The SA Film Reel awards the very best in craft by Productions companies in South Africa. This month we asked Fran Luckin,
Chief Creative Officer at Grey Africa Johannesburg, to select her standouts. Congratulations to all the winners.

The Upstairs Ludus (Offline Edit only)
Howard Audio | Adam Howard (Music Production of a rerecord)
MTN ‘Night Shift’

BEST OF REEL: THE UPSTAIRS LUDUS AND HOWARD AUDIO FOR MTN “NIGHTSHIFT.”
“Best of Reel goes to both Upstairs Ludus and to Howard Audio because the craft is so seamless here that it would be impossible to judge them separately. The cutting pace gives the story a groove that carries the viewer effortlessly from one scene to the next.
It’s to the credit of the editing that the ad maintains an infectious rhythm without ever turning into a Busby Barkeley extravaganza (Google it, millennials!) Even the dance at the bus stop is handled deftly, with combinations of long shots, cutaways and different angles, so it never becomes A Big Flashy Number.
When it comes to take selection, there isn’t a shot here that jars or is out of keeping with the rhythm of the piece. I particularly loved the subtlety of the “sideways glance and shoulder-shimmy” at 0:53 and the way it punctuates the build-up.
This could so easily have been cheesy and heavy-handed… some guy who can’t hold a tune serenading his mate Marvin. But the instigator’s voice is blended into the mix almost immediately as the music takes over, and takes us into complete feel-good territory. It’s a great choice of song and the re-record flawlessly captures its groove and its emotive power. I enjoy the way the incidental noises are used as beats in the music to punctuate the melody: witness the musical timing of the cut to the passport controller calling “Next.”
And the close harmonies on the chorus made me get goosebumps (but then I am a big girly softy..).
I really like this ad. It’s a welcome return to form for MTN.”

SPECIAL MENTION: BIOSCOPE FILMS FOR CHIN UP “TALL GIRLS AND SANITARY PADS.”
“I think this web series achieves a lot with very little. There’s no big production budget here: all the director has to work with is dialogue, actors and the edit. I like the way the camera directs the humour (most notably at 0:55 and 2:04). The piece captures perfectly just how excruciating castings can be, without striking a false note by trying to exaggerate and milk laughs. The actors were either very accomplished good actors who nailed the “bad casting tape performance”, or they were genuinely bad actors. I can’t tell. Which I think is a sign of good casting.”

SPECIAL MENTION: LEFT POST PRODUCTIONS AND PRODUCE SOUND FOR CHICKEN LICKEN “AFRONAUT”.
“An impressive achievement – it felt like a big scale space opera. I loved the little touches though – Tshabalala boredly playing with his phone half off-camera during the press conference, the ‘Joburg GP’ numberplates, the pillows taped to the inside walls of the spacecraft (?). And the music is bloody amazing.”

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