Local filmmaker is making a documentary honouring her ‘other’ Mother

Jun 18, 2018 | Uncategorized

This Mother’s Day Silver Bullet Films launches a crowd-funding campaign that will kick-start the development of a film called “Don’t Be Late For My Funeral” to be directed by Diana Keam. “I realised how these women in South Africa had been the cultural bridge and had been such an important part of our lives.” The film is the story of Margaret BOGOPA Matlala, a wife, mother, sister, and retired domestic worker who helped raise Diana and her siblings. Margaret, went on to work for Diana when she began her own family. She then helped to raise Diana’s three children. “The question that I still grapple with to this day, is how is it that the system of Apartheid that was designed to keep us apart, to keep races separate… created a situation where I had a woman, a black woman, who was living in my home and was my emotional stability. She was my other mother. It’s a very typical South African story, it’s not always a comfortable one or easy one but it’s one that needs to be told.” Many South Africans have had a ‘Margaret’ in their lives – always there, whether in the background or front-and-centre – someone who nurtured and held them, both emotionally and physically through their early years and often beyond. So this film is not only about Margaret Matlala, but about the unimaginable sacrifice and strength of every woman who has had to leave her own children behind to go and live and work in the leafy suburbs of South Africa, to raise children as if they were her own – our...

Behind The Scenes | Conquer the Cape

Oct 23, 2016 | General

From Red Bull Media, by Jazz Kuschke (13 October 2016) The production of Mad Mike Whiddett’s latest edit Conquer The Cape wasn’t without its challenges. Firstly, Mike had driven BADBUL only a few times since 2014, at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed and during the Magic Roundabout project. But then, he considers each of his five cars an extension of his body, so it took only a few corners to be back in the groove. Secondly, he didn’t have too much chance to recce the drive, due to the tight time constraints of road closures. For the production team, time was also the biggest hurdle. “By far the toughest challenge was getting it done in such a short space of time,” explains producer Wayne de Lange from Silver Bullet Films. “Rigging the cameras in the car and on the tracking vehicles took lots of time. Always making sure we are ready for the next shot and moving-on as quick as possible was really hard,” he says. “Mike and the camera team did not have the luxury to do a corner too many times – we just did not have the time – so everyone, including Mike, had to get it perfect on the first or second take most of the time. The production crew of some 40 strong, used five cameras over the single day of shooting. This included two land-based rigs, one inside BADBUL, the Shotover F1 system on a helicopter, as well as a rig on a Subaru for the close proximity tracking shots. “The Subaru was kitted out with best equipment for the tracking shots,” De Lange...

#BornToDare

Oct 21, 2016 | General

It’s a real pleasure when a progressive brand approaches us with a project that hits our sweet spot. So when KIA came knocking with a request to make a film series using the new KIA Sportage and energetic sports influencers, we were thrilled. A comfortable fit for Wayne, whose second nature is producing high quality sports content, the challenge was more about how to create sponsored sports content that tells a refreshing story; a true collaboration with our influential athletes and KIA. A few months and a roundtrip to Peru later, the film series #BornToDare was born. Each of the three films tell an emotive story focusing on a fearless athlete’s adventure across the panoramic landscape of Peru. Painting the all-new KIA Sportage as the ideal travel partner, our treatment pushed for the sport and its spirit to be at the forefront of the films. We passionately believe that the success of an influencer campaign lies in embedding the brand into the lifestyle of our heroes in a credible way. Sportage X Slade Prestwich, takes the viewer on an emotive and cinematic journey with professional surfer and South African native, Prestwich, as he chases waves along the Peruvian coastline. A solo adventure, Prestwich must surf every day at least once, no matter the weather conditions. This carefree and spontaneous voyage captures Prestwich’s sheer determination and pure talent as he traverses open desert landscapes towards the waves that await him on the other side. Sportage X Landie Greyling, captures the determination and endurance of South African ultra-trail runner, Greyling, as she embarks on an extreme trail running challenge across the...

Nederberg Stories

Mar 4, 2016 | General

‘Without a doubt, we’re going to witness a shift from obsessing over what advertising looks like, to what advertising feels like’ says Amy Kean*, head of futures at Havas Media. Silver Bullet recently produced seven short films for the new Nederburg website in collaboration with the digital agency, Liquorice Digitas LBi. The new Nederburg positioning, ‘There’s always a story in Nederburg’, paved the way for rich branded content. And three cheers to Nederburg for venturing away from traditional and numbing ‘ad land’, to a more emotive and entertaining terrain. All the stories are inspired by actual events and characters that make up the Nederburg legacy, from their current female wine master, Andrea Freeborough, to the heritage heroes dating back to 1791. The styling cleverly dabbles between the old and new so that the films feel timeless. And since the stories are based on the estate, most of them were shot at the winery. The cellar master blends the wine with his lover in the old cellar. The original wine master explores the Manor House longing for his passed wife. And the tango dancers glide over the estate drawing parallels between the basic tango step and the nature of the vineyard. The outcome of shooting on location is that the films steer away from being pretentious; instead they feel more authentic and true to the brand. ‘We wanted to make these films because we were given the space to think creatively, to apply our experience in telling stories and making films. We weren’t constrained by the traditional limitations of commercials,’ says Diana from Silver Bullet. ‘This flexibility afforded us the...

SHOOTING JUMO

Feb 3, 2016 | General

JUMO, a mobile money lending company, was looking for a way to show the potential reach of their product in Africa without the look and feel of the brand film being too corporate. To do this, Silver Bullet was tasked with the conception, development and completion of this immense project. This was a direct-to-client project with no agency managing the process, but the ace team at Silver Bullet developed a finished product that earned a standing ovation from JUMO. Silver Bullet wanted to show the diversity of people and landscapes in Kenya and Tanzania (two of the client’s biggest markets) by capturing about 150 non-actors as they travelled through both countries. It was of paramount importance to be a small crew, with minimum gear and low impact. The team was scaled down to four South African crew, consisting of Wayne de Lange and Warren Smart as co-directors and cinematographers, Diana Keam as the producer and camera assistant Khlaied Manual, and worked with a few locals on the ground and two vehicles. In the normal commercial world, covering such great distances and shooting so many people in two countries would take too long and be too expensive. Scaling down the team and with each team member being able to think on their feet to find solutions and to do more than their designated roles helped immensely with the shooting of the JUMO film. The “walking match cut” approach made the shoot very technical from the get go.  The team shot some tests then Coralee, the editor extraordinaire, worked at creating the smooth transition between shots that set the style of the...