Best in Craft awarded to Monde Gumede from The Rudeboy Collective & Ari Kruger from Sketchbook Studios

February’s Best in Craft goes out to Monde Gumede from The Rudeboy Collective and Ari Kruger from Sketchbook Studios. Congratulations you wonderfully gifted humans! This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by Thibedi Meso, ECD Partner at Brave Group and Trevor Clarence, Director and Partner at Your Girlfriend.

‘What are the IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards?’ Every month we team up with ad industry leaders to award the finest in South African film and production craft across these different categories: Direction, Editing, Cinematography, Animation and VFX, Online, Original Sound, Sound Design and Final Mix. It’s just another way that we make it ridiculously easy to stay up-to-date with who’s doing the best work in the country.

BEST IN CRAFT (Direction)
Shekhinah ‘FIXATE’ (Music Film)
The Rudeboy Collective | Monde Gumede

Awarded by Thibedi Meso

‘Like the song title, this film had me fixated throughout. Monde exploits the surrealness of emotions like hurt, loneliness and regret in a way that still leaves you smiling. His transitions are slick. The camera movement is simple yet engaging and at some point it even feels like the camera is inviting its subject to dance with it. The two-in-one music video combo can often go so wrong, but nothing feels out of place in this film.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Thibedi Meso, ECD & Partner at Brave Group

BEST IN CRAFT (Direction)
Showmax ‘Tali’s Baby Diary’ (Trailer)
Sketchbook Studios | Ari Kruger

Awarded by Trevor Clarence

‘The most successful commercials directors in the world, whether they specialise in dramatic visuals or silly comedy, are all great storytellers. And this is a beautiful piece of storytelling and a great commercial for the show. The timing, the performances, the visual language are all perfectly tuned to make what stood out for me as the most exciting piece of work for the month. It absolutely shows us the unique voice of a talented and confident director. This is the piece of work I wish I could put on my reel.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Trevor Clarence, Director at Your Girlfriend

CRAFT MENTION (Editing)
Shelflife ‘MMW Zoom 4’
Post Modern | Marcelle Mouton

Awarded by Thibedi Meso & Trevor Clarence

‘This ad sold me on these shoes in the first minute. And when they started unselling the shoes I wanted to give them all my money. It’s brilliantly done. Its steady pace and the contemplative inner voice of the main character give it a daydream feeling that makes it very enjoyable to watch.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Thibedi Meso, ECD & Partner at Brave Group

‘This is such a beautifully constructed spot and it really comes together in the way it was edited. So often longer ads can become indulgent without the discipline of 30 seconds. But this edit has a beautiful momentum that never wastes a moment. The tone and pace and flow with the music, the timing and performance selection, all great choices.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Trevor Clarence, Director at Your Girlfriend

CRAFT MENTION (Direction)
VW Amarok ‘Back to the End’
Darling Films | Ross Garrett

Awarded by Trevor Clarence

‘Just a gorgeously crafted piece of work. Well done.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Trevor Clarence, Director at Your Girlfriend

IDIDTHAT GUEST JUDGES:

FEB CRAFT AWARDS JUDGES Thibedi Meso_feb

Thibedi Meso is an Executive Creative Director (Partner) at Brave Group which includes 5 specialist agencies, with a tribe #lionsofhydepark of almost 100 professionals handling over 40 brands and products. He is a qualified Graphic Designer with over 12 years of experience as a Copywriter; a time in which he has built an impressive portfolio of work on iconic brands such as Standard Bank, Nissan, Mazda, Nando’s, Glenfiddich, M-Net, Metropolitan, OLX, African Bank and Sowetan, to name a few. With a few awards won both locally and internationally, his proudest moment is still that one time his grandmother bragged to her friends about a TV commercial he made for Discovery Life: “Ela ya makgoa a go bina ko lenyalong”.

Trevor Clarence is a commercials director and partner in Your Girlfriend. He specialises in comedy, bringing his unique sense of visual humour and craft to his work, but always putting the idea first. He works all over the world but mostly divides his time between working with Revolver in Australia and Your Girlfriend in South Africa. He loves directing commercials, loves running Your Girlfriend with Linda Bogle and loves a good Eka Pada Rajakapotasana.