Digital media technologies and the resultant change in the global broadcast landscape were some of the focuses at the Screen Africa Talent & Technology Conference which ran in Johannesburg concurrent to the Mediatech Africa Exhibition from 12 to 13 June.

Top level speakers such as Martyn Suker from Siemens IT Solutions and Services in the UK, Lynn Mansfield (SABC Special Projects), Frans Lindeque (Sentech), Stanley Edwards (Platypus Productions), Gelfand Kausiyo (SABC Radio Broadcast Facilities) gave presentations at the event, which attracted well over 200 delegates.

One of the sessions was devoted to the High Definition (HD) terrestrial transmission trials conducted by SABC together with Sentech and various other partners. Results of the trials were demonstrated at the SABC stand at the Mediatech Africa Exhibition.

Another presentation at the conference was focused on demystifying the HD acquisition and post production process, with speakers such as Panacam Africa’s Stefan Nell, Visual Impact’s Marius van Straaten, Klaus Webber from Thompson, Digital Intermediate’s Graham Austin and The HD Hub’s Jacques Macdonald.

Digital cinema came under the spotlight with Ster-Kinekor’s Helen Kuun, Popcorn’s Lawrence Trent, Trevor Brock from Central Point Communications, The Video Lab’s Gerhard Roets and independent producer Ronnie Apteker (“Pressure”, “Straight Outta Benoni”, “Footskating 101”) presenting their perspectives on the viability of this format for the South African industry.

A highlight of the Animation Workshop co-ordinated by Animation South Africa with support from the Cape Film Commission was ex-South African Alfie Olivier’s presentation of the workflow of the Oscar-winning animated film, “Happy Feet”. Olivier, who was an integral part of the film’s creation, works for Animal Logic in Australia. “Happy Feet” was the first animated feature film to come out of that country.

A lively panel discussion about the future of animation in South Africa, featuring speakers such as Adam Harris of Depth Animation, Roger Smythe of Masters & Savant, and Dustin Smith and Mahendra Naidoo from Freddie Hendrix brought up the lack of standards for animation training in some educational institutions. It was stressed that future animators needed to be trained in art skills and not just as operators of animation software. The question of whether the South African industry, which subsists on animation and visual effects work for commercials, could ever have a viable long form industry given the lack of infrastructure was discussed. Broadcaster commitment was cited as a vital component in kick-starting such an industry.

See full report of the conference and Mediatech Africa in June issue of Screen Africa.