Since the advent of reality television in South Africa, Visual Impact has
consistently supplied gear and services to this specialised sector of the industry.
In fact, the Johannesburg and Cape Town-based equipment rental facility’s
association with the genre goes back to the late 90s before the label, “reality’
had even been begun to be applied. Back then Visual Impact provided gear for
several seasons of Gladiators, a show which may be seen, in many ways, as a
precursor to the reality television genre as we now know it.
Well over a decade later, Visual Impact is still the place that the majority of
producers in this sector go to for their gear. It currently lists around 16 reality
television productions – both current and upcoming – among its clients and
projects. These include one of the country’s most successful shows at the
moment, MasterChef SA, as well as international series that have been shot in
South Africa, such as Sweden’s Top Model and Germany’s Der Bachelor.
Visual Impact deals with all the brand names currently in demand in the
industry, but its speciality is Sony, of which it is an authorised dealer. The
camera equipment it provides to reality television productions, therefore, are
predominantly Sony products. Both MasterChef SA and Idols make extensive use
of the PDW-700, which, equipped with the “Power HAD FX’ progressive CCD, is
able to deliver extremely high quality HD images. Although the industry standard
is currently moving towards 4K, this high-end HD camera provides more than
suitable quality for the HD and SD broadcasts that are currently the norm in
South Africa.
In addition to the PDW-700, Sony’s PMW-500 HD CAM EX kits are also extremely
popular among Visual Impact’s reality TV clients. Sony’s first XDCAM HD422
camcorder with solid state recording capacity, the PMW-500 supports full-HD 422
50mbps MXF record and playback. The camera’s chassis, a development of the
PDW-700 design, is ideal for reality TV shoots because it is lightweight and
easily maneuverable.
The PMW-EX3 has been much in demand for shows such as Fear Factor, Boer
Soek “n Vrou, and Bar One Man. While this semi-shoulder camcorder has been
discontinued by Sony, Visual Impact’s existing stocks are still being ordered for
future productions, including the upcoming Kitchen Queens.
Aside from the Sony camera contingent that serves the bulk of Visual Impact’s
reality television production clients, the company also supplies GoPro action
cameras to the likes of Fear Factor and, when it comes to lensing, Canon’s
range of ENG lenses, including the HJ17 HD, HJ22 HD, HJ11 and HJ40 HD, are
ideal for reality shoots. Among the sound recording devices that Visual Impact
offers to its reality clients are the PIX 240 and the Convergent Design Odyssey
7Q.
The newest addition to Visual Impact’s reality TV production equipment
inventory is the Sony PMW-400, a shoulder-mount camcorder that is lightweight
and ergonomic, fully catering to a reality crew’s need for the most mobile camera
possible, while still capturing high quality HD images.
As well as supplying this gear, Visual Impact also offers numerous services to
their clients, including live mixing, data wrangling, transcoding and final conform.
Visual Impact prides itself on not merely renting out equipment but actually
partnering with their clients in the various productions they service.
