At the 2013 kykNET Silwerskermfees in August in Cape Town 13 new Afrikaans short films had their international premieres. Original, highly innovative and imaginative, drawing on real-life events for inspiration and fictional portrayals, these movies all earned their big screen time. One film in particular, Prinses (Princess), stood out in terms of its superior visual effects (VFX) and editing quality.
Produced by JC Snooke and Jennis Williamson of Life in a Bulb Productions in Johannesburg, Prinses, a supernatural thriller, touches on an intergenerational curse and a child’s possession.
“We watched a lot of movies to capture the essence of a thriller (of this nature). The movie Mama by Andre Mushietti was an important reference for us,’ says Snooke.
Shooting over four days the producers had to ensure they had the right equipment to create the desired effect on camera. “It was difficult to negotiate the right gear but thanks to our cinematographer Justus de Jager, head gaffer Riaan Hanekom and Media Film Service this process was easier,’ comments Snooke.
He continues: “Post-production was the most difficult aspect because you have to trust your team completely. We had an incredible team at FiX Post Production with C.A. van Aswegen in charge.’
Says Van Aswegen: “While in the brainstorming phase during pre-production we had various discussions with Jennis and JC as well as director Morne du Toit about keeping the film grounded and authentic. One of the big concerns around VFX is usually that these aspects tend to “want’ to stand out and draw attention, which is exactly what we didn’t want.
“So our approach from the beginning was to do as many of the VFX in camera and edit and save the final VFX process for clean-ups and enhancements and the very focused shots that had to stand out.
“In the end, the biggest challenge with this type of project is always the time constraints. The film was in post-production for 12 days and we only had five days to do all the VFX shots, including all the rig removals, composites and 3D elements for all 40 shots.’
Unusual genre
Van Aswegen stresses that Prinses explores a genre that hasn’t really been dealt with in South Africa and it goes further by doing that in Afrikaans. “All the conceptualisation around the film was completely dictated by the parameters of the script.
“The style, look and feel all had to seamlessly align with the narrative. During many brainstorming sessions with Morne, who also wrote the script and had an intricate understanding of the motivations behind every decision, we finally turned to the sub-text of the film as our main cues for the VFX design direction.’
Van Aswegen observes: “There has been, generally speaking, a certain fear of the unknown around VFX in narrative feature films. However, over the past couple of years a slow exploration of the world of VFX has started to emerge, albeit in a very conservative and tentative manner.
“I believe it is time for the new generation of filmmakers to embrace the endless possibilities that awaits us in the world of VFX filmmaking. And I think Prinses was very much our attempt to start pushing the boundaries of what can be possible.’
According to Van Aswegen the VFX of the film can be divided into two sub-categories. “Firstly there are the “edit effects’ and then we have the “viusal effects’. The edit effects, which are all the time manipulation, ghosting and image break-ups, formed part of the five days that I had to edit the film.
“Once we had the picture locked, the visual effects guys started working on the rig removals, the eye replacements and the manifestation of the ghost – they had a total of five days to do that.
“While they worked on the VFX shots, we carried on with the sound design, score, online, grade and final finish of the rest of the film. The visual effects team would deliver a shot and Morne and I would approve it or send it back for further tweaks.’
Music
Quinn Lubbe, also of FiX Post Production, wrote the original soundtrack. He says: “I listen to and am influenced by a wide variety of composers, but my favourite is Danny Elfman (Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow). There is an odd quality to his music that always hints at something that is a little off or strange which I really enjoy and that I thought would be perfect for Prinses.
He adds: “The editor plays a crucial role in conducting the orchestra of pictures just as I need to conduct the music to complement the story. On Prinses, C.A.’s input was crucial in achieving the final sound of the film.’
Lubbe believes that every element of a film contributes in telling a story and so too the music should always help drive and complement the narrative.
“I had roughly three days to write the music as the film needed to be completed in a very short period. Although this was probably the biggest challenge, it also made the process hugely rewarding as I had to go with what my instincts were telling me and it was interesting to see the results,’ he concludes.
Prinses was filmed on the Epic RED at the Moerdijk House in Pretoria with 30 crew and cast members.
