Turning a Puff Into a Story

SANRAL envisioned a behind-the-scenes video showcasing the planning and process that go into the events that bring traffic to a standstill on the busiest freight corridor in South Africa.

Shooting live-action footage of such an event is a challenge in itself, but on this day, everything counted against us.

Road closures were moved at the last second. We managed to get only one cameraman for a ride-along with one of the coordinators. And the blast... well, let’s just say it was more of a fart than an explosion.

So, the real challenge began: producing something engaging, that tells a story, evokes emotion, and conveys the message.

With scripting and shot lists pretty much gone in the wind, along with the puff of dust from the "explosion", our entire workflow was turned upside down.

We produced a shot list from the footage that already existed. Scripted carefully and creatively, with additional VFX and motion graphics to enhance what we had. It looked good, it conveyed the information, but we needed a miracle. In this case, music and SFX saved the day. It knitted the final product together like no other video project we’ve done.

And yes, AI did play a role in this one.
Since the blast was too underwhelming to tell a story, we had to use existing footage from the contractor’s surveyor. With the help of an AI-driven video upscaling software, we were able to enhance the 720p footage to 4K with substantially more detail. We added a few frames, and BOOM! The puff became a blast, and the story was told.

Thank you SANRAL and WBHO for making this a memorable one.