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Dirty Looks carries out finish of acclaimed film Under the Skin in Baselight grading

Martie Bester
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London-based colour grading studio Dirty Looks, specialising in Baselight grading for independent movies, carried out the finish of Under the Skin by director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth).

Sharing the same building, which made collaboration easier to realise Glazer’s vision, One of Us, Dirty Looks’ creative partner, completed the visual effects of the movie.

The film, starring Scarlett Johansson, was shot in Glasgow and rural Scotland, and was captured on the ARRI ALEXA. One-cam, a unique small cinema-quality digital camera, specifically developed by One of Us for covert shooting in Glasgow’s city-centre, was also used. To enable the cameras to sit together in the edit and used in Baselight to help balance the feel of the cameras, custom colour science was developed.

Allowing the look to evolve while keeping creative options open as the visual effects developed, the effects were regularly conformed and worked on in a 2k grading environment.

Tom Balkwill of Dirty Looks explained: “Combining technical resources allowed a quick turnaround between creative departments and helped us deliver what this film needed, not only quickly but to the highest standards – the efficient workflow from VFX, aided by the Baselight integration, meant quality never had to be compromised.’

Colourist John Claude came in to set the grade from this starting point. “I worked closely with Jonathan Glazer to achieve the look that felt right,’ he commented. “He was very clear that it should be rooted in an everyday Glaswegian reality.

“The balance in the grade was naturalistic in the street cinematography, then more stylised as we took the viewer through some of the more curious, unsettling sequences. The blue “swimmer’ sequences, when one of Scarlett’s victims is under the pit, were quite challenging, but made easier with Baselight’s matte-layer stack management,’ Claude added.

Balkwill highlighted another key scene that proved to be a huge technical challenge. “In this scene, Johansson’s face emerges from an accumulation of street visions – a very complicated montage made up of 93 blended 2K layers.

“This sequence could only be finished with Baselight, because each individual layer needed its own tweaks in stabilising and grading. You absolutely need the power of Baselight to achieve what we did for Under the Skin,’ Balkwill concluded.

Finalists for MIPFormats International Pitch competition announced

Martie Bester
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The five MIPFormats International Pitch competition finalists to be invited to Cannes to pitch their projects during the 5th edition of MIPFormats on 5 and 6 April, ahead of MIPTV from 7 to 10 April at Cannes in France, have been announced.

Reed MIDEM, organiser of MIPTV and MIPFormats, and Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP), stated that the finalists are Have Them Dance! (Italy), Stars on the Street (Spain), The Means Test (Ireland / UK), The Power of Love (Ireland) and Zombie Boot Camp (Australia).

Regarded as the global pitching event for craetors and producers around the world with original, non-scripted entertainment formats, the MIPFormats International Pitch is exclusively sponsored by WBITVP for the third year. The global pitching event for creators and producers around the world with original, non-scripted entertainment formats. WBITVP will spend up to €25,000 to develop the winning project of the MIPFormats Pitch.

Have Them Dance! For all the women out there whose men refuse to take to the dance floor at parties, Niall gets the guys to shake their booties. A skilled dancer and “the king of all parties’, Niall uses any means from psychological torture to physical constaint to get men dancing.

Presented by Francesca Moino, TV Writer / Producer and Development (Italy) and Alberto Mascia, Director and Screenwriter (Italy)

In Stars on the Street singers start from the beginning by singing in the street as four contestants face the most demanding jury: passersby. Selected singers who are surprised at home or work have an hour to choose which instruments they will use and what clothes to wear for the sing-off. People on the street choose the winner by putting coins in the baskets of the competitors.

Presented by Xabi Zabaleta, Head of New Formats and Projects, Pausoka (Spain)

A brand new television quiz concept, The Means Test, has huge app appeal. Using a scoring mechanism where each contestant’s performance is measured against the average score of the group, which is collated after each round, 100 players are whittled out. Contestants “set the average’ or “chase the average’ as the questions get more difficult, options to answer increase and time gets less.

Presented by Noleen Golding, Executive Editor, Tyrone Productions (Ireland) and Patricia Moore, Producer, Tyrone Productions (UK)

The Power of Love aims to change the seemingly unreachable goal of finding long-term happiness in the world of speed dating, sexting and onling dating. The series’ goal is to take entrants back to a time of old-fashioned courtship, when people got to know each other before they became a “couple’. Described as “the Downtown Abbey’ of TV dating shows, the series is driven by an excellent cast and captivating narrative. A new global format with scope for divorcees and same-sex shows.

Presented by Billy McGrath, Owner / Creative Director, Sideline Productions (Ireland)

In the reality show Zombie Boot Camp 16 contestants “fight for their lives’ during the ZombieApocalypse. Two teams compete in a survival challenge in every episode and test their skills in everything from skull protection to makeshift bullets. The winning team receives immunity while three contestants from the losing team have to face the Zombies. The last contestant to reach the hatch will be “eaten’. In the finale, the two last competitors will face 200 zombies, which include their old team members.

Presented by Lisa Gray, Head of Content, The Feds (Australia) and Claire Marshall, Associate Producer: Development, The Feds (Australia)

On Sunday 6 April, the finalists will pitch their projects live in front of an international jury of formats experts: Nick Emmerson, CEO, Ricochet (UK); Taco Ketelaar, Senior Vice President, Prime Time, Entertainment Sat.1, ProsiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland (Germany); Sandra Kleinfeld, Director of Development, Studio and Unscripted Content, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada); and Cathrine Wiernik, Head of Development and Format Acquisitions, TV4 (Sweden).

Strictly Come Dancing Series 11 continues on BBC Entertainment

Martie Bester
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Glamour, glitz and polished dance moves have returned for the 11th series of BBC Entertainment’s Strictly Come Dancing on DStv Channel 120.

The famous faces who have signed up for the challenge are Deborah Meaden, Rachel Riley, Vanessa Feltz, Julien Macdonald, Dave Myers, Patrick Robinson, Abbey Clancy, Fiona Fullerton, Ben Cohen, Mark Benton, Tony Jacklin, Ashley Talyor Dawson, Natalie Gumede, Susanna Reid and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Professional dance partners have put the celebrities through their paces and each week the couple with the lowest score will be sent home.

Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Darcey Bussell and Craig Revel Horwood return as the notorious judges, while the show is presented by Bruce Forsyth, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

Episode 2 screens on 9 March at 19h55; Episode 3 on 16 March at 19h20; Episodes 3 and 4 screen back to back on 23 March at 18h00 and 20h15 respectively; and Episodes 6 and 7 screen on 30 March at 18h00 and 20h15 respectively.

Vrou Soek Boer takes over R1.2m at SA box office

Martie Bester
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New Afrikaans release Vrou Soek Boer, directed by Maynard Kraak, has earned more than R1.2m during its opening weekend at the South African box office.

This means that almost 31,000 viewers went to watch the film, which is an entertaining love triangle targeted at delighting audiences of all ages.

Filmed in Mpumalanga, the movie centres around young business woman Mareike (Lika Berning) who leaves the city to run a bakery in the countryside. Soon she has to make a difficult choice when two suitors, Neil (Nico Panagio) and Stander (Bok van Blerk), try to win her heart.

Released through Times Media Films on 8 March, Vrou Soek Boer took the third spot in the weekend’s Top 10, and screens nationwide in South Africa.

SA and Kenyan co-production Logs of War selected for 2014 Hot Docs Forum

Martie Bester
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Feature documentary Logs of War, a co-production between South Africa and Kenya, has been selected for the 2014 Hot Docs Forum, which takes place on 30 April and 1 May during the Hot Docs Festival.

Produced by South African Steven Markowitz of Big World Cinema and directed by Hawa Essuman from Kenya, Logs of War tells the story of Silas Kpanan’ Ayoung Siakor who released evidence that former Liberian President Charles Taylor used profits from illegal logging to fund the brutal civil war in Liberia.

Siakor’s heroic efforts resulted in the United Nations Security Council banning the export of timber from Liberia.

A recipient of The Goldman Prize, the world’s most prestigious grassroots environmental award, Siakor still battles powerful forces that want to use Liberia’s forests as a source of income.

Other projects that will be pitched at Hot Docs Forum include among others The Blue ID (Turkey); A Cold War (Australia); The Korean Dream (Spain, France, UK, Germany); Let There Be Light (Canada); The Night Dad Brought Us Home (Norway); Putin’s Number One Enemy (UK); Two Men, A Car and The Wall (Mexico, Palestine); and Wrestling Alligators (US).

Bruno Bossi films spot for The Road Accident Fund

Martie Bester
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Bruno Bossi from Egg Films recently filmed a moving spot for The Road Accident Fund from Net#work BBDO called Night Shift.

The layered spot, telling the true story of a woman who was orphaned in a road accident that killed both her parents, is intimately narrated in the first person.

Thinking she had lost everything, including the dream of who she wanted to be, The Road Accident Fund gives her a new life.

Shot in the late evening and at night, DOP Paul Gilpin created a cinematic tone with his use of streetlights, night-time street scenes and dimly lit interiors.

Kobus Loots from Upstairs Post Production in Cape Town edited Night Shift, while Say Thank You Sound Design, also based in Cape Town, handled the subtle score.

View the spot here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=510bFmP66lY.

Refinery in South Africa handles post-production of US series

Martie Bester
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In a first for the country, renowned South African Johannesburg-based post-production and visual effects facility Refinery managed all post-production and deliveries on SAF3, a new American TV series from Baywatch creator Gregory J Bonann.

Filmed in Cape Town last year, SAF3 is an heroic series about an elite division of the Malibu Fire Department which includes specialists in sea, air and fire rescue.

The programme is currently screening in the USA and stars action legend Dolph Lundgren, Dancing With The Stars winner JR Martinez and The Bold and The Beautiful’s Texas Battle.

To manage the post-production of the series, Refinery set up a satellite post facility at Cotton Mill Studios in Epping, Cape Town to manage all post-production on SAF3, delivered to 23 countries around the world.

Refinery handled the dailies, editorial, VFX and sound editing at Cotton Mill Studios, with Area 5.1, based at Sasani Studios in Highlands North in Johannesburg, handling the sound and Refinery the deliveries from Johannesburg.

Industry experience

No stranger to working on international series, Refinery has handled the dailies transfers on the Emmy-winning Generation Kill; the ADR for the Emmy-nominated No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency; the visual effects on two seasons of the Kidscreen winner Leonardo; the dailies on three seasons of the Emmy-nominated Strike Back; and the audio post-production on the award-winning animated South African / Canadian co-production Magic Cellar.

Refinery also worked on more than 3,000 episodes of 7de Laan, winner of the South African Film and Television Award for Best Soap Opera in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Michael Murphey from Kalahari Pictures, the South African production company on SAF3, says, “I’m very proud of the fact that we were the first major international TV series to post entirely in South Africa and to make our international deliveries from here as well. Our international delivery items were first rate and saved the production a great deal over what it would have cost us in the US or Europe.’

DTI rebate praised

Murphey praised The Department of Trade (DTI) and Industry’s Foreign Film and Television Production Scheme and Post-Production Incentive, which now offers productions shot in South Africa an additional 2.5% rebate if they spend over R1.5m on post-production in the country and an additional 5% if they spend more than R3m on post-production in South Africa.

Thus far, SAF3 is the largest project to benefit from this post-production incentive.

“The DTI post-production rebate of an extra 5% helped seal the deal to bring SAF3 to South Africa,’ continues Murphey. “Australia, New Zealand and the US just couldn’t compete.’

“The rebate was the tipping point,’ says Tracey Williams, Refinery’s Managing Director. “It always comes down to economics, and when you add the weak rand, it just makes financial sense to keep your post-production in South Africa now.’

She says the tight timeline also counted in Refinery’s favour. “We had two weeks to ship everything in, get the equipment installed, and be ready to start. Then we had three weeks to our first TX date. It would have been very difficult to turn the show around this quickly with an international facility.’

Williams adds that setting up a temporary facility is “the way of the future; I’d do that again tomorrow.’

Time and cost efficiency

Williams says from a time and cost efficiency perspective, Refinery particularly benefited from having the ADR facilities right where the cast was filming, as well as from having Cyril Schumann as a dedicated visual effects artists on Flame.

“Flame’s not a typical TV tool, but we knew Cyril would turn around the effects really quickly on it,’ Williams comments. “The VFX turned out to be one of the big savings on the series.’

South Africa has been hosting a steady stream of international television series, with Black Sails and Dominion currently filming in Cape Town.

Williams says this increase in international TV series is a unique opportunity for the South African post-production industry. “On SAF3, we had 14 people employed full time for six months.

“Features come and go, but a successful TV series like Black Sails will keep coming back every year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be keeping the post-production in South Africa for TV series like that, so it’s a major growth opportunity for the sector,’ she concludes.

South African terrestrial television channel e.tv will screen SAF3 later this year.

Watch and embed the SAF3 promo at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqpWg3FM1RY.

For more information, visit www.refinery.co.za or www.saf3.tv.

Kenya not utilising social media to its full potential

Martie Bester
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A new report indicates that in Kenya, most listed companies are not using the power of social media to its full potential.

According to the report by Cape Town-based digital marketing firm Interactive Concepts, known as Social Media Report 2014, there is a lack of personalised profiles and outdated tweets in the Twitter accounts of most companies.

The same problem applies to the LinkedIn platform and YouTube, as most companies have neglected to optimise their pages or upload company logos.

With video as a powerful tool, YouTube, the free platform for sharing videos, is also under-utilised by certain companies. The report found that the majority of companies with some presence on YouTube have outdated channels or do not feature a significant number of their videos in channels.

More alarming is the fact that the companies in question do not provide their YouTube account links on their websites to direct visitors to access their videos.

Due to a lack of understanding, inadequate resources or the absence of a content plan, most corporates have not yet embarked on blogging.

Platform-specific strategy appears to be absent from many social media accounts, which implies that corporates still need to realise the full benefits that social media platforms can offer them.

Highlighted in the report is that companies on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Kenya that utilise social media tools do so to reach new audiences, encourage conversations around their services and their products and to manage consumer services.

As a result, certain companies are ahead of the game in establishing the agenda of conversations around brands, influencing their consumers in the end.

Japie Swanepoel, founder of Interactive Concepts, comments that social media space in Kenya is no longer restricted to individuals.

The study revealed that 68% of the companies analysed have a presence on Facebook, 57% are on Twitter, 43% on Google+ and only 15% have dedicated blogs.

Every company (listed on the NSE) was analysed according to set digital metrics to measure impact such as online presence, mentions, followers, conversations and dialogue. The analysis also included trends in usage across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ and blogs the corporates run.

Says Swanepoel: “Social media has, in essence, empowered the end user to critique or complement, under the watchful eyes of other Kenyans who are also online. One experience can very easily translate into a common agenda, within the span of a few hours … corporates cannot afford to ignore the power and value of social media to help manage the image of, and relationships for their organisations.’

Pad na jou Hart in Top 10 of SA box office

Martie Bester
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The combined Top 10 box office figures for 2 February to 2 March, placed Afrikaans romantic adventure film Pad na jou Hart in the second spot of nationwide earners with a cumulative amount of R7,767,265 after three weeks of screening.

Animated movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (including 3D) was the highest earner in the Top 10 for this period with R7,831,698 after a five-week run.

After four weeks on circuit, The Best Man Holiday, starring Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut and Taye Diggs, had raked in R5,415,033, while the remake of the 1987 science fiction film, Robocop, had made R4,464,672 after showing for four weeks.

Two weeks on circuit proved to be ample time for animated comedy The Nut Job (including 3D) a co-production between Canada, South Korea and the US, to take R3,845,506 at the South African box office.

Figures supplied by SAFACT.

Lauren Woolf appointed as Chief Marketing and Talent Officer at O&M SA

Martie Bester
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Lauren Woolf, Group Marketing Director of Ogilvy & Mather South Africa (O&M SA), has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Marketing and Talent Officer of O&M SA.

While continuing to oversee the group’s marketing and corporate communication initiatives, Woolf will develop and implement the agency’s talent and innovation culture strategy in her new role.

When making the announcement, Abey Mokgwatsane, CEO of O&M SA stated: “In this newly created role, Lauren will oversee the crucial areas of talent and culture as well as marketing and communication. These two areas of business are inextricably linked and having Lauren guide them both and make the connections between how our brand lives inside and outside, is a fresh and dynamic approach.’

Commented Woolf: “I am excited by the challenge of taking on this role. Our industry is in constant transformation and it’s critical to build sustainable experiences and value for both our clients and our people. The transparency of business, driven by technology, makes this an exciting space to explore and I am fascinated by the connections between talent, culture and communication.’

Woolf, an O&M veteran of 13 years, took on the position of Group Marketing Director in 2011 with the main responsibilities of developing and managing the agency’s amplification and reputation strategy, with a focus on building the agency’s thought leadership profile and specifically focusing on O&M SA’s own digital and social eco-system.

Today, this eco-system is a vigorous and pertinent communication and conversation platform for employees and the creative communications industry at large.

She also succeeded in developing the Ogilvy Graduate Programme (OGP) – an industry leading initiative aimed at attracting the best young talent into the agency – and launched numerous O&M disciplines into the local market, including OgilvyOne Worldwide, Social@Ogilvy and Strike Media.

Woolf was appointed to the Executive Committee in 2012 and is currently completing the latter half of her Executive MBA at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

Based in Johannesburg, Woolf will report to Mokgwatsane.

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