Screensaver Visual Production
following the London-based video production companyArchive for south africa
South Africa!
Well, our furthest and one of the most enjoyable trips to date – and the first time to South Africa for both Clemence and I.
Clem’s been a busy girl this last month, having travelled across the Middle East – filming in far-flung locations across Dubai, Oman and Kuwait, while Steven has been busy in the UK.
We flew out to Johannesburg just over two weeks ago, where we stayed in the Fire & Ice hotel in the Melrose Arch area.
fire & ice hotel
After a quick nightcap, we slept well, then met our client early before setting off to our first location. We had a good number of interviews to get with clients across the city, before gathering general footage of the city. This is a well-versed routine for us now, but each country and each location has its challenges.
Soon enough, we found ourselves on an office rooftop overlooking the city of Johannesburg – the helpfulness of those around us was great, willing to do whatever they could for the shot.
joburg rooftop
We ended the first day, happily satisfied with our footage, with a meal at a local restaurant. We had a nice mix of typical meats from chicken & springbok, to fish curry and ostrich.
The second day allowed us to see places in an area of the city called Sandton – where we could film Mandela Square and the shopping malls.
mandela square in johannesburg
The interviews today were tougher, playing with reflections and people, but the day came to an end for us sooner, and involved a brief trip in an air balloon! This gave us another great view of the city and an experience that none of us had before.
view from balloon
Our second day ended in style when we met with my girlfriend’s parents who still live in the city.
Day 3 we were destined for Pretoria, a short drive outside of Johannesburg. We saw the Jacaranda trees – something Pretoria is famous for – lining almost every street with their pink flowers. Quite lucky, as they only flower for short periods during the year, so this made a nice addition to our recording.
Pretoria was lovely, and we were looked after and supported brilliantly by the clients we were filming. A very exciting travel company doing good things in South Africa. We couldn’t linger for too long however, as we were flying this evening to Cape Town from a regional airport.
Now, if anyone reading this has ever flown with Kalula, you’ll know what I mean when I call them nuts! The flight was fine, but something about the safety announcements made us all laugh – something you never do in the UK, and not that there’s anything funny about air safety, but the line:
“On your life jackets you have a whistle to attract attention and a light to shine into the shark’s eyes…”
…cant help but make you smile.
Safely in Cape Town, late at night, we found our hotel in the harbour and quickly realised why the South Africans call it the windy city!
harbour bridge hotel
So, we had two days left to complete our interviews and gather our city shots in Cape Town. We had arranged for the help of a local production company to help us here with our filming permissions (so much easier to be looked after by a local team) and someone who could also take us around.
Tony from Prinz Productions met us at breakfast, along with the client. After blitzing through the interviews we were free to explore, and were treated to a meal at South Africa’s oldest vineyad in Costantia.
groot constantia
We said our goodbyes to our clients who flew back to the UK and Joburg individually, but we had Tony for the evening and the day after to ensure we captured the best of what we could.
Our first views of the landscape from high up were quite spectacular:
cape town viewpoint
We had a great afternoon’s sightseeing and filming, even recording a quick timelapse, and playing with a new 360 camera on the iphone:
filming camps bay
The final day was a blast – the weather was a little shifty to begin with, so found a little pocket of sun just outside the main city to film the visibly renouned coloured beach huts.
beach huts
…before moving zipping off all over the place for shots in and around the CBD, the football stadium, the unfinished overpass and more lovely high shots…
clem filming city
cape town football stadium
table mountain
This has to be one of the most incredible trips this year. We grabbed some excellent footage, met some lovely and very helpful people, and enjoyed every minute of our time there.
Maybe next time it won’t be for business? Although for the enjoyment we had, it didn’t feel too much like work.
Until next time…!
Screensaver Visual Production 