AFROPUNK: WE SEE YOU

AFROPUNK's theme for 2019 was "WE SEE YOU" - striking a chord with the zeitgeist across the globe - current affairs, societal issues and human narratives which need to be recognised, challenged and celebrated. Realtalk from the global community captured and condensed.

The Brief

AFROPUNK, one of the world’s hippest music festivals, annually aligns their energy, movement and events to a theme. The theme always strikes a chord with the zeitgeist across the globe – current affairs, societal issues and human narratives which need to be recognised, challenged and celebrated. In 2019, the theme was, “WE SEE YOU”.

To turn this motto into a movement, AFROPUNK invited community leaders from upcoming Festival locations, to low-key dinners. The idea was to plug into the people of Paris, London, Atlanta, São Paulo and Joburg, and understand the local issues they face, laying the foundation for the Festivals to come. Basic video booths were set up at the suppers, where individuals got the conversation started, and the footage would be used internally to inspire action. Soon enough, the organisers realised the dialogue was much bigger than just this booth. This is when Mobile Media Mob was approached. AFROPUNK needed us to curate the content, and edit the free-flow footage into cohesive messaging, which could be used for the topline campaign.

MMMobsters

Video Editor: Stephen Horn
Videography: Raees Hassan
Videography: Jack Kaminski
Photography: Tatenda Chidora
Field Producer: Catherine Grenfell
Production Manager: Ntokozo Mabunda
Camera Assist: Thabang Madia
Sound: Tyrone Madiba

The MMMob Approach

First things first. MMM had to review all of the footage which had been shot, to assess what we had to work with. The MMMob went back to the AFROPUNK Team with a plan, consisting of the campaign they were looking for, along with complimentary content components.

MMMobBoss Thoban knew just the guy from the job: Stephen – an experienced Video Editor with a strong Socio-Political background. The two had worked together on a Current Affairs project years before. Stephen would be able to convey the culture of the brand, and has a knack for building a narrative.

Stephen teamed up with translators on the French and Portuguese footage. It was vital that the nuances and dialect of each interviewee’s mother tongue was respected, and accurately conveyed. Because the footage was never intended to see the light of social, the integrity of the audio and picture was a challenge. Our solution was to convert all visuals to black and white – it matched the identity of the brand, and resolved the environmental and ambient lighting issues. The audio needed some intensive fine-tuning too, so MMM pulled in a top-class Sound Engineer who painstakingly cleaned, processed and revitalised every vox clip.