Fresh Visual

A thrilling wildlife show supports conservation in East Africa during COVID-19.

In the year where everything was canceled, a film project was born on the plains of the Serengeti that would make the dreams of a five-year-old boy come true while bringing attention to conservation efforts during the COVID-19 era.

Brendan Allen is from Cape Town, South Africa, and has been in Tanzania since the planet called “lockdown” because of COVID-19. Caught by travel restrictions on his way to filming on ‘Survivor USA’ in Fiji, he decided not to fly home to South Africa and instead stay where he was. What was a potentially dire situation quickly turned into something important that would shape the next few months, not only for Brendan, but for wildlife lovers and the conservation efforts in the highly acclaimed Serengeti National Park.

Fresh Visual team is trying to make a difference
Mathilda de Villiers

Serengeti Show Live’ was born out of an idea to bring live action from the Serengeti to those who were stuck at home because of the virus, while raising awareness of conservation problems due to the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown. “People were sitting at home not really getting any good news, so what good news can you give people? Well, wildlife, if you like it,” Brendan says. Without tourists, there isn’t the usual money flowing into the national parks, which means there is a lot less support for wildlife conservation. Without so many bodies on the ground in the parks, there has also been a massive increase in poaching on the African continent and around the world, creating a “free-for-all” environment. Brendan and his crew came across a group of poachers on one of their game drives and succeeded in chasing them away, only confirming that the problem is still very real and unfortunately it’s not getting better.

 

Fewer tourists means more poaching and less conservation

Since the pandemic began, national lockdowns, border closures, quarantines and many other measures put in place have severely affected Africa’s $39 billion tourism industry. Poachers weren’t taking risks before going into areas where tourists would visit, so now while those areas are empty, they have free reign. Down in Botswana, a country bordering on South Africa, six rhinos were poached in the first few weeks of the lockdown beginning in March. In South Africa, an organization that responds to rhinos that need immediate care via helicopter transport, Rhino 911, reported a poaching incident almost every day. These incidents occurred in tourist hot spots that are, under normal circumstances, safe for the animals to roam in.

Poaching has also increased in African countries due to hungry families feeding themselves and the means for illegal sales since COVID-19 has shut down many businesses on the continent and around the world.

Producing a show with not much more than an iPhone

One of the biggest surprises that has come out of this production is that the whole show is predominantly shot on an iPhone 11, with the tight shots being shot on a Canon 5D Mark IV. They record sound with another iPhone and also use two GoPros. This might be the first time that a large wildlife production such as this has been shot in this way. They didn’t have access to higher end gear so the small group used what they had on hand and probably ended up being the first ones to ever do this. They have minimal equipment, but they definitely don’t lack passion or desire to have made this happen. “When I’m shooting and I’m out there and I’m looking at the  wildlife, it’s what dreams are made of,” Brendan says. Even though he hasn’t had the high-end gear he’s used to working with on large productions, all of their efforts have been very successful in creating a beautiful production.

The crew’s living quarters are as raw as one can imagine, having been the only people allowed into the park. They move across the plains, setting up camp in between the wild animals without fences. It’s not uncommon for hyenas and lions to wander into the campsite and Brendan has woken up to the sounds of a hyena sniffing his thin, material tent. Being surrounded by so much life, yet being so far away from civilization is an experience in itself, especially with the park being empty at the moment and is made more prominent with everything going on in the world.

 

Comments

  • August 19, 2019
    Bazna

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    • August 19, 2019
      Bazna

      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.

  • August 19, 2019
    Bazna

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