SEAN VILJOEN CASE STUDY
Sean Viljoen is a producer, director and cinematographer based in Cape Town in South Africa, and is the co-founder of the Conservation Film Company. What motivates him most is storytelling and how it can inspire action - particularly when it comes to wildlife and conservation. Here are his top tips for capturing incredible wildlife in action: • Know and understand your subject, so that you can capture interesting behaviour and habits • Anticipate the action, ensuring you’re in the right place at the right time • Nature is unpredictable – always be prepared to shoot for longer than you expect • Slow your pace down to the rhythms of the natural world. Patience is the key. • Always be out filming at first and last light, rain or shine – that’s when the magic happens. VILJOEN’S TOP TIPS FOR FILMING ANIMALS
ROCK SOLID Blackmagic’s Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro gives incredible image
quality, but is compact, rugged and affordable
SPOTTED IN THE WILD From wide-angle shots up close, to long lens work out in the field, the choice of Sigma and Canon lenses gave plenty of options
sound like much, but the Pocket Cinema 6K Pro already has built-in two, four and six-stop ND filters. The extra filter permits me to go to seven stops, which is helpful in very bright midday sunlight and allows more exposure precision. “Creatively, I also use a Tiffen 1/4 Pro-Mist, which lets me play around with blooming on the highlights. I just got back from the Sahara, where I used that filter a lot – I had a lot of fun. “I always need to consider logistics with everything I do. The issue I have with any of these rigs is sourcing the parts and obtaining them in South Africa. At the moment, I am based in Namibia, so getting anything I need can be a challenge,
Rig set-up “My rig is based around a Tilta cage, with a handle on the top and baseplate with slots for 25mm rods. I did try an additional side handle for a while, but ultimately I don’t think it was necessary, especially as I’m trying to keep everything as light and straightforward as possible. I also tried the Tilta Nucleus-Nano wireless focus system, but found it was another thing that required power, another device to worry about charging every evening. I use a manual follow focus tool now. “I do have a matte box, along with some filters. I like to play around with creating looks in-camera as much as possible. I’ve got a one-stop ND filter, which may not
“We can save a bit on the cameras compared to what else is out there, allowing us to have more fully equipped rigs which are standardised across our crew. This saves time as we avoid any issues in post-production, where you’re trying to match images from different cameras with different colour science. Everything is graded in DaVinci Resolve. “We’ve been able to standardise our workflow. If a camera is damaged or lost, we have a replacement on location. It’s not going to break the whole project budget to replace it. This allows us to do things that might be a bit riskier, but could yield good results. I’m a little more willing to take those risks.”
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