A new music video for American hip hop and R&B artist Awgust Rush shot in Cape Town proves that it’s possible to achieve high production values with a low budget.
The motivation behind the music video for Awgust Rush’s new track Bunny Jump stemmed from a desire to highlight South African skill sets and talent to the rest of the world, according to CEO and creative director of INET Media Mohamed Moolla.
“To date the lion’s share of motion picture work in South Africa has gone to large, well established and well funded production companies,’ continues Moolla. “My opinion is that a small company like INET Media, with a compact dedicated team, can, will and has made a difference. Supporting skill sets from underprivileged areas is a priority because I strongly feel that the local youth have the most to contribute to the industry. We support passion and drive.’
The Bunny Jump music video reflects a day in the life of a playboy, complete with yachts, speedboats, penthouse and pretty, scantily dressed girls. All in all 15 models and 10 extras feature in the video.
“Our budget came in at roughly R60 000, including gear. We managed to achieve a high budget look by calling on our industry affiliates who fully support our vision to create the best visuals without exorbitant production costs. This way we managed to reach this quality at a fraction of the cost usually associated with such high end production. Nothing was sponsored on this video, which makes our achievement even greater,’ explains Moolla.
Distribution of the video is via social networks such as YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter. It will also air on Channel O, Trace and MTV Base.
Bunny Jump was shot in one day in January on the Arri Alexa with a high speed module and Super Cooke lenses.
Says Moolla: “The Alexa’s 35mm full size sensor produces amazing film-like quality and depth of field. Shooting in S-Log proved amazing for our workflow and the final grade was as beautiful as expected.
“The high speed module allowed us to capture those amazing aerial shots in slo-mo and the use of a gyro provided the rock-solid stability. We chose Super Cooke lenses for their fantastic depth of field and lens flare that allowed for those beautiful Miami-style shots.’
He describes the shoot as logistically challenging due to time constraints. “Syncing up two high speed boat departures from a public quay, together with chopper lift-off proved to be the least taxing task (joke!). But I had a fantastic crew to help me, including Ebrahim Hajee (director of photography), Roscoe Verceil (digital imaging technician), Khalid Manuel (focus puller) and Tarique Fredericks (grip).
“African music channels Channel O and MTV Base have been hugely impressed and asked me to come up to Joburg to discuss 16 more videos.’
Screen Africa magazine – May 2012
