A staple requirement of South Africa’s entertainment industry is education, and while there are many colleges that offer degrees and courses in many desired fields, the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA) seems to be dominating this market with campuses in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Gaberone (Botswana). Many courses are available, from performance to directing, scriptwriting, cinematography and more.
AFDA Campus in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
However, where this enterprise seems to a little thin, as far as on-campus offerings are concerned, is music production – specifically scoring for film. From what I have heard, it’s not so much that there is no desire to make such a full-time degree available, but rather the interest for it among prospective students does not seem to be there. Such a department would take hundreds of thousands of rands to set up, but if it’s not filled appropriately, it essentially becomes a white elephant – which is not a pairing of words any business wants to hear!
So you might be wondering why I am bringing this up. Well, to put it simply, it offered me an opportunity to jump into that market and to provide a resource for such students. It would not be financially viable, but the fact that the students know that they have such services to enhance their projects is enough for me. While I’m based in Port Elizabeth, the scoring market is next to zero – and I see this as an opportunity, not a handicap.
Earlier this year, I was approached by a young producer and director to score their graduation film entitled Business As Usual. From the moment I laid eyes on the first edit of the film, I immediately picked up a Hitchcock-like vibe to it that I loved, and I decided to score it appropriately while still adhering to the filmmakers’ requirements. I decided to emulate one of my most revered scoring icons, the late Bernard Herrmann (a regular collaborator of Hitchcock’s), in that I made frequent use of string ostinatos and brass clusters – especially as buildups.
The story itself combines satire-like humour with darker elements such as occult governance and controlled societies, which made the driven musical style all the more useful to flesh out those elements.
After a successful showcase at a local cinema, I was thrilled to hear that Business As Usual was selected to be screened at film festivals both local and international. So watch this space! You can watch the finished product by following the link below.
Screenshot: Title Sequence for the PE AFDA student film Business As Usual, directed by Gerhard de Villiers and produced by Isaiah Lindström.
