South African hip hop sensation HHP took home the award for best video at the MTV African Music Awards (MAMA) in Nairobi, Kenya on 10 October 2009. The music video, Mpitse, was directed by Brandon Oelofse and produced by Daniel Odendaal for Tough Sunday Productions. Kammastig Land, Brandon’s AFDA Honours short film, was chosen as South Africa’s entry into the 2008 Student Academy Awards.

Mpitse, taken off the album Acceptance Speech Re-Written, features a series of characters shot at different toilet stalls at a party. “The concept for the video was to look at the backstage antics at a party. Instead of doing your everyday party video, we wanted to look at the different characters, as well as what happens to them behind the scenes at a party, so we decided to shoot the progression of the party from toilet stalls,” says Brandon.

With a modest R40 000 budget at hand, Brandon and his crew of 15 managed to whip up a slick video shot on a 16mm Arri film camera. “It was a one-day shoot and we shot each stall individually at a 90 degree angle to get the effect of someone peaking into a toilet stall. The best part was the creative freedom HHP gave us to play with, so we formulated each character’s story from the beginning, middle to end,” says Daniel.

The video looks like one smooth panned shot of different situations in the bathroom as they intensify. Every scenario imaginable in a toilet plays out in the video, from two hip hoppers fighting, a basketball team, a kinky blonde, a bulimic party girl, a fishing Eskimo and distressed bride crying because she’s pregnant. The video was edited by Riaan Stoman at Tough Sunday, using Adobe After Effects to track the individual sequences into one panned shot. “The thing is, even if you have a great film camera, it is not enough to produce a good video,” says Brandon. “You have to have a good team and be willing to take chances and that’s what we did and it has paid off.”

The trio accepted the award at Moi International Sports Complex in Kenya, where HHP received the highest accolade from U.S rapper Wyclef Jean, who called him “the illest lyricist” and said HHP was “representing the new generation of African music.” Tough Sunday Productions has only been around for a year but seems to be making the right kind of airwaves in the industry.

“We have shot over 53 music videos so far,” says Brandon. “It was an incredible opportunity to be nominated but to receive the award voted for by the whole of Africa was an amazing experience.”

Tough Sunday has produced several videos with HHP, including Get Wanted, which was conceptualised by Ogilvy Cape Town as part of the Stimorol campaign that HHP became the ambassador for. Brandon directed the 80’s style video that was shot in Newtown, Johannesburg.

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Siyamukelwa Ngcobo