-1G-SDI extracts a JPEG 2000 essence metadata to the editing cuts; edit quickly from the interfaces timeline; and from an incoming IP stream and presents it for display on SDI devices. consolidate sequences and publishing. At any time, users can export a A rugged, fanless VSF TR-01 (and other JPEG 2000 over project into an EDL file to finish editing, if necessary, in another third-party MPEG2-TS formats) to 3G-SDI Mini-Converter, IPR-1G-SDI is NLE, such as Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer. suited for point of use applications including monitoring, digital The integration of this web editing tool within a MAM system signage, video walls and beyond. IPR-1G-SDI decodes VSF enables new workflows. WEDIT users, for example, can rely on TR-01 streams then formats the data for 3G-SDI output. metadata automatically extracted by the MAM itself to accurately Audio associated with the video stream is extracted, search for content. Or thanks to the MAM’s speech-to-text synchronised and embedded into the SDI stream as functionality, the editor could search for content within video audio well as output on an analogue RCA stereo interface. transcriptions, and again locate and time-code videos in which any designated public official is speaking about a particular topic. VSN’s IPR-1G-SDI includes: WEDIT also enables segmenting and locating content based upon • 1x RJ-45 (IEC 60603-7) for 10/100/1000Base-T other parameters such as format, bitrate, rights, or user validation. Ethernet media input • Essence support: VSF TR-01 and other JPEG 2000 MPEG2-TS workflows • Rugged, fanless, and compact design • 2x 3G-SDI BNC outputs with 4:2:2 10-bits/pixel • Embedded and analogue audio outputs • Full 10-bit pixel processing pipeline • Network (LAN) control and status • Quick network setup with AJA eMini-Setup software *Touchvision is the official distributor for AJA Video Systems in South Africa.
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TECHNOLOGY NEWS
| JBL 200 Series two-way ScreenArray cinema loudspeakers HARMAN Professional Solutions has introduced JBL 200 Series two-way ScreenArray® cinema loudspeakers, helping small and mid-sized cinemas upgrade to next generation JBL technologies for improved coverage and smooth sound reproduction at an accessible price point. Featuring patent-pending Dual Dissimilar Arraying and Acoustic Aperture Technology, the 200 Series continues the JBL legacy of leadership and innovation in cinema audio, combining a compact design with the latest technology for superior performance and better coverage for raked seating. The JBL 200 Series was designed to offer cinemas an affordable solution for creating the best possible audio experience in small- to mid-sized rooms. By including new, patent-pending technologies that complement the legendary sound of JBL cinema loudspeakers, the 200 Series offers a solution without compromise—improving performance and coverage while dramatically lowering the total cost of ownership.
Highlights
AZilPix Studio.One AZilPix introduces Studio.One, a brand-new innovative camera system for multi-angle and live 360 video production. Developed by a team of academics in Europe in partnership with established national broadcasters and manufacturers, Studio.One employs cost-effective, ultrahigh resolution cameras with wide angle and/or fish eye lenses to capture every aspect of a live event from multiple angles. The system is designed to integrate into a traditional or IP broadcast environment and blend seamlessly with Virtual Reality video production, making it ideal for remote internet or broadcast live productions. Studio.One essentially consists of three tightly integrated components: camera, capture server and processing software. The server ingests the raw, wide-angle video data from the cameras and allows recording and live processing of this data into one or more rectilinear views and a view mosaic. Although framing can be conducted live, a key advantage of this system is that framing can be carried out offline at the viewing or post-production stage. Using software-based pan-tilt-zoom ‘virtual camera’ cut-outs, a single operator can capture perfect shots from multiple vantage points – something that would normally require the skills of a small army of cameramen.
• Two-way Next Generation ScreenArray® design for maximum output, improved coverage, and minimum distortion • Patent pending Dual Dissimilar Arraying Technology • Creates coverage pattern for raked seating areas • Extends HF output power and pattern control a full octave in both spectrum extremes • Patent pending Acoustic Aperture Technology • Enhanced mid-range performance for a smooth crossover transition • C211 and C221 use same HF driver as 7-Series Studio Monitors • 12-14” footprint saves space without sacrificing performance • Advanced passive crossovers and DSP in the amplifier, requires only one amplifier channel per speaker for most of the line.
ELEMENTS updates Workflow Manager
6 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
ELEMENTS has introduced a new edition of its visual Workflow Manager. Designed specifically for video professionals in the media and broadcast industry, the latest edition of the powerful feature set facilitates fast and easy set-up of complex workflow automation tasks with simple drag and drop functionality. With a fully intuitive graphical user interface, setting up and changing automated workflow processes has never been faster and easier. ELEMENTS’ unique workflow manager is part of ELEMENTS Media Library, a sophisticated Media Asset Management (MAM) system that can be enabled on every ELEMENTS media server and storage appliance. Providing for professionally managing, presenting and sharing media assets, the Media Library is fully compatible with virtually every professional editing application available today, such as Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro and others, enabling operators to transfer entire projects seamlessly from the Media Library to any other editing application. The Media Library also fully supports Avid bin-locking and project sharing. ELEMENTS’ Rough-Cut Editor, also part of the Media Library, operates like every other professional editing tool available today, covering a spectrum of editing rough-cut functionalities. In addition, the Media Library editor enhances and simplifies approval and communication processes during projects by allowing for frame-accurate comments and even drawings on the source material to indicate areas of interest.
| TECHNOLOGY NEWS DPA Microphones GSM4000 Gooseneck Shock Mount Accessory and MMP-G Modular Active Cable for MicroDot With the industry migrating towards a wireless workflow, DPA Microphones has introduced its GSM4000 Gooseneck Shock Mount Accessory and MMP-G Modular Active Cable for MicroDot. These accessories create a completely wireless microphone setup, while maintaining high-quality audio during live and recorded broadcasts. The MMP-G Modular Active Cable is an ultra-transparent preamplifier with active drive for impedance balancing to reject frequency interference. It permits the modular d:dicate™ capsules, including the d:dicate™ 4017 Shotgun Capsule or 4018 Supercardioid Capsule for booming applications, to connect to wireless systems with its fixed MicroDot connector. Available in two variations, the MMPGR cable extends from the rear while the MMP-GS cable extends from the side. In addition, users have the option to use the new MMP-G Modular Active Cable for wireless workflows or the existing MMP-E Modular Active Cable for wired productions. The GSM4000 Gooseneck Shock Mount Accessory is designed with an elegant clip at its end where the d:dicate™ capsule can be easily mounted with a preamp connected to it. It features integrated shock mount technology to ensure the perfect sound is achieved and not affected by handling noise. The GSM4000, which is available in black and is 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long, can be set up in a variety of different positions.
Kino Flo SELECT LED 30/20 DMX Systems Kino Flo is synonymous with dependable, quality lighting that should be part of any pro’s arsenal. They recently upgraded their impressive SELECT LED DMX Systems. The Select is a smart light – those who prefer to work with white light can use the white menu that allows you to adjust the kelvin temperature and green/magenta hues. Those who are looking for a bit more can take advantage of the new colour menu that gives you access to a wide range of pre-set gels and dial-in 360° colour. In the colour menu, the Kelvin ranges between 2500K tungsten and 9900K daylight. The Selects now allow you to choose between hundreds of pre-set filter colours. You can easily dial in any colour through hue angle and saturation control. Kino Flo has pre-designed dynamic colours embedded in the software, such as Sodium Street light, Candle Flame, Blue and Green Screen. Different cameras have differing spectral sensitivities that can result in inconsistent colour rendering and skin-tone reproduction. The Selects allow you to tweak the light fixtures to match any colour shift in the camera or different light sources. The fixtures are portable with a slim design, come with wireless DMX control, are fully dimmable without colour shift or flicker, have quiet operation and are energy efficient. The texture and quality of light is supreme and even edge to edge. *Kino Flo Select fixtures are available for purchase through the official South African distributor Cine Photo Tools and are available to rent through Photo Hire.
Crystal Vision FTX-VF and FRX-VF fibre transmitter and receiver Crystal Vision has released a fibre optic transmitter and receiver for its new Vision frame system. The FTX-VF dual channel fibre transmitter and FRX-VF dual channel fibre receiver have been designed to transmit and receive 3Gb/s, HD and SD signals over large distances. Meeting the SMPTE 297-2006 short-haul specification, they can be used with single-mode or multi-mode fibre and are perfect for moving signals around in big installations. With up to 20 space-saving cards (40 channels) fitting in 3U, the useful features include full DVB-ASI compatibility and the ability to fit CWDM lasers – along with multiple outputs and loopthroughs which reduce the need for additional distribution amplifiers. The FTX-VF and FRX-VF are ideal for use together, but can be used with alternative transmitters and receivers. The reclocking FTX-VF has two independent 3Gb/s, HD or SD inputs, each with one optical output. It can transmit a serial digital signal down a fibre optic cable to the FRX-VF receiver, which offers two optical inputs and two reclocked 3Gb/s, HD or SD outputs per channel . All outputs on the FRX-VF are DVB-ASI compatible. Both cards meet the SMPTE 297-2006 short-haul specification, allowing operation with both single-mode and multi-mode fibre. This makes them suitable for a wide range of applications – from moving signals around in large installations to passing signals between Outside Broadcast vehicles. *Telemedia Pty Ltd is the official distributor of Crystal Vision products in South Africa.
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 7
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TBWA launches virtual entrepreneurship academy in Tanzania
Noa Ubongo (Sharpen Your Brain)
Advertising agency, TBWA\ Khanga Rue has launched a free 12-class series on entrepreneurship for young people in Tanzania called Noa Ubongo or Sharpen Your Brain in Swahili. The programme will be disseminated on social media and eventually aired in thousands of video halls throughout the country.
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he initiative follows a highly successful pilot phase conducted in 2016, which saw young people learning jobhunting and other related skills. Pat Olvera, TBWA\ KRM creative director, says a mere 35 per cent of young people in Tanzania complete secondary schooling. “A number of factors contribute to this, amongst them, economic and cultural pressure. Many girls, in particular, are compelled to leave school early and look for work. The result is a lot of unemployed young people, who lack basic education, work skills and entrepreneurial knowledge.” Even for those fortunate enough to complete school, there are only 40
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000 formal salaried jobs created by the economy each year and 700 000 young people who finish school and are ready to enter the job market. Deeply immersed in the NGO sector, Olvera and his colleagues at TBWA\ KRM were acutely aware of the issues faced by youth in Tanzania. “We have partnered with Unicef to create programming targeting youth such as Shuga and Sara, and we’ve worked with Restless Development on campaigns encouraging girls to stay in school. We’ve also created many youth-centred campaigns dealing with HIV and other health issues.” Wanting to get involved in empowering youth directly, the agency came up with an idea to deliver knowledge to
young people in a compelling way by harnessing its own knowledge of social media and local trends. “We thought if we couldn’t get the young people to go to school, then maybe there was something we could do to bring learning to them in the places where they spend the most time – in video halls and on social media,” says Olvera. “All we hear from our clients is talk about engaging youth and it’s usually followed by the well-known statistic about how young people make up such a big proportion of the population. But the reality was that we – as an advertising agency – were mostly only engaging youth when we were trying to sell them stuff – when we’re advertising to them. We as TBWA\ Khanga Rue were a bit troubled by that and thought that it needed to change. We feel it is our responsibility to create media that can make a difference in young people’s lives, that can fill an information and education gap that exists,” comments Nisha Shah Sanghvi, managing partner of Khanga Rue Media TBWA\ KRM initially applied for
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funding to get Noa Ubongo off the ground. “We didn’t get the funding, but decided to go ahead with a pilot phase of the project anyway. We got curriculum experts to volunteer their help and created three modules in-house. They covered three areas: how to look for a job if you’ve never had one before; how to get skills and how to write a CV,” says Olvera. One of the greatest challenges was finding a presenter that balanced the peer-to-peer approach of popular YouTubers with an ability to deliver real learning, often on complicated topics. ”We studied a lot of what Maker Studio was doing, even talking to creatives working at Maker, because we wanted that same type of connection with our audience that Michelle Phan or Suzelle DIY has with their audience. However, in this case, we still have to deliver real learning on tough topics,” he explains. Noa Ubongo launched on Facebook in 2016 and became an immediate success with young people. In addition, it dovetailed well with the recent decision by Omnicom Group to join five of the world’s largest holding companies for a Common Ground initiative aimed at supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where Omnicom specifically committed itself
to helping tackle improving education. Olvera says although the idea for Noa Ubongo preceded the Common Ground initiative, its mission and objective of empowering young people through free education fits with the agenda of Common Ground perfectly and the TBWA\ KRM team felt that its decision to persist with the programme, despite the initial lack of support from the funding community, had been the right one. “Suddenly, there was much more interest in what we were trying to do. The Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) came on board and provided us with funding to develop a five-part series – which became a 12-part series – on how to start a business. The greatest challenge here was localising existing content for Tanzanian audiences and turning it into a meaningful learning journey.” There are 10 000 informal movie theatres or video halls in Tanzania, one of the main channels of media consumption, especially amongst youth. “In addition to using Facebook, our goal is tap into this informal distribution system and disseminate our content to as many young people as possible. We believe this is the first time the halls will be used as classrooms in this way,” says Olvera. He notes that making learning videos
is not necessarily a new idea, nor is trying to teach entrepreneurial skills. “What is unique about our programme – other than it was made by an ad agency – is that it combines these techniques, and localises and adapts them to an audience in a way that is scalable.” Now there is a clear demand for the programme, with several NGOs expressing interest in using the Noa Ubongo platform to help deliver localised learning content to much bigger audiences. The agency is currently in talks to start piloting classes in refugee camps, where Noa Ubongo can substitute for a lack of teachers and schools. “The response has been incredible, simply on social media, we engage thousands of followers who ask our hosts for more information, they are asking for the next video, and many simply thank us for giving them this information that they couldn’t get anywhere else. We know that youth are forming Noa Ubongo clubs entirely on their own to watch the classes together. What we’ve also seen, in our focus groups and based on social media, is that Noa Ubongo can change mindsets, it gives youth confidence, it makes them feel more in control of their future. And that psychological impact may ultimately be Noa Ubongo’s most powerful attribute,” adds Shah Sanghvi.
Olvera says the initiative now needs private sector involvement. “We want to add a mobile technology component that will enhance the programme with follow-up quizzes and gamify some of the learning. We want to link students to resources in their area or to companies for internships. “We have a vision for a learning portal where young people can sign up for complete courses, get supplementary learning resources, interact with each other and even submit their ideas and projects for feedback. There are so many ways we can scale this up with the right partnerships,” he says. “We are currently focused on expanding our reach and curriculum in Tanzania and rolling out our videohall distribution. We want to turn these video halls into classrooms,” adds Shah Sanghvi. “We are also in talks with other potential partners to enhance our classes through technology, such as SMS follow-up quizzes, peer to peer reviews, and mentorships. What’s great about Noa Ubongo is that it can be scaled up with the right partnerships. It can be transferred to other countries and regions. We want to become a panAfrican platform in the coming years.”
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Audi campaign kicks off with epic commercial While beauty may definitely be in the eye of the beholder, it is all too often boring in its portrayals on screen. Audi’s new campaign is particularly refreshing as it explores an almost undefined beauty. In their global campaign for the new Q2, #Untaggable, Audi illuminates how the most beautiful things in life are actually quite impossible to define. The SA version of the TVC challenges stereotypes and paints an alluring picture with African model, actress and activist, Thando Hopa, who also happens to have been born with albinism.
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irected by Sam Coleman of Giant Films, who says that when Nic Wittenberg and the team at Ogilvy explained the project to him, he knew the campaign would be a strong one. Coleman says the concept was to translate the global campaign and to make it relevant to the African market. They had already found Hopa as the perfect embodiment of the #Untaggable concept. “Thando is a rare individual because of her many dimensions,” explains Coleman. “She is a fashion model with albinism, a lawyer, an activist for the rights of people with albinism, an actress,
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Behind the scenes with Sam Coleman and Thando Hopa
a filmmaker who was just invited to Directors Lab at Sundance in Utah.” The global Audi campaign concept is #Untaggable, and they are running a series of films that explore society’s need to constantly #hashtag everything. “The films are a bombardment of imagery including Marilyn Monroe and Lionel Messi energetically cut together with titles that say things like: Do we have to hashtag everything? #blonde? (Marilyn Monroe), #fashion, etc... The point made in the end is that the Q2 is ‘untaggable’ – the reason being is that you can’t call it just an SUV or a sports car, or a coupe because it is all those things and more. So what’s implied is that you can’t put it in a box in an age where we instantly hashtag everything.” Coleman says that what was unusual from a director’s point of view was that the casting was already done by the agency. “Usually a big part of my job,” says Coleman. “I just had to focus on showcasing the different facts of Thando’s personality in a visually arresting way. I had to connect with Thando very quickly at the wardrobe call the day before the shoot and find some common ground as she informed a lot of the approach in the way she was portrayed, which was deeply personal to her. She was very sure of her own image, what she was comfortable with and it was great to work with such a strong personality.” The commercial was shot using interiors in the industrial docklands of the port of Cape Town which gave impressive scale and grit. It was filmed in one day on an Alexa mini. Well known for her carefully crafted lighting, Vicci Turpin was the DOP. The Cape Town branch of Upstairs Ludus performed full post for the TVC with Xander van Der Westhuizen doing offline edit, Nic Apostoli doing grade
and Charmaine Greyling doing online. The colourist, Apostoli says they used Davinci Resolve and Autodesk Smoke. He says his biggest challenge was to make Hopa appear as ethereal as possible. “A combination of grading techniques were used to build this unique look and separate her from the background, while still keeping her in situ,” he explains. “Pushing the boundaries, we were able to achieve an industrial vogue feel. Besides the usual online clean-ups, layers of textures were added to create a sense of atmosphere throughout the piece, particularly in her eyes. Metal textures were used to enhance the background, driving home the industrial look.” Apostoli adds “We were given carte blanche to explore, create and have fun, resulting in a beautiful piece we are all proud to be a part of.” Van Der Westhuizen says that the edit began on set. “We had four days including shoot day to present and approve the commercial. Sam gave me complete freedom in the edit and basically just said, have fun. Fun was definitely had, after an AM session with the agency we had clients come in and not change a single frame,” van Der Westhuizen explains. “The approach from my side was to do an edit that is as unusual and as ethereal as Thando. Including a burst near the end of the entire commercial in reverse, it felt like a good way to enhance the vibe as we introduce the car.” Coleman chose to work with a frequent music collaborator of his, Markus Wormstorm on the score, who created a pulsing tech house track featuring traditional African ululating. Established contemporary artist Bridget Baker worked on styling outfits for each scene, and the
production design was by Josie Minty. Coleman says that working on this piece was an eye opener for him. “I wasn’t aware of the level of persecution against people with albinism in certain African countries before the project,” he says. “I think a positive take out of the commercial will be that it will help normalise the perception of albinsim. I hope people will cast people with albinsm more, and not just because they look different. I was attracted to the script because it feels very different for a car ad, and actually hardly featured the car, so I was impressed with Audi for going for it too,” Coleman concludes. The United Nations General Assembly in December 2014, adopted a resolution proclaiming 13 June every year as International Albinism Awareness Day with effect from 2015, this shows just how seriously this medical condition needed empathy. Let us hope this campaign does more than sell cars. – Cera-Jane Catton
KEY CREW Executive Creative Director: Nicholas Wittenberg Director: Sam Coleman Producer: Boris Vossgatter Executive Producers: Emma Lundy & Cindy Gabriel Director of Photography: Vicci Turpin Art Director: Josie Minty Offline: Charmaine Greyling Editor: Xander Van Der Colourist: Nic Appostoli Sound Design / Composer: Markus Wormstorm
Thuthuka celebrates a decade of educating youth
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Still from the Thutuka TVC
Behind the scenes on the Thutuka TVC
After reaching its decennial milestone in 2016, a South Africa non-governmental organisation, Thuthuka Bursary Fund celebrated ten years of educating youth. It sought a commercial to not only further explain what the bursary fund does but also to encourage more donations. Their advertising agency, HDI Youth enlisted the production and post-production services of Fort. This creative agency too has just celebrated its first decade in the business.
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he TVC, dubbed Magic Jar, is based on the concept of Ubuntu, and it flows from the saying; it takes a community to raise a child, explains Fort production manager, Robyn Oettle. The commercial is about a young boy, Themba (Oratile Joshua Ramafora) who is inspired one morning while watching the news of a young man from his neighbourhood – a product of the Thuthuka Bursary Fund – who is now a qualified accountant working in New York. The spark is lit and his grandmother (Ndela Maria Simangele) notices this, and explains that if he fills the empty jar she gives him, what she calls a magic jar, with what little money he can raise from where he is, he can achieve his dreams. “Using this as a springboard, we watch as he does as many chores around the community as possible, to raise money for his tertiary education.” Towards the end of the ad we see that he has been accepted to a university, but despite his efforts, he was unable to raise enough money. It is at this point that his grandmother takes him to their front door, to show a line of community members, each presenting their own jar filled with change. “In a monologue, the now older Themba (Akani Cassius Shiravu) finally realises that all the time he thought he was helping his community, but actually they were helping him,” describes Oettle. The TVC was shot on Luaname Street, in Diepkloof, Soweto and on the corner of Luonde Street and Marthinus Smuts Drive, in just one day in September 2016. It was filmed using an Arri Alexa, as Oettle explains, for its high format capabilities. She utilised the Arri Alexa with a Matt Box, Follow Focus, ND 3,6,9 and a Polar Filter. The production was lit using Panavision’s
media commercial lighting kit. It was then edited in Final Cut Pro, with Tshepo Dladla as lead editor. Sound was mixed at Hey Papa Legend creative audio and music services in Johannesburg and it was graded at Pudding colour services, also based in Johannesburg. As the ad was created for an NGO there was a limited budget. “It is always difficult to ask crew to work for free or discounted fees, as with the nature of a PSA we had to keep costs very low which can always prove a challenge,” says Fort communications manager, Mikhaila Hunter. “However in the end we partnered with great people who were able to rise to the challenge and make it work. We found with this challenge that equipment and post-production services are a little easier; when they understand that it is a reputable NGO.” Fort has a number of initiatives that further prove they are passionate about skills development and the upskilling and education of the South African youth, “and so with this value alignment we were happy to support this important cause and lend our services,” Hunter adds. “The team who worked on this project were professional and passionate and everyone involved was happy with and proud of what we achieved.” The word thuthuka is a Zulu verb that in English means, to develop. This ultimately is the goal of the fund: for students to develop their education and careers, and from there to therefore develop their perspectives and life achievements. The Thuthuka Bursary Fund sees that annually, between 250 and 300 disadvantaged students are awarded for undergraduate BCom Accounting degrees at accredited universities. The bursary fund is available as a BEE initiative to African or coloured students who aspire to becoming chartered accountants but do not have the funds to study. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) accredited universities take in 50
students per university on special undergraduate BCom programmes. The accredited universities that are part of the programme are: University of Johannesburg, University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, University of the Free State, University of Witwatersrand, and North-West University. The Thuthuka Bursary Fund is looking for academically strong learners to apply for its 2018 grant. Interested students, particularly those who do exceptionally well in mathematics and have excellent marks that qualify for university entrance may apply. Applications are on the SAICA website and need to be submitted before 30 April 2017. – Cera-Jane Catton
KEY CREW Director: Amr Singh Producer: Craig February Production Manager: Robyn Oettle 1st AD: Michael Chitters DOP: Gaopie Kabe Focus Puller: Ruan Barnard AC: Bonga Nkomo Loader/VT: Rashid Bhikha DIT: Nena Buchmann Gaffer: Zakhele Mavuso Spark: Bongani Sibeko Genie Operator: Fanie Manganye Grip: Willem Du Plessis Grip Assistant: Tyler Geldenhuys Sound Technician: Peter Khanda Art Director: Zelia da Silva Wardrobe: Nichole Smith Makeup: Silvia Pitso Unit: Licorn Mkhabela Production Assistant: Khosi Ndhlovu
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 11
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The Recce:
Telling a local story in a universal language
A Man Makes a Picture production and director Ferdinand van Zyl’s debut feature film The Recce, is an ode to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that future generations wouldn’t have to. Greg Kriek as Henk in The Recce
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fter the South African Defence Force (SADF) wrongfully declares young recce Henk Viljoen (Greg Kriek) dead behind enemy lines, it’s up to him alone to use every skill and tool in his arsenal to make it back to his grieving wife (Christia Visser). With the enemy hot on his trail and a lethal gunshot wound in his gut, Henk’s chances for survival aren’t looking good as he navigates the treacherous war torn African landscape. “My uncle was a recce, my dad is a border war veteran and my grandfather fought in WWII, so you can say there is a fair share of guilt on my behalf for not doing national service, considering the lineage of soldiers in my family,” comments van Zyl. “My father always said that they fought so we don’t have to. So this film is somewhat of an ode to them: soldiers who sacrificed their body, mind and soul for us normal folks.” Van Zyl says that when making The Recce, he wanted to make a film that would challenge local audiences, a film he would want to watch, a local story told in a universal language: “South African audiences don’t really get exposed to world cinema; there aren’t really a lot of
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platforms where we can enjoy art house films. We are inundated with American or main stream Hollywood movies, and I wanted to make a film I wanted to watch, I wanted to make a film that will challenge South African audiences; a film that subverts traditional narrative structure, a film that uses film grammar poetically. Furthermore I wanted to tell a South African story with universal themes. The Recce is a metaphorical film embedded with abstractions. The beauty of abstractions is that it’s open for interpretation, anyone can take from it what they want, and that renders the film universal and timeless.” A Film and Television scholar at The University of Cape Town – graduating with a distinction in screenwriting – in addition to directing, van Zyl penned the script for The Recce, but despite his expertise and natural screenwriting talent, it proved to be a challenging process. After working on his original script for several months, van Zyl decided to start over. “I write my own scripts. I am a screenwriter first and foremost. Writing can be therapeutic, but it’s extremely taxing. After writing for months, I basically
deleted everything, and started from scratch. I started to write intuitively, ignoring structure and traditional scriptwriting rules, specifically regarding plot points. I wanted the story to feel organic,” he explains, “When I started a couple of years back, I met with the then commissioner of the Special Forces, and basically wracked his brain and gave him hypothetical situations in the bush, to see how he would react in those moments. I did extensive research, and the film, in its infancy was very authentic and historically correct.” Van Zyl soon realised that it would be an enormous struggle to get the budget he needed to make the film he envisioned, “well not as my debut at least,” he quips. “I also didn’t feel creatively nourished. I didn’t want to make a historical film; I wanted to make Apocalypse Now. I wanted to make a film that uses the border war as a theatre to tell a metaphorical story that deals with a lot of themes, not just South African history.” Principal photography commenced on 12 September 2016 in the Eastern Cape at executive producer Jac Williams’ family guest farm, Bergrivier.
“We shot there for the first two weeks,” says Williams. “It provided us with a lot of different options for the Angola scenes, indigenous forests, acacia trees, rivers etc. and we built an African village set as well. This was designed and executed by our very talented production designer Pieter Bosman and his team.” The remainder of the film was shot in and around Cape Town, in the Kouebokke Veld, ClainWilliam (Hollandsebosch), Kersefontein on the West Coast and Worcester. DOP Jacques van Tonder shot The Recce using the Black Magic Design URSA Mini 4.6K cameras with PL Mounts. The film’s organic yet layered look and feel was developed through close collaboration between van Zyl and van Tonder: “We wanted the camera movement and lighting to develop with the story and be contrasting between the different parts of the script,” explains van Tonder. Due to time and budget limitations, as well as limited accessibility to some locations, the team were largely reliant on available light for selected scenes. “We did extensive recces of our locations and
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“The new 4.6K sensor didn’t have any of the issues of its predecessor. It is small and light enough to fit on our gimbal system with the right lenses. It shoots RAW at 60fps in full resolution and the latitude is comparable with cameras in a much higher price bracket.” – Jac Williams
TECH CHECK EQUIPMENT • Camera: Black Magic Design URSA Mini 4.6K cameras with PL Mounts • Editing software: Black Magic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio Software utilised for dailies and post workflow
SUPPLIERS • Camera sourced from ORMS Pro Photo Warehouse in Cape Town.
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thoroughly planned our days. This paid off on the day and we could make the most of the natural beauty of our surroundings,” he adds. “We achieved and surpassed what we set out to do and I think it looks unlike anything we have seen in South Africa before.” Van Zyl, who is a big fan of “slow” cinema or long takes, says that he wanted the action inside the frame to determine the rhythm of the film – not the editing. “Pace should be determined by performance and camera movement, and not cutting. I wanted to be able to play out a scene with one take, without having to cut to a two shot or a single, and sometimes I don’t, I just stick to the establishing shot for four minutes without cutting.” This meant that the team carried out extensive blocking and camera rehearsals, but at the same time “unrehearsed and improvised scenes were just as common,” van Zyl explains. “I just placed the actors in a setting without dialogue or direction, and asked them to be themselves, or be the characters, and we got the most incredible stuff in those moments. I wanted to do more of those setups,
because that’s where the magic is.” Sourced from ORMS Pro Photo Warehouse in Cape Town, selecting the Black Magic Design URSA Mini 4.6K cameras was a bit of a gamble at first as they were largely untested, however the cameras later proved to exceed expectations says Williams. “We spoke about many camera systems in our planning stages and we knew what we needed from the cameras we would use. The URSA Minis had just become available and the purchase price was really good, but there was a lot of scepticism around them. It ticked many of the boxes on paper, but was untested in the field,” he says. “We did extensive testing on it and we were very happy with the resulting images. The new 4.6K sensor didn’t have any of the issues of its predecessor. It is small and light enough to fit on our gimbal system with the right lenses. It shoots RAW at 60fps in full resolution and the latitude is comparable with cameras in a much higher price bracket.” Black Magic’s DaVinci Resolve Studio Software was utilised for dailies and post workflow, ensuring seamless integration.
“Looking back, we really put the cameras through their paces and they never skipped a beat,” adds Williams. “The locations we were in dished up the worst from a camera maintenance point of view, but we never had any problems.” Van Zyl says that South African cinema is at turning point, “or rather there’s a New Wave where we begin to see films that break away from ‘bubblegum’ entertainment; film’s that deal with real issues innovatively, or films that frankly just pursue the craft as an art form, because cinema is art…first and foremost. So it’s actually a very exciting time to be making movies locally,” he concludes. The Recce is due for theatrical release at Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide June 2017. – Chanelle Ellaya
Ferdinand van Zyl Writer/Director: Ferdinand van Zyl Producer: Jac Williams DOP: Jacques Van Tonder Line Producer: Alan Haywayrd 1st Assistant Director: Neil Uys Editors: Jacques Le Roux and Ferdinand Van Zyl Production Designer: Pieter Bosman Costume Designer: Nico Nigrini Sound: Adriaan Drotsche
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National Film Days
– The next level of festival
Many cities across Africa host film festivals that attract thousands of guests from near and far, with some cities hosting multiple events throughout the year. The cumulative effect of these festivals contributes to growing both local film industries and audiences. However, there is an initiative that a host of countries have adopted that takes the impact of a local film festival to the national scale.
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ndonesia, Canada, Argentina, Serbia, and Bangladesh all celebrate National Film Days that are aimed at developing local film industries as well as creating new audiences. In countries with smaller or ‘emerging’ film industries, this kind of initiative has proven to be an innovative and effective way of developing audiences and creating the kind of film-going culture that is required for a vibrant cinema industry. Using Canada’s National Film Day as a benchmark, film industries in growing markets across the continent can also find ways to creatively celebrate the role of films in the cultural, social and economic life of nations. If done properly, with the buy-in of a host or partners and stakeholders, a National Film Day can be one of the most powerful tools for growing audiences. With theatrical and broadcast content still dominated by Western productions, a National Film Day is a way to expose local productions to hundreds of thousands of people in the spaces they already live, work, socialise and play.
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By including commercial cinemas, educational institutions, public spaces, transportation hubs (bus and train stations, airports and even airplanes), broadcast media, libraries, malls, post offices, banks, and museums, a National Film Day effectively brings the films to the people. Some of the initiatives in countries that already celebrate National Film days include the more obvious activities such as discounted screenings of local films in commercial cinema chains, film screenings at schools and universities, and TV channels airing local films. However, the potential is there to go so much further, for example, this year as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, its National Film Day aims to create the world’s largest film festival ever, as the website explains, “On 19 April 2017, great Canadian movies will be available on air, online and on foot at over 800 screenings in cinemas, libraries, public squares and anywhere you can show a film. With free events happening across every province and territory, many involving Canadian
Written by Lara Preston,
owner Red Flag Content Relations
film talent, NCFD 150 — a Canada 150 Signature Project — promises to be the largest film festival in the world. Ever.” Turning every imaginable public space into a film screening venue not only promotes local films, but also creates a sense of community, shared space, and engagement in urban areas that are too often walled off or passed through. Canada’s National Film Day is managed by REEL CANADA who in turn has partnered with literally dozens of industry, government, and commercial organisations to make the event possible. In order to facilitate these public screenings and screenings at schools, REEL CANADA provides webcasts and “the opportunity to watch a great Canadian film, engage in interactive Q&As with stars and filmmakers, and participate in lots of online activities exploring Canadian identity, culture and storytelling. It’s an opportunity to interact with students from other corners of the country.” Indonesia’s National Film Day also puts a major focus on film journalists, appointing them as judges for the Usmar Ismail Film Awards that form part of the event. The inclusion and engagement of film media is a critical element for ensuring an increased standard of film journalism and also creating a sense of engagement and empowerment amongst film media. All of these countries also utilise public institutions such as museums, libraries and parks as screening venues. More creative solutions are also envisioned, with every screen becoming a potential tool to screen local films. A National Film Day enables us to imagine screens in shopping malls, bus and train stations, on airplanes, at banks and post offices, all screening films. Short
content would be ideal for these kinds of locations with captive audiences. By making local content ubiquitous for one day; across every TV, computer, plasma, LED, big and small screens, a zeitgeist of pride, excitement and appreciation of the creative industries would be created. The related spin-offs for musicians, designers, technicians, and related fields would also be immense. Additionally, National Film Days are a way to celebrate the historical and cultural diversity of a nation. A combination of top-down curated programmes, supplemented by community developed schedules and content would mean that a diversity of films would be screened. Indonesia uses the annual event toput the country’s focus on the economic impact of the film industry and to focus on the growth of the industry. The day of 30 March is in fact the anniversary of the start of the production of the first feature film produced in Indonesia, 1950 – Darah & Doa (Blood & Prayer). In the past they have used the day to promote antipiracy campaigns, and to announce government supported initiatives. The recent rise of film festivals across the continent is an indication that there is an appetite for locally produced content especially when it is creatively packaged and promoted. National Film Days could be a way to exponentially increase the impact of these localised and niched festivals. Something to think about for planners in our local film industries. – Lara Preston
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SA scenery exquisitely captured in iconic feature A true story based on the winners of the 2014 Dusi Marathon, Beyond The River hits South African big screens on 28 April 2017. This remarkable story is brought to life by Heartlines and Quizzical Pictures. The film was written by Craig Freimond and Robbie Thorpe, it was furthermore directed by Freimond and produced by Thorpe, Harriet Gavshon and Ronnie Apteker.
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ncredible scenes throughout the film showcase South Africa’s spectacular landscapes including the breathtaking coastline and dams of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The shoot locations which portray SA like a Hollywood classic include Gauteng and KZN: Emmarentia, both the dam and the suburb, Westcliffe, Melville Koppies, Orlando Dam and surrounds, the Vaal, various locations along the Msunduzi (aka Dusi), Tugela and Umngeni rivers, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Inanda dam, Blue Lagoon and the Morningside Sports Medicine Unit. They used drones for all aerial shots to show the scale and the vastness of the landscape. Principal photography took place between 26 October and 12 December 2015. They shot a two-day second production unit at the Dusi in February 2015, and a further second unit shoot of two days in January 2016. The film is based on the story of Siseko Ntondini and Piers Cruickshanks, two men from vastly different backgrounds brought together by a determination to win gold in the largest canoeing event on the African continent, and one of the world’s most popular river marathons,
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attracting about 2 000 paddlers each year. The canoe marathon was founded in 1951, and covers roughly 120 kilometres from Pietermaritzburg to Blue Lagoon, and Beyond The River captures the essence of the race and the exquisiteness of the country in a thrilling adventure story about the triumph of the human spirit. Thorpe says this film was the most challenging shoot he has ever done due to the external factors of the shoot locations. “Shooting on water is a bigger challenge than you imagine because everything is moving,” explains Thorpe. “This is not Hollywood and we don’t have specialised equipment,” he says. They had to innovate constantly to get required shots and further to expected challenges they were filming a movie based on a river, during a drought. They filmed using a Red Epic, which cinematographer Trevor Calverly says is his preferred camera. “I like the look and feel of the Red’s
images and lensing,” DOP Calverly adds. The film was shot mostly outdoors so lighting was not a major aspect of the film. “We did have to do some pretty big night shoots in informal settlements where there was no electricity, so we had to provide all the lights of the whole area,” says Calverly. “The film set was on a river during the worst drought ever,” says Thorpe. “Rivers are controlled by dams and they don’t flow naturally anymore, they only flow when water is released from a dam.” He explains that although they will release water for the marathon to take place, “we didn’t have the clout to get them to release water for us.” It was because of this that Beyond The River was shot not only on the Dusi but also on the Tugela and the Vaal rivers. While they faced environmental challenges day to day, they also had actors playing the parts of experienced canoers, racing an extremely challenging river. Starring
Grant Swanby (Blood Diamond, Mandela-Long Walk to Freedom and Invictus) as Steve, and Lemogang Tsipa (When We Were Black, Traffic! and Jab), who makes his debut lead role as Duma, they had six weeks of training from novice paddlers. Thorpe says this meant that they would often not be able to manage a rapid and would fall into the water, which equates to a scene being completely reshot with the need to redo almost everything. They used a combination of actors and body doubles. Thorpe says that among these challenges they also ended up unexpectedly on the Tugela, “We ended up at a resort in the middle of nowhere and half way through our first day of shooting, during a drought so animals were coming to the river to drink, so many snakes
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TECH CHECK “I like the look and feel of the and scorpions, and then the owner comes and says we have to get everyone off the river because there is a croc right where we are shooting.” Thorpe says they had a rig set up on a boat which started to sink, and so for close ups they used bungee rope with the Red on the bank and the boat being held by two men in the water. “We had guys holding the boat out of shot,” explains Thorpe, who says he learnt these things as they went along. “The biggest challenge was figuring out how to get close to the action on the water,” says Freimond. Adding that, “Finding the right place or floating device for the camera and crew was a serious challenge.” They used limited technology due to a low budget and Thorpe says low tech in tough conditions meant he learned more on this shoot than any before, but despite the challenges, “The results were great, and that is what will be remembered.” Editor Nick Costaras says that for grading they used Filmlights Baselight, for editing they used Final Cut and AfterEffects. Freimond explains that
in post, “The biggest challenge was creating believable races working between what we had and archive footage. Nick did a masterful job.” The film is in English and Zulu with English subtitles and showcases the work of the Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club (SCARC) which is an ADreach social development initiative that aims to uplift previously disadvantaged communities through the power of sport. The making of Beyond The River was funded by the National Lotteries Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Film and Video Foundation and the KwaZulu Natal Film Commission. It was further sponsored by Discovery Health, Vodacom and ADreach. Two books published by Pan Macmillan: Beyond The River, adapted from the film and part of Heartlines’ What’s Your Story book series and Confluence, Cruickshanks’ true story of his journey with Ntondini, will be released alongside the film. – Cera-Jane Catton
Red’s images and lensing.” – Cinematographer Trevor Calverly
EQUIPMENT • Camera: RED Epic • Lens: Angenieux Optimo Spherical Lens • Camera Support System: Oconnor Fluid Head on a Chapman Dolly
• Editing software: Filmlights Baselight for grading Final Cut and AfterEffects for editing.
KEY CREW
Executive Producers: Heartlines and Quizzical Pictures Writer/director: Craig Freimond Writer/producer: Robbie Thorpe Editor: Nick Costaras Sound: Janno Muller Casting: Moonyeen Lee Original Music: Chris Letcher Lemogang Tsipa as Duma and Grant Swanby as Steve, in a scene from Beyond The River April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 17
FILM | Director Speak President of Towerkop Creations, Uga Carlini is a South African award winning filmmaker. She is a writer, director and producer whose international career has grown in the United Kingdom, Australia and Fiji. She was voted one of 2012’s most extraordinary women of SA. Her feature film, which is currently on circuit, Alison, has won local and international awards among many nominations. Uga Carlini
Uga Carlini directing a scene from Alison
What is your background and how has this shaped you as a director? I have always wanted to make and be in movies, I studied drama and specialised in film making and acting, and then acted professionally overseas, doing workshops in different countries. I moved from actress to full time producing, screenwriting and directing when I went to Fiji, and wrote the syllabus for the university there, where we got to make movies for two years. I came back after that, Towerkop Creations was born and the rest, as they say, is history. One of my favourite quotes is Quentin Tarantino saying, “While you were studying films, I was watching films.” The best way to learn is to do. Nothing can give you what you learn from the team you work with, every story has new bridges to cross and it is those bridges that make you stronger as a filmmaker and as a storyteller. Describe the moment when you decided you wanted to become a director? I think I was born with that moment. It was always my final destination. Where do you find inspiration? It is everywhere, and usually in the simple moments is where I find it. I love stories, I love South African stories. Inspiration is sometimes in the sound of the ocean, or in a moment with my boys. I am Inspired daily, even in the non-inspiring moments. When I watch a fantastic film I am inspired, when I watch a bad film I am inspired again, because it all adds to the melting pot of telling stories and inspiration is where it all starts, and it keeps me going. Do you have any mentors? I have many. One of my greatest mentors was Paul Ian Johnson, the great screenwriter and my dear friend. My dad was one of my mentors who used to write me poetry from a very young age. My two boys are my mentors on a daily basis, my friends, and the love of my life. Sad moments, challenges, these are all mentors. The greatest mentors remain the stories we tell.
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Which projects are you currently involved in? Currently, with my business partner Dani Barnard from Baked Media, we are working on a hybrid reality show for VI television called Die Bergs, about a singing sensation. It will flight in April. We are also in development of some strong feature projects.
WHO IN THE INDUSTRY WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO WORK WITH? I have been blessed to have so far worked with people I love and adore. The door is open to work with many fantastic South African talents… so far I have been humbled by our incredible local crew and the talent we have in SA.
WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DO YOU ENJOY CREATING? As long as it’s a story where I can do unique things, in a hybrid kind of fashion, I am happy. Feature films are my first love, even though I am absolutely enjoying the reality TV style that we are currently doing.
If you could produce an African version of a Hollywood classic, what would it be? As much as I love them, a big dream would be that I would much rather make movies that become classics.
What has been your FUNNIEST moment on set? I think you cannot have one, especially with a heavy project like Alison, we actually laughed so much. As a director and as a producer it is very important to keep the humour on set, and laugh at ourselves, laugh at the funny things and even have a giggle when things get tough. Humour is my thing and my slate is very comedy driven now. I want to make people laugh for a long time and laugh with them. What has been your proudest moment as a director? There at least a million every day, even if I am not shooting. The moment we closed finance on Alison. When the cameras rolled for the first time on set. When we got into our first international film festival. Becoming the first South African film to ever get in with Dances for Films. When my crew were nominated at the SAFTA’s. The moment Alison said yes. Winning the Muse Award. Winning the best African documentary. The nominations, the international awards we have won. It is also the private proud moments, when Christia nailed a moment as Alison, my incredible actors who were so brave with this project. My crew problem solving. The gratitude is never ending.
IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY FILMMAKER SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? That I never had to sleep so there could be more time in a day to do the things we do, and that there was a limitless pit of money where budget wasn’t a problem. I think this would be a superpower that we would all love with all our hearts.
WHAT IS YOUR DREAM SHOOT LOCATION? They say that if you do what you love, you haven’t worked a day in your life, and I see myself in that incredibly lucky position. I think telling the stories I really wanted to tell, producing my own stuff and now joining forces with Barnard, between the two of us and what we have on our slates and our plans – this is my dream shoot location. This is my ultimate African version of stories, this is my proudest moment, this is my funniest moment, this is what I enjoy creating content wise, this is my inspiration. This is everything you have just asked me in these questions, as all part of my dream, I get to be in my dream location every single day. IF YOU WEREN’T A FILMMAKER, YOU WOULD BE…? I would be dead. I would be miserable. There is nothing else. Compiled by Cera-Jane Catton
ADVERTORIAL
| FILM
CTICC East: The sequel From airport scenes to office scenes, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has been the location for some impressive film and commercial shoots. And, with its expansion project well underway, we take a look at the new venue spaces being added to this iconic venue.
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he CTICC’s 31 148m2 expansion project, CTICC East, is taking shape east of the current building. A fusion of stone, steel and glass, the centre will offer event organisers with additional venues to grow their events and more location options for film and production scouts.
A dramatic scene The most striking feature of CTICC East, when standing in the luxurious reception foyer, is its impressive 28m floor to ceiling height. Unlike the current building, CTICC East is built across six floors and will have four levels above ground and two subterranean levels. The slick procession of escalators from ground level to the
roof terrace will definitely spark interest amongst scouts looking to build dramatic airport or futuristic-looking spaces. Large multipurpose halls (approximately 10 000m2 of space in total) will span across two floors with three halls per floor, offering amazing spaces to setup a dream scene. Going up, the first mezzanine level will house meeting rooms and meeting suites; the second floor will have further meeting rooms and the second mezzanine level will house two terrace rooms. The centre will also have a 500m2 open-air rooftop garden offering grand views of the harbour and city, and a great location for a wrap party. On the ground level a coffee shop will open up onto the pedestrian
thoroughfare enlivening the city’s Foreshore area. And the two subterranean levels will house parking bays, kitchens and service areas.
A stellar cast Versatility and convenience are reasons why the CTICC is a popular film and photography location. The venue not only provides excellent indoor production locations and facilities but capable, solutions-driven staff also aim to ensure that production companies maximise their budget. Modern technologies and world-class services accommodate successful and hassle free film shoots of just about any kind.
The CTICC’s film shoot services include but are not limited to: • Catering for crew • Lifting equipment – cherry pickers/scissor lifts • Access to a maintenance technician • Security • Power supply • A dedicated, onsite event services manager for the duration of your shoot • Parking facilities • A base camp (when available) For 13 years, the Cape Town International Convention Centre has made a significant contribution to Cape Town’s reputation as a global event destination. CTICC East represents an exciting sequel of this influence. For more information, visit www. cticc.co.za or contact sales@cticc.co.za
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 19
NEW MEDIA | OPINION Written by Shmerah Passchier, AFDA PRO knowledge curator
Cyborg filmmaking in virtual reality 360 production The torrent of news headlines in South Africa would have us believe we might be on the brink of civil unrest – a recurring paralysis-of-fearnarrative that is pervasive in our country. Nkandla, Marikana, State Capture, the Esidimeni deaths, the SASSA grants crisis, are enough to make even the most optimistic among us question the meaning of existence.
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Shmerah is a lecturer and knowledge curator at AFDA PRO. She has a MFA in Motion Picture Medium from AFDA and MA Anthropology from Wits. She is currently reading for her PhD in Cyborg Filmmaking and Virtual Reality at the Faculty of Digital Arts at Wits.
D
oom and gloom narratives are not unique to South Africa, or the rest of our continent. Tune onto CNN for ‘disaster central’ AKA ‘if it bleeds, it leads.’ This sentiment is echoed in the work of Peter Diamandis, author of Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think (2012). Diamandis would turn our attention to signs of evolutionary accomplishment all around us. Looking at “the hard facts, the science and engineering, the social trends and economic forces that are rapidly transforming our world (Diamandis 2012).” He argues that in the 21st century the standard of living has improved dramatically with increased life expectancy, decreased infant mortality, and access to basic education, technology, and water borne sewerage; our lives are vastly better than in previous centuries.
But what bearing does this have on the lives of us living in the developing world? After all, Peter Diamandis, along with his peers, Ray Kurzweil, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are voices from the Global North – the developed world. What relevance does this have for us living in the Global South, with our own unique set of problems and socio-political challenges? Looking at this from a globalised perspective, in today’s hyper connected world, problem solving in the Global North has dramatic impact on the Global South, as we witnessed in the global economic crisis of 2008. What happens here, impacts there, and vice versa. Global pandemics have no borders. We are not as far apart as we might think. Isn’t everything connected in the age of fast fibre? We could argue for a new vantage point of the Human family through the lens of postmodern
OPINION
Neo Matjie, 2nd year Bachelor of Computer Technology student is learning Virtual Reality 360 production to develop an app and become an entrepreneur in the domain of exponential technology.
Ubuntu – ‘I am because we are’ – now has a cybernetic dimension. Boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ are increasingly faint. In a globalised world of mobility and transnationalism, our borders are more porous than ever before. We are all global citizens. Geographic boundaries no longer begin and end on the traces of maps. In the same way, boundaries of the human body do not begin and end at the skin. Cyborg anthropologist, Amber Case says in her viral Tedtalk, “we are all cyborgs now.” Case rejects the Hollywood imposed imagery conjured up in the mind that a cyborg should resemble RoboCop or Terminator. These popular culture science fiction films distort the representation of the cyborg as innately masculine, which alienates women from identifying with this exhilarating fantasy of possibility. The scientific definition of the term ‘Cyborg’ was coined in 1961 in a Cybernetics space travel essay by Kline and Clynes describing this evolutionary, transhuman phenomena as: “The Cyborg deliberately incorporates exogenous (external) components extending the self-regulatory control function of the organism in order to adapt it to new environments.” Case argues that we are cyborg every time we “look at a computer screen or use a cell phone device.” We are a “button clicking” and “screen staring” species with peculiar digital rituals and cultures. 21st century humans spend vast amounts of time intersecting with machines. If you have ever lost your smart phone, you will know the sense of panic, deprivation and disorientation this causes. This is because the smart phone has become an extension of the self. The ubiquitous smart phone has changed our lives in exponential ways. The exponential premise of Diamandis’
book, Abundance (2012) is based on Moore’s Law – the rule of thumb in the technology industry which shows how the processor chip – the basic component that enables computing, doubles in speed every 18 months, while the price remains the same. Moore’s Law continues to be the yard stick for growth in exponential technology and shows no sign of slowing down. Counting exponentially means the data soon leaps off the graph: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512… Think of the exponential leap from the cell phone to the smart phone. Remember when all a cell phone could do was SMS and call? Smartphones now empower the user with more access to information than Bill Clinton had 16 years ago. “Africa has skipped a technological generation, by-passing the landlines that stripe our Western skies for the wireless way. Mobile phone infiltration is growing exponentially, from two per cent in 2000, to 28 per cent in 2009, to 70 per cent in 2013 (Diamandis 2012).” The smart phone has limitless applications now enabling emerging technologies like Virtual Reality to take centre stage as of 2016. Ryan Marfone describes in, The Real Reason Facebook Acquired Oculus Rift: How Virtual Reality Will Disrupt Everything And Why You Should Care (2016): “In 2016 an old trend has resurfaced in mainstream media, Virtual Reality (VR). Although this is not the first time that this trend has popped up in society, it has come back with great force and a bigger sense of realism due to other technological advancements such as smartphones and the high definition nature of these devices.” Marfone describes the purchase of Oculus Rift by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014 as a precursor to the impact of Virtual Reality on everything from education, immersive communication, tourism, events
industries, military training and medicine. Already companies like Deep VR, operating in Johannesburg, are revolutionising ways in which customers connect to brands. This spells massive disruption for the advertising industry. On the horizon, a Fourth Transformation awaits according to Scoble and Israel in their book, The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality & Artificial Intelligence Will Change Everything (2017). Scoble and Israel conclude that the various waves of the Digital Revolution ignite exponential transformation where start-up companies experience meteoric success; while great companies like Kodak, succumb to bankruptcy overnight. Scoble and Israel predict that by 2020, we will migrate from our smart phones to smart glasses where VR, Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) applications merge. These disruptive technologies are set to become as ubiquitous as the laptop and mobile phone. But where does this leave us as media practitioners in the Global South? Are we forever to see ourselves ‘developing’ – not there yet? We think not. The Comaroffs offer a counter narrative in Theory from The South, Or How Euro-America is Evolving Towards Africa (2012). “What if we subvert the epistemic scaffolding on which western enlightenment thought is erected? What if we posit that, in the present moment, it is the global south that affords privileged insight into the workings of the world at large? Euromodernist narratives of the past two centuries – which has the south tracking behind the curve of Universal History, always in deficit, always playing catch up – there is good reason to think the opposite: that given the unpredictable, under-determined dialectic of capitalism-and-modernity
| NEW MEDIA
in the here and now, it is the south in which radically new assemblages of capital and labour are taking shape, thus to pre-figure the global north (Comaroff and Comaroff 2012).” In this call to rethink our world view and embrace an inverted world view of Africa where we start to see “old margins becoming new frontiers” and “the global north becoming more like the south (Comaroff and Comaroff 2012)” we begin to fathom our agency, to insert ourselves into the global narrative. As computer scientist, Alan Kay said in 1971 – the best way to predict the future is to invent it. Education has always been about the project of self-transformation. Education empowers us to reinvent ourselves on a lifelong basis. At AFDA PRO we are now inventing the Cyborg filmmaker who emerges from Science Fiction, specifically from Afrofuturism, from Africa. This is the construction of the cinematic/story telling voice from the Global South. As technology converges exponentially in media production driven by the Digital Revolution, so the Cyborg filmmaker becomes a nexus of converging skills accumulation for media production. In so doing, the Cyborg disrupts the boundary between human and machine because the tools of filmmaking are extensions of the cyborg self. The Afrofuturist Cyborg inserts itself into the global Virtual Reality narrative by splicing technology into the story telling self. The Virtual Reality camera rig with its multiple eyes, multiplies the possibility of new ways of seeing. The Virtual Reality head set becomes a Cyborg cyclops eye – a new mode of perception of the world around us. We must become biologically blind before we can see anew in the cyber world – immersed in a new sight of new worlds. Why, because it matters which Worlds get to create those new Worlds. Viewed through the cyclops prism of the Virtual Reality headset, we let go of global orientation rooted in cultural hegemony and turn the world on its head, resisting the dominant narratives of the Global North. So the Afrofuturist Cyborg inserts itself into the global narrative of Virtual Reality cinema. Emerging from Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, the Cyborg is an intersection of human and machine. The human being does not end or begin at the skin. The skin is permeated by machine. The human being transcends its flesh by fusing with machine identity. By harnessing the tools of the Digital Revolution we transcend our race, our gender and our species. We splice the self with technology to form new identities, to tell new stories, to create new worlds of immersive story, to disrupt reality, to disrupt the human being, to become Cyborg filmmakers. – Shmerah Passchier
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 23
Television
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From the producer’s mouth:
Kgalalelo Sibanda For our first installation straight from the producer’s mouth, we chatted to Kgalalelo Sibanda, insert producer for e.tv’s live morning show Sunrise…
What did you study? Was a career in TV production always the plan? I studied Visual Communication and majored in Graphic Design from AAA school of advertising. Yes, TV has always been something I wanted to be a part of but wasn’t too sure how, but I quickly learnt that my plans aren’t always God’s plans. How did you come to find yourself producing e.tv’s Sunrise? I started off as an insert producer, and entertainment and lifestyle research writer then was a field producer on Outside Broadcasts. My EP then gave me the opportunity and pushed me to challenge myself with producing the live show.
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What exactly does the job of a producer entail? Drive content, and make sure that it’s what the editorial team wanted the outcome to be. As someone who works on both live and prerecorded television, which do you prefer and why? Live TV by far, it’s all about the adrenaline. It’s fast paced, on the beat, and always challenging What are the biggest challenges that come with being a producer and how do you overcome these? Having to be able to make sure the editorial focus is achieved daily, and trying to save the world all in only three hours
What has been the biggest challenge in your career to date? Waking up in the morning at 03h30! It doesn’t get better with time. What have been your career highlights to date? Every day is a highlight as it presents me with different challenges that I need to overcome and a new opportunity to learn something new. What next for Kgalalelo Sibanda? Being executive producer then onwards and upwards
What advice do you have for young people wanting to follow in your career footsteps? Be a sponge, soak up everything, learn, learn, and learn. And never take criticism personally; it’s all to aid you in your growth. If you weren’t working in television what would you be doing? I’d be a chef, with a TV show working towards owning my own exclusive restaurant. – Compiled by Chanelle Ellaya
| POST-PRODUCTION
Colourist essentials with Mushroom Media’s Warwick Allan
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or a colourist the most critical tools are your monitor, software, hardware, control surface and environment. “Firstly an A-class calibrated monitor is of most critical importance if you are serious about colour grading,” says Allan. “The monitors you grade off need to provide a reliable and accurate representation of colour day in and day out, you need to trust the image you are looking at 100 per cent in order to grade with confidence.” Allan says that calibration should be done regularly (every three months or so) using a hardware calibration device that has a probe that accurately reads the monitors consistency and colour by being placed directly onto the screen. The adjustments to an A-class monitor such as a Sony OLED will be minimal but need to be done regularly to make sure all is lined up 100 per cent. “Consumer TVs, even expensive ones, will shift over time and depending on the environmental factors such as temperature they will even shift during the day. You may not notice this as a general consumer but when you are working on very subtle changes in colour it will impact your ability to know exactly what you are changing,” Allan explains. He goes on to say that the most accurate and reliable technology available at the moment is OLED (Organic LED) and the best monitors made by Sony, Flanders Scientific, Canon etc. all make
use of this type of screen technology that represents black as 100 per cent black – meaning the pixel is actually turned off versus the brightness turned down which leaves the black areas looking slightly milky or dark grey. “This affects the contrast of the image and is the case for LCD monitors which are cheaper but you get what you pay for. So OLED is currently king,” he states. According to Allan, software has levelled the playing field in the area of grading in recent years, with the availability of DaVinci Resolve and a number of other software only applications such as Scratch becoming increasingly more prevalent. “The reality is that a good colourist can achieve a great looking image in any software, it is more about being comfortable in the software you use. That being said, Resolve and Baselight are the two most used applications for grading in the international arena. Resolve requires less hardware and Baselight is a turnkey solution that comes with its own storage, machine, GPU’s and even monitors, but is exponentially more expensive. Resolve can be built up with the right hardware to run just as fast as a Baselight system or can be run as software only.” What is critical from a hardware side, says Allan, is to ensure that you have fast storage available in order to playback the high-quality files that you will want to be grading off. “It is hard to assess the grade
Tangent Elements Control Surface at Mushroom Media
Established in 2005, Johannesburg-based Mushroom Media is a boutique digital postproduction house focused on the commercials and feature film market. Warwick Allan, renowned colourist and owner of Mushroom Media, has worked on a host of accredited feature films. Here are a few things he thinks every colourist should know and have in order to succeed. without being able to watch your footage on the run and therefore make sure you have sufficient power in your system to watch the files playback smoothly in highquality. Most systems make use of multiple GPU’s to boost playback power and real-time processing of the grade layers or nodes that you have applied, but you still have to have a hard-drive or RAID capable of pushing that footage to and from your machine for processing,” he explains. The next thing one would need as a serious colourist is a control surface. These generally contain many knobs, buttons and three to four rollerballs. These give the colourist a very fast and tactile tool through which you can very finely adjust the colour and contrast with dedicated buttons. “Once you have graded with a control surface you will never be able to grade with a mouse again. The fine control that you get with a control panel allows you to really craft the image to exactly the levels of colour and contrast your client requires,” Allan says. “The speed at which one can operate the software also radically increases as each button is actually a shortcut straight to the tool you need to use.” Lastly, but by no means least important says Allan, is the environment: “In order to take in every beautiful pixel of your masterpiece that is being perfectly represented on your 100 per cent calibrated OLED monitor you need to make sure there is no natural light entering the room at all. Keep all light sources at 6 500k colour temperature. This will make sure the white point of your monitor is
not confused. Use high-quality ballasts and fixtures if they are dimmable so as to avoid the colour of the lights shifting. The light level in your grading room should be very low so that you are able to clearly see the finer details of contrast and colour on the monitor. Make sure you take regular breaks for your brain and eyes as your eyes can start to self-correct after long uninterrupted sessions.” Also of importance is the wall colour. Allan explains that our perception of colour is based on the surrounding colours, therefore as a colourist, you ideally want to have a perfectly neutral grey with absolutely no colour bias in your wall colour. “This is also known technically as 18 per cent grey, commonly found on the colour charts used to test cameras. To the eye 18 per cent grey looks more like 50 per cent grey – a perfect mix between black and white with no colour bias,” he concludes. All the technical speak aside, for Allan colour grading is really about artistic expression, your eye and creating compelling images that support the story. “It is a very subjective craft, what looks good to one person may not to another. Learn to work with people and be challenged to try new things and find new looks you would never have thought of. Filmmaking is all about collaboration at all stages and it is also the case in the process of grading too,” he concludes. – Chanelle Ellaya
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 25
MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
|
Thought leadership
Digital video archiving – keeping up with today’s broadcast demands
Written by Paul Divall, managing
director, Jasco Intelligent Technologies
“In this changing world of broadcasting, storage is the foundation upon which the broadcast facility is built. Cost-effective storage management, archival, and retrieval services create the framework for an efficient system.”
B
roadcasters and video producers across the world are moving to computer-based platforms. As they do, access to any content, anytime, anywhere, is becoming a critical success factor. As growth of digital video data explodes, the introduction of digital asset archives is fuelling the IT and broadcast convergence. It brings increased automation, greater efficiency, global access, and sharing of content. There are numerous factors pushing broadcasters to go digital. Digital content is growing, computing devices are getting faster and more powerful, and bandwidth is getting cheaper and more plentiful. Consumers expect more. They want content – video and audio – faster and in the format of their choice. Within broadcasting organisations, production staff want simultaneous access to video and audio material, all stored in different formats, for production and other functions. At the same time, broadcasters need to archive material and make it accessible for reuse by other
26 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
players (from educational institutions to video-on-demand players) to maximise usage and increase revenues. For broadcasters to keep pace with these demands, they must provide much more content across distributed networks, faster, and at a reasonable cost. In addition, the information must be delivered in such a way that it becomes much more powerful for users and is accessible anytime, anywhere. The evolution of broadcast facilities over the last two decades have helped lay the groundwork.
Storage – the foundation In this changing world of broadcasting, storage is the foundation upon which the broadcast facility is built. Costeffective storage management, archival, and retrieval services create the framework for an efficient system. Traditional approaches are cumbersome. To view an archived piece of material in a broadcast facility, users
had to somehow identify the tape or reel on which the material resided, manually remove it from a shelf, and transport it to a viewing suite that contains the appropriate format playback device, such as a VTR or film projector. They then had to watch the entire tape or reel to locate the material they were seeking. It’s a long, tedious process using valuable equipment, people, and space. The advantages of a digital asset archive over traditional processes and technologies are significant: • Multimedia material stored digitally is not prone to generational loss due to copying, and no quality check is required. • Archival storage is ideal for computerised and robotic systems, with metadata making it easy to find files. • Networking of video servers and archives allows data to be interchanged rapidly and without any quality loss. • Interfaces to other systems
allow automation benefits to extend to other areas. • Interoperability with different video devices enables sharing of content from multiple sources.
Video server and automation – a winning combination A video server and automation system bring the two worlds together. The video server, a storage and playout device, is one of the most revolutionary devices to enter the broadcast arena. It can hold many hours of video and audio content – including digital, tape-based, motion picture and photographic film formats – to be played out on demand. The video servers provide high-bandwidth, high-speed network connections to other servers, editing systems, and playout and production devices. They also allow archive system management data to be exchanged with other systems via a robust API. The video server is controlled by
Thought leadership
| MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
“Online storage is the mission-critical storage for play-to-air material.” an automation system, which controls the ingest, storage and play out of programmes and commercials.
From ingest to playout Ingest is an application or a function provided by the video server. Material is brought into the video server from sources such as video tape, satellite video feeds, data tape or wide area data networks. Capture, digitisation, and compression of the material is performed at ingest. Once converted to a digital format and compressed, the material will stay in this format throughout its stay in the video server and the data tape library. When the material is played out to air, it is converted back to baseband video and audio by the codecs in the video server and sent to the transmitter. Advanced automated storage and playout systems employ a hierarchy of storage technologies to store multimedia
files and associated information. Online storage is the mission-critical storage for play-to-air material. It holds several hours of spots and programmes that are scheduled to be played out during the day. Near-line automated tape libraries are the primary medium for archival storage. This is much less expensive than storing the same amount of information on disk-based storage, making it economical for storing the bulk of the material. Archive management software enables automation and efficiencies. An archive manager is a middleware software application that bridges the gap between disk-based storage and the automated tape library. Its purpose is to provide an interface—or more accurately, an abstraction layer—between the video server and the automated tape library’s tape drives and robotics. It not only provides much-needed connectivity but also media management in the form of
a database to keep track of the contents of the data tapes and the bins inside the library. It is very important that the archive manager be compatible with many automation systems and video servers.
The way forward Integrating digital storage with legacy video applications and devices is allowing any content to be accessible anytime, anywhere in the broadcast facility. Even as technology advances and disk capacity grows and becomes increasingly affordable, so will data tape capacity and tape transport data rates. For the foreseeable future, broadcasters’ data architecture will remain the same: video server caches with data tape library archival storage. Both disk and data tape storage will continue to provide a solid foundation for many years to come. – Paul Divall
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April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 27
MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
|
OPINION
MAMs in the era of democratised filmmaking
Written by Robert Krüger,
managing partner, Lesspain Software
Kyno on set
The last decade’s “democratisation of filmmaking” is a truly wonderful thing. It has enabled more people to create via a lower barrier of entry, resulting in multimedia experiences that would never have seen the light of day several years earlier. How did it happen?
The content revolution
The introduction of file-based workflows together with drastic quality improvements in digital video has revolutionised video production; affordable cameras, equipment and software mean affordable filmmaking; and the explosion of online video has led to a huge increase in video production worldwide. And there’s more: NLEs and other post-production software can now run adequately on an entry-level PC or Mac and can produce video in television or even cinema quality; cloud platforms have become commodities; and platforms like Frankie, Frame.io and Wipster make web-based collaboration a reality no matter your level of experience. And yet, despite these exciting innovations, the realities of media asset management (MAM) in the production process have not changed much at all.
Part of the problem is the sheer amount of content we produce. With the advent of mainstream 4K and even affordable cameras capturing footage at more than 1 000 megabits per second, the mass of content captured today is beyond anything capable in previous years. Just think of the brand-new Panasonic GH5 moving up its in-camera bitrate to 400MBit from the GH4’s 100, or the DJI Inspire 2 capable of recording an incredible 4200MBit 5.2 K RAW. Furthermore, with the availability of cheap cameras that enable more perspectives of a shot – GoPro, drones and so on – comes an increase in output. With that amount of pure data, media asset management and organisation remains a huge challenge—and one that, even in 2017, hasn’t been solved. It somewhat sours the democratisation of filmmaking that has us all so excited. Disk space is a critical resource,
28 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
especially when using expensive SSD storage for the editing process. For example: Three hours of 4K footage shot in ProRes HQ requires roughly one terabyte of disk space. Due to this, filmmakers need to be painfully efficient with storage—in many cases, being selective with material from longer takes before the edit is necessary, if filmmakers don’t want to run out of disk space or drive up archive and production costs. Heterogeneous material in terms of file formats, codecs, colour handling (RAW, S-Log, V-Log, LUTs etc.) and metadata have also become the norm, so production processes have to be built in a way to accommodate that, and in many cases need to work around compatibility issues. The metadata world in particular is still very fragmented, with lots of mutually incompatible standards and no improvement in sight. So, although the potential for video producers to explore their craft has increased in the past decade, their lives as far as material organisation is concerned has not kept pace with those developments. Building a production workflow for a given environment still requires work, experience, tools and almost always tough trade-offs.
The MAM environment The term ‘media asset management’ covers a very broad area. Many professionals in the content production industry associate it with complicated, heavy-weight MAMs or PAMs that feel more like a database, and are not exactly known for their flexibility. They also don’t leave much choice when it comes to designing for workflows that are fit for purpose. These systems are almost exclusively used at bigger organisations such as television networks or major production houses—they do not address the needs of the hundreds of thousands of video professionals working at small businesses or as freelance. There are a number of tools with a narrower scope, such as logging and/or offloading footage from camera media, but those, due to their narrow scope, also only address a fraction of the typical workflow needs of content producers. This situation created a kind of breeding ground; one where the ideas that led to the design and development of Kyno began to take shape. With Kyno, we wanted to take a fundamentally different approach to MAM. We started by looking closely at how professionals work today. We
used our findings to build the tool that would support these workflows. One of the key observations was that there is not just one correct workflow, but a huge variety of approaches that work very well depending on requirements, environment, skill and, not least of all, personal preference. Those differences can be the kind of camera or NLE used, and whether these are homogeneous or heterogeneous. Many people organise their work using semantic folder structures, others prefer tags or file naming conventions. Some people transcode all their footage before edit, some use material directly off the cards. Kyno was built as a take on MAM that does not prescribe a certain workflow, but rather offers the building blocks for all these different workflows in one integrated, easy-to-use user interface. These are, most notably, a media file browser that builds a database on the fly; a professional media player for screening and logging; a powerful yet very simple transcoding engine; batch renaming functionality; and NLE integration. Kyno users combine this functionality with ease, and constantly surprise us with new ideas about how they go about it. Although Kyno is not branded as a MAM, it does for many people what they would typically expect from a MAM. The integrated powerful metadata filtering capabilities are available without any ingest step or previous definition of a catalogue or database. Combined with extensive logging functionality users get the MAM-like functionality they need.
Where does that leave us in 2017? The last decade’s worth of innovations are far too empowering to be entirely negated by the challenges imposed by diversity and quality, but the challenges are there nevertheless. We need to think about how to overcome them to further empower creativity, enabling even more budding filmmakers to more easily achieve their vision. We need tools that can free the minds of video professionals from the technical nitty-gritty, and turn the focus to the creative process. Judging by the attitude in the creative community, that support would be more welcome today than ever before. Tools like Kyno aim to nurture, develop and grow that creative process, with functionality designed for the workflows of today. – Robert Krüger
OPINION
| MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
Solving the
Media Factory puzzle
“The key in building a true media factory is the requirement to define thousands of distribution instruction sets and the ability to save these varying instructions as profiles so that triggering a workflow becomes as easy as requesting an asset, or a group of assets, in a particular profile.”
S
ince the late 1990s, media companies and broadcasters have been searching for the elusive media factory, an all-encompassing workflow where media files enter and
thousands of versions exit with little or no labour required. The concept of a media factory was conceived to simplify and automate content delivery to multiple platforms, focusing on non-linear issues due to their inherent complexity. Instead
Written by Julián Fernández Campón, solutions director, Tedial
of building a new workflow for each new media distribution requirement, a media factory provides a special workflow design to initiate, manage and control thousands of configurations automatically. To create a ‘true’ media factory, media processing tools need to be stacked in a unique, looping design so that a single workflow can connect to any of the customer’s third-party vendor systems: transcoders, audio level controls, caption management, digital rights management, content distribution network interfaces; everything that is required to process media needs to be part of the stack. The key in building a true media factory is the requirement to define thousands of distribution instruction sets and the ability to save these varying instructions as profiles so that triggering a workflow becomes as easy as requesting an asset, or a group of assets, in a particular profile. The aim of the version factory is to provide a single efficient and costeffective workflow that supports millions of file input to output configurations that can be managed from a single
operator screen. This technology coupled with BPM, a highly flexible solution that centralises business process management to provide a ‘joined up’ and efficient media process model across enterprise, provides a true media factory. The BPM system enables media companies and broadcasters to simplify and redesign their workflows according to business requirements rather than technical processes. Efficiency and higher quality are achieved by automating countless tasks, whilst reducing manual intervention minimises operational errors. This allows the day-to-day media production, packaging and publishing processes to be automated wherever possible and the use of the available resources and workloads optimised accordingly. It provides customers with the tools to implement thousands of business-driven media workflows, each designed specifically around their unique requirements. An important addition to the media factory is SMPTE Interoperable Master Format (IMF) methodology as it enables April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 29
MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT
and supports profile creation and modification. In order to take advantage of IMF methodologies, the MAM/ workflow system must have the ability to support extended metadata for efficient content management. This is why leading MAM software companies have begun to implement a true object relational database as their core product platform, to facilitate this expansion of connections and relationships into hundreds and thousands of reliable connections. The first design foundation required to support an IMF Media Factory is efficient content management, to easily manage and reference the components to be delivered such as trailers, posters and any other required element for each destination. In keeping with the idea that simplicity is elegance and easiest for operators, a single screen allows users to modify, manage and save IMF profiles. As an alternative, this single screen operation can be driven by an API and connection to the broadcaster or media company’s back office systems, whether a traffic system, a content management system, a program rights system or a work order system. The definition output of this screen can be named as a template and adjustments can be saved as new
|
templates, so that essences can be scheduled and configured through the media factory by calling for the “template.” Thousands of templates can be pre-configured from a single interface or built upon demand via “a work order” system integration. Unifying all these processes and jobs in a single platform ensures that all the resources are managed jointly and provide the broadcaster with the visibility to optimise their processes and maximise performance to ensure that Service Level Agreements and commitments are met and that there are no bottlenecks in the overall system. Management can focus on exceptions and growth and new requirements can be quickly and easily added to the automated system. The media factory provides for escalation procedures and the ability to monitor, manage and report and even build customised dashboards and automatically distribute executive reports. Most important, the media factory toolset should include solid business analytics and a thorough audit system, as well as dedicated reporting of any and all media actions for client and end user reports. The benefits of this unique stacked engine workflow are fundamentally important to companies focused on
managing ever expanding OTT and VOD distribution systems, networks and agencies concerned with controlling every attribute of their brand across hundreds or thousands of channels, and networks concerned with rising labour costs and lack of return on investment. Prior to actions, media collected in a Mediaset can be evaluated with reports to ensure all associated parts are available for actions. Rather than wait until a workflow “flags” a problem when it cannot find a specific asset, for example a foreign language audio track, a report can be run across all associated assets and missing segments of the logical version can be collected and associated to the main essence long before the actual output requirement is processed. As the media factory is designed to automate processes, there is immediate saving on manual process management. And because the introduction of new profiles is a single screen operation taking only a few minutes for a knowledgeable operator, there is no need to build a new workflow every time a new output is required, offering considerable speed to market and cost savings. Tedial’s Evolution Version Factory with BPM is the world’s first true Evolution Version Factory workflow. Both are light
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years ahead of traditional workflow solutions and provide users with an exponential measure of efficiency and path to profitability. These innovations are a major break-through in cost saving design, driving the current technology of multiple workflows in support of media format and configuration packages to a single system that can be fully automated through interconnection to existing back office systems and third-party tools. By adapting SMPTE standards and methods to modern MAM and workflow designs, Tedial has deployed true scalable media factories in locations around the world, including tier one players, where its systems are processing thousands of automated media versioning requirements per day and in some cases by the hour. The company has been recognised by the IABM winning the IABM Game Changer Award 2016 in the System Automation & Control category for Evolution Version Factory at NAB 2016. This was the second year running that Tedial won the Game Changer award picking up the prize in 2015 for its Tedial Evolution™ platform. – Julián Fernández-Campón
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30 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
| Outside Broadcast
Focus on Outside Broadcast
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 31
Outside Broadcast
|
and now
Image credit: Telent
Outside broadcast: Then
Marconi OB unit 1937
Over the years, television outside broadcasts, have brought live pictures from as many locations as producers could have imagined. It’s pushed the ingenuity of designers, engineers and technical gurus to the limit and spawned new technologies that give us truly magnificent content that amaze and inspire us. Live outside broadcast television, particularly sport, is like a lubricant, keeping the gears and cogs of the media industry turning and it’s incredible to think that it all began in London exactly 80 years ago. 32 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
T
hey come by many a name – in the States a ‘Production Control Room’ or a ‘Production Truck’, in the UK it is known as a ‘Scanner’ or ‘Remote Truck’, elsewhere it’s a ‘Live Truck’, ‘Mobile Unit’ or ‘Live Eye’. More familiar to most of us is the term ‘OB or Outside Broadcast van’, a vehicle used to produce television and radio programming from remote locations. The first all–electronic, ‘high definition’, 405-line outside broadcast unit was built for the BBC some eighty years ago, back in 1937. The unit consisted of three large vans, was equipped by the Marconi EMI Company and cost roughly £14 000 – which in those pre-war days was big budget. One van contained all the control apparatus, which included two vision monitors, four microphone inputs and three Emitron iconoscope cameras to supply the pictures. A second vehicle carried the 1kW VHF link transmitter and the third contained a diesel generator to provide power to the control van and transmitter van. On 12 May 1937 this unit televised part of the Coronation procession of King George VI. It was hailed as the broadcast that established an audience for television, and importantly, sold large numbers of TV sets. It’s interesting to note that at this time the technology of linking television signals was very much in its infancy. The main vision link was by landline with a standby vision link operating at 1kW on 60Mhz over a 6-mile path, which had to be line of sight with the studio. Later that year the United Kingdom saw the first live sport broadcast, 21 June – the BBC broadcasts television coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for the first time, followed by a specially arranged football match, between Arsenal and Arsenal Reserves on 16 September 1937. By the end of the 1930’s, OB television cameras
were shooting anything that came to hand from zoo trips to life on a farm, arrivals at airports to fashion events. Live television was cheaper to produce because recording technology for delayed broadcast was still in its infancy. But two years later, after an exciting start for television broadcasting, it suddenly stopped as war was declared on Germany. The outside broadcast trucks would not be used for the BBC again until after the war. In the meantime they served as vehicles for the war efforts, stripped of their electrical equipment. World War 2 saw the temporary end of any live television production; a complete halt in the manufacture of television sets and the engineers who had been developing television technology put their expertise toward designing radar and communications systems for the military. By the 1950s the BBC was experimenting again, more with outside broadcast locations, and in August 1950 plans were made for the first outside broadcast abroad, in France for the Centenary of the first message sent by submarine telegraph from England to France. It was the first time in history that a programme was transmitted across the Channel when viewers saw the town of Calais “en fete”, with a torch lit procession, dancing in the square and a firework display. It took almost two months to plan and five portable radio-link stations, designed to receive and send microwave signals, were set up temporarily along the 153 km route from Calais to London. Previously the working range for outside broadcast units was just 40km. The 1950s was a very significant decade in the development of broadcast television, especially with regard to outside broadcasts. Whilst such broadcasts had been a reality since
before the war, it was the prospect of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, which really made the whole idea a big success and really launched television for the masses in the UK. At least 20 million people in Britain and another 200 million people around the world viewed the Queen’s Coronation across the planet, (via live relays and tele-recordings), not a bad number considering there were no satellites back then. 1958 also saw a Tokyo based company Tsushin Kogyo which was founded in the 40’s, change its name to Sony, a company that in later years would prove to be a major role player in the OB market. It’s not clear when and where the first OB was commissioned in Africa, it could have been French Algeria but was most probably Nigeria when television began broadcasting on 31 October 1959 under the name Western Nigerian Government Broadcasting Corporation. The swinging sixties provided many a moment of excitement for the television viewer. 1963 proved to be a watershed year in the broadcast field. Six seconds of time on 22 November changed the way media worked for decades to come. The assassination and funeral of President Kennedy was a transformative live, global TV news event. It swept an industry without a guidebook for covering a breaking story of such magnitude and utterly changed how people would receive their news, much of it thanks to the 400 odd mobile units out in the field during the 71 hours of coverage. A few weeks later CBS rolled out a technological innovation that would change sport broadcasts forever. On 7 December 1963, US Army and Navy football teams squared off in their annual game in Philadelphia. In the fourth quarter, Army quarterback Carl Stichweh faked a handoff and ran into the end zone for a touchdown. Army fans
Image credit: Broadcast Solutions
| Outside Broadcast
Image credit: Telent
Image credit: Broadcast Solutions
Al Kass OB-10 exterior
Image credit: SAFTIG TV
Al Kass OB-10 interior
Marconi OB unit interior
Piaggio OB Van
watching at home were ecstatic. But then something strange happened. Stichweh again faked a handoff and ran into the end zone for a touchdown. The event was so disorienting that Lindsey Nelson, the commentator for the broadcast, had to explain to the audience at home that what they had seen wasn’t live. “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again,” he said. Tony Verena, a young CBS producer, with a 580kg Ampex videotape machine perched on a seat in the van, using an untested method of recording tone to mark an event, on a re-used I Love Lucy tape, performed the first ever live instant replay. This was
the beginning of a technology revolution that would continue through the 70’s and 80’s leading to bigger and better things. The 70’s saw most of the world’s broadcasters migrate to colour. The 1972 Olympic Games were the first to be broadcast to all five continents using 19 colour capable OB vans. It was here we also saw the introduction of computer graphics in the world of television and CBS Sports were among the many that made use of the new technology developed by Computer Image Corporation (CIC). It was in the 80’s that Sony has delivered their first OB van. Sony has since delivered over 250
Outside Broadcast Vehicles (OB Vans) worldwide. In South Africa, Sony has been a major role player in the supply of vans to both SABC and Supersport and with the proliferation of sport throughout Africa the outside broadcast industry continues to grow with the latest technology to accommodate the need. The majority of OB vans today are HD and UHD4k and size is certainly no limit. Broadcast Solutions GmbH recently delivered a whopping 31 camera, 29 crew van to Al Kass sports channel in Qatar. With nine EVS XT-3 servers (12 channels each), 68 monitors and 240 multiviewer screens, this is one of the
biggest vans produced so far and is unique in its design to handle the 50°C outside temperatures. In total contrast is Scandinavian economy Den lille OB-vogn (The Tiny OB Van), housed in a Piaggio three-wheeler moped. It can handle up to eight cameras, all powered by a single household power connector. It can live stream in Full HD using 3G, 4G or LAN, while a director switches using a 46in. LED multiviewer using an ATEM 1 M/E Production Panel. This year, FOX SPORTS, Australia’s sports specialists have developed what they believe is the outside broadcast production model of the future, and it doesn’t involve vans. ‘Hubs’ built in Sydney and Melbourne allow for ‘remote production’ of FOX SPORTS’ tier one sports. This means cameras and microphones will be located at the venue, and the majority of the production team based back at the hubs many, sometimes hundreds, of kilometres away. The central control facilities accommodate up to six simultaneous events, connecting with venues via high capacity/low latency countrywide fibre network. The new hubs will mean better working conditions and opportunities for staff, increased scope for creativity, flexibility and consistency across our productions as well as providing significant savings and future-proofing FOX SPORTS for decades to come. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the world will follow and will this become the new standard for sports television outside broadcasts globally? – Ian Dormer
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 33
Outside Broadcast
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OPINION
The effects of IP in the television OB environment For many years the TV and Broadcast industry and IT/ Telecommunications industries have been merging. This evolutionary move was inevitable since the invention of digital audio and video.
I
have identified two types of internet protocol (IP) transport: 1. Uncompressed SD/HD-SDI video (with embedded audio) for links within the outside broadcast (OB), e.g.: from camera to OB Van.
The current traditional method is to use co-axial cable with BNC connectors on each end, or for HD-SDI over long distances, a fibre optic cable is used, with electrical to optical (then back to electrical) converters being used
Written by Andy Louis,
technical director, Telemedia
2. Compressed audio and video (encoding) as an MPEG Transport Stream, for contribution links from the OB to the TV Station. Various methods can be used, such as Satellite links, Microwave link or Telecom (3G/DSL line)
In both cases the video signals are packetised and pushed into an IP network.
The case for uncompressed video over Ethernet vs co-axial cable Many broadcast manufacturers have already started implementing an SDIover-Ethernet (IP) interface for their equipment inputs and outputs. Examples of production equipment include cameras, vision mixers, video servers and editing systems. Once a video signal has been converted to a standard IP Ethernet cable, it can be plugged into a Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch. The video is broadcast throughout the switch and becomes part of a Local Area Network (LAN), very similar to a computer LAN. Below is a schematic of a typical Studio environment, which could easily be implemented in an OB environment. (See diagram 1)
Diagram 1
This type of architecture lends itself very well to sharing all the various sources available: collaboration is easy, since all of the content is flooding the network. Redundancy of path and Ethernet switches is handled by networking protocols. This allows the traditional video engineer to leave that to the network/IT engineer. Once the SDI over Ethernet network is established, and enough connections to switches are made, there is very good signal protection. (See diagram 2) Diagram 2
This is very useful in an OB environment, where cables are temporarily run all over the stadium or outdoor set. With this new type of content movement comes a new level of complexity across the various equipment vendors. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) was created, which includes most of the leading vendors in the industry. AIMS believes it is critical to follow a standardsbased approach that outlines a clear
34 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
roadmap that both meets the needs of implementations today and presents a clear path to greater functionality in the future. AIMS endorses an IP roadmap that includes standards and technical recommendation such as SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) 2022-6 and Openflow. The main concept is that the IP technology is not proprietary and standards-based. Most of the well-known manufacturers
are already implementing the AIMSrecommended methods, so that maximum compatibility is achieved. It is imperative that the baseband (SDI video/audio) equipment connects seamlessly to any IP network, and that all of the signals can be managed and controlled easily. Added Management Control can be implemented by using a Software Defined Network (SDN). The general idea is that a Management
platform controls all of the necessary components in the network, thereby negating any tedious setup of equipment, especially useful for broadcast (and not IT) engineers, responsible for network configuration. Broadcast engineers must be able to provision their own IP circuits, from within a familiar user environment.
Key concepts for its success, from the Broadcaster’s point of view: • Simple interfaces (web-based User Interface) for connection management, service assurance, and network inventory • The transport, management and device control must have built-in redundancy, which makes the solution even more robust and scalable than traditional SDI solutions. • Simple hand-over to other IP networks: any router in the network can forward the packets to any other connected network, even if the latter is not SDN based • Extendible to remote locations: other locations are effectively extensions of the central studio/campus • Cost-effective, incremental transition, through co-existence between baseband and IP • Reduced upfront and on-going CAPEX investment, as the architecture is scalable and based on adding rather than replacing • Benefit from vendor choice and lower “IT” price-points for network equipment, thanks to compliance to standards • Greater flexibility in production by making contribution networks seemless extensions of studios and enabling virtualisation
Nevion’s IP solution, production sites can be treated as extensions of the main production facility. This enables broadcasters to locate the production team in the most suitable location in terms of effectiveness and workflow requirements. For example, the director operates from a compact and lean control environment on location while the sound engineer, EVS operator, graphics and camera shading operators remain at the central broadcast facility. Their system works over standardised WAN (wide area network) connectivity and was designed to operate in mixed mode with uncompressed and JPEG2000 (J2K) encoded signals. A pioneer in media transport, Nevion provides network and broadcast infrastructure to broadcasters, telecommunication service providers, government agencies and other industries. It enables the transport and management of Diagram 3 professional-quality video, audio and data – in real time, reliably and securely – from the camera to the home.
The case for IP delivery from OB to Studio/Station In many situations the OB production is live, so the final output needs to be transmitted in real time back to the TV station for live broadcast. Distances can vary from a few kilometres to thousands of kilometres, and are rarely perfect connections. Almost all links are bandwidth-constrained, i.e.: over a satellite or wireless link, or fixed-line IP link. The pubic internet is being used more often due to its cost-effectiveness and increasing reliability. However there is no guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS), and it’s anybody’s guess exactly how the data travels from the OB, through various service providers and links that make up the Internet, to the Broadcaster. It is for this reason that SMPTE defined Forward Error Correction (FEC) for the delivery of IP streams. (See diagram 3).
OPINION
| Outside Broadcast
FEC adds extra data to the video/audio stream, in anticipation of dropped packets (errors) in the transmission chain. IP video links are uni-directional, if information is lost along the way, there is no way to re-send the missing bits, since the broadcast is Live. So it’s of the utmost importance that these links be as reliable as possible.
Summary In general the transportation of video signals within an OB and to/from the TV Station is a compromise between: • Bandwidth availability vs signals to be carried, within a given budget • Quality required within a given budget • Latency (time taken to deliver the content over the link) – Andy Louis
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 35
Outside Broadcast | CASE STUDY
Axon
enables SABC’s High Definition coverage One of SABC’s current OB vehicles that now feeds content to the broadcaster
The South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) has become the first broadcaster in Africa to integrate Axon Digital Design’s versatile Cerebrum control and monitoring software platform with Utah Scientific’s powerful router technology.
T
he equipment has been installed in SABC’s new High Definition mobile Master Control Room (MCR), part of the broadcaster’s Johannesburg-based High Technology Operations Centre (HTOC). Built by local coachbuilder New Installation Company (NIC) with design support from Systems Integrator and Axon distributor Inala Broadcast, the mobile MCR controls between four and six Outside Broadcast trucks and receives 20 external feeds in from SABC’s news regions. It also monitors incoming signals and sends outgoing broadcast feeds to an uplink vehicle Close collaboration between SABC, Inala, Axon and NIC was imperative to the success of this project, which had to be completed in just four weeks so that
36 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
SABC could deliver coverage of the 2016 South African national elections in full HD. “Due to the tight timescale, Inala and NIC built a temporary installation to ensure HD coverage of the elections, which took place at the beginning of August,” says Anton Van Staden, Inala’s executive broadcast consultant. “The equipment is now being decommissioned and moved into a brand new OB vehicle. It will be used as a mobile MCR for all types of productions and should be fully operational by April.” Inala’s long-standing relationship with SABC meant that the broadcaster was happy to comply with its equipment recommendations. As ease of use, flexibility and versatility were key criteria, Inala had no hesitation in recommending Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring system. “Cerebrum offers a modular, scalable and open system that is perfect for SABC’s requirements,” Van Staden says. “The system supports virtually every piece of broadcast equipment on the market and acts as the nerve centre for all routing. It is also very easy to use with a fully customisable interface and significantly speeds up production workloads by enabling complex tasks to be completed much faster.” SABC’s Cerebrum system is now being used to control two Utah routers – a compact 7RU UTAH-400/144 and a 4Ru UTAH-400/72s2 Frame, the smallest member of the Series 2 Family. “By combining Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring with Utah Scientific’s routers, we have been able to provide a streamlined workflow that delivers against budget and production requirements,” Van Staden says. “Also, Utah routers offer IP interface capabilities and this is a major advantage because it will simplify the switch to IP broadcasting,
Axon Cerebrum screengrab
when SABC decide to make that move.” Other equipment installed in SABC’s mobile MCR includes a Riedel communications system, Tektronix waveform monitoring and an Axon Synapse modular HD monitoring distribution amplifier with embedded 3G/HD/SDI. Peter Knevitt, principal technologist and TV OBs Engineering Manager at SABC, says the close collaboration between Inala, Axon and NIC made the entire project much easier for his team. “Switching from analogue to High Definition is a large step for any broadcaster, and with the national elections our target, we only had four weeks to do it in,” he says. “In that situation, it is really important to have supportive and proactive people around you. Inala and Axon made things very easy for us and we’re delighted with what they achieved. The temporary installation worked perfectly and we are looking forward to having all the equipment operational in our permanent mobile MCR.” Adrian Richmond, Axon’s director of Sales for UK, Ireland and Africa concludes: “The key thing with such a time sensitive project is that everyone works in concert. There was the fixed
deadline for the elections, which served as a hard target for delivery that could not be stretched. Axon, Inala and New Installation Company (NIC) all worked in partnership with the SABC team to deliver the project on time. Once the wiring was completed and the equipment installed and pre-configured, Axon sent an engineer, Rob Fransen, to Johannesburg to assist with the Cerebrum control system’s final setup and training. The Cerebrum control system is the heart of the systems operation and manages not only the Utah routers, but Tally and the Under Monitor Displays on the Axon multi-viewers, so this was a key component that had to be fully operational. Inala Broadcast managed the timing of the various elements. The date that Rob travelled to South Africa had to be perfect, not too early that the equipment wasn’t ready and not too late to ensure the work was completed. However, despite the challenges the project was managed perfectly and due to close teamwork between all parties the project was delivered on schedule for the election coverage.”
CASE STUDY
Ghana’s GH One commissions first ever OB truck
Inside GH One’s Ultra HD OB van Last year GH One, Ghana’s biggest private television channel, rolled out support for Ultra HD following an upgrade of its studio facilities in Accra. Following a significant investment in 12G-SDI, which supports single cable connectivity for the 2160p60 format, the broadcaster recently chose to expand its 4K capabilities further, commissioning its first ever OB truck through systems integrator Axel Technology. “Delivering the studio install and then the OB truck build represents one of the biggest broadcast projects ever undertaken in Ghana; however, the turnaround was extremely quick, taking just four months from initial order to completion,” explains Marco Branzanti, video projects manager at Axel Technology. “Because of the enormous variety of content that GH One produces, from live sports to news gathering, through to on-location interviews and shows, our single biggest challenge was designing a system that could adapt to
cope with all of those requirements.” The 14m long and 2.5m wide truck can accommodate a production team of up to 20 people at any one time and has four distinct production areas. While the main production gallery can seat up to six audio and video technicians, as well as two directors, the truck also incorporates a post-production hub, studio spaces, including a green screen and virtual sets, as well as an independent television studio workflow. “Fully expandable, the OB truck occupies a 15m by 4.80m footprint, allowing multiple productions to take place without staff feeling cramped. That means the vehicle can be used comfortably for longer periods,” explains Branzanti. “For example, the truck can have a fully-fledged television studio up and running for several days, rather than on a short-term, event orientated basis.” Signal routing onboard is managed via a Smart Videohub 40x40 from Blackmagic Design. Housed in the OB’s technical
control room, it sits alongside a rack of HyperDeck [Studio Pro] broadcast decks, used for both recording and backup purposes, as Teranex Express standards converters, which allow production crews to up or downscale any incoming video sources from external contributors. “As well as 4K production capabilities, a major part of the brief was to ensure that the truck would be able to incorporate footage and content coming into the OB from a host of external sources,” explains Branzanti. “When you’re on the road, you have to be able to contend with a whole range of formats and signals, and the Teranex converters give the engineers a very practical set of tools to convert everything into a consistent format for their broadcasts.” Axel Technologies’ IT servers are also housed here, together with its playout and CG systems for live titling, news tickers and graphics, which can all be added to the live programme mix. As with its studio facilities, the truck is also fitted
| Outside Broadcast out with 12G-SDI cabling, which allows single cable connectivity for Ultra HD signals. “This allows us not only to reduce the volume of cables within the truck, but also means there is less likelihood of signal degradation or dropout.” The truck has a full range of ENG and remote control cameras, which can be rigged in the studio sets or used out in the field, for news gathering, sports production or covering live events happening across Ghana. Satellite and robust wifi connections are on board to allow the truck’s team to broadcast from wherever they are in the country, no matter how remote. Redundancy played a huge part in the design of the OB truck’s workflow, and Branzanti explains how Blackmagic allowed the Axel team to develop a bespoke solution. “The truck has two ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switchers connected via a patch panel, and both have the same IP address assigned so that if there were any disruption, the console would automatically connect to the backup unit. The price point of Blackmagic’s switchers is what made this approach possible. We couldn’t have done it otherwise.” A further ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K is also installed for the truck’s television studio and is configured to act as the master control for the system. “The ATEM switcher’s ability to manage embedded audio makes it a very affordable and practical solution for any OB build which needs to be able to handle broadcast grade productions without any studio support,” explains Marco. “The balance between affordability and functionality that the Blackmagic Design kit offers has been the key to the effectiveness of the GH One truck,” concludes Branzanti. “We’ve been able to implement 12G Ultra HD workflows that have not previously been seen before in Ghana, that give the GH One team state of the art broadcasting systems, both when working in the studio and out in the field.”
April 2017 | SCREENAFRICA | 37
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Ludus Joburg turns two PHOTO CREDIT: Upstairs Ludus
The Joburg office of SA’s post-production facility, Upstairs Ludus, celebrated their second birthday with a Ludus Luau party at their offices in Hurlingham. Another bash in true Ludus form, they really know how to host a party. Seen there were…
Matthys Boshoff (The Star Film Company), Tanya Wagner (Metropolitan Republic), Greg Shaw (The Ludus) and Gavin Hong (The Ludus)
Colin O’mara Davis (Wondermerk), Jordon Koen, Nic Young (The Ludus), Mark Ash (The Ludus) and Michele Wilson (The Ludus)
Justine Puren-Calverley (First Pencil), Brenda Wilson (First Pencil) and Rob Smith (Velocity)
Ang Ciru Muthuma (Wondermerk), Colin O’mara Davis (Wondermerk), Jordan Koen, Gerhard De Jager (Wondermerk) and Terrence Holt (Wondermerk)
Nic Young (The Ludus), Anco Henning (Velocity Films), Diogo Dos Santos Mendonca (Blacksmith Collective) and Joe Erasmus (The Ludus)
Tanya Wagner (Metropolitan Republic) and Linda Hauser (Metropolitan Republic)
Thandiswa Ndaba (The Ludus) and Gavin Hong (The Ludus)
Linda Hauser (Metropolitan Republic) and Di Wilson (The Front)
38 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
M ark e tplac e UPCOMING EVENTS UPCOMING EVENTS
SUPPLIED
APRIL 31 Mar – 2 Vancouver South African Film Festival Canada www.vsaff.org
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3 – 6 MIPTV Cannes www.miptv.com 7 – 8 Bokeh South African International Fashion Film Festival Cape Town www.bokehfestival.co.za 19 – 30 Tribeca Film Festival New York www.tribecafilm.com
MAY 11 Screen Africa Golf Day Johannesburg www.screenafrica.com 17 – 28 Festival De Cannes France www.festival-cannes.com
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e.tv press preview 2017 The who’s who of the local television industry came out in style for the 2017 e.tv press preview, which took place on 2 March at Urban Tree in Sandton, Johannesburg‌
Bulelwa Languza and Thembi Mtshali
DJ Capital (Club 808)
e.tv MD Marlon Davids and Lynn Adams
Jamie Bartlett, Nambitha Ben-Mazwai and Emmanuel Castis
Marjorie Langa, Mapaseka Koetle and Kgomotso Christopher
Sello Sebotsane and Thapelo Mokoena
Karabo Maseko (Craze) and Nkanyiso Makhanya (Craze)
Mapaseka Koetle (Scandal)
Thembi Seete (Rhythm City)
40 | SCREENAFRICA | April 2017
GOLF
DAY
2017
The Annual Screen Africa Golf Day will take place on Thursday 11 May 2017 at CMR Golf Club in Maraisburg, Roodepoort.
A cocktail party and prize-giving is held at the CMR Clubhouse following the competition, which provides great networking opportunities. Secure your sponsorship and 4-ball by 11 April 2017. Date:
Thursday 11 May 2017
Venue:
CMR Golf Course
Sponsorship:
Hole 1 & Hole 10 – R7 500.00 (ex vat)
Halfway House:
All other holes – R5 750.00 (ex vat) For your own account
Green Fees:
R300.00 per player (inc vat), cocktail snacks and prize giving
Start:
Shotgun Start @ 11:45am
Contact: Ellen Oosthuizen Cell: +27 (0)83 268 6868 Fax: +27 (0)86 670 6809 e-mail: ellen.oosthuizen@pixie.co.za
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