Flying Fish - Surprisingly Good

Director’s Craft Note –

The central challenge of this spot was tonal: to take a gently absurd premise and ground it in performances, restrained visual realism, and rhythm that felt recognisably South African – without tipping into caricature or chaos.

From the outset, I treated the film not as a scripted ad, but as a real-world event unfolding in real time. The cast was selected for their improvisational instinct, and much of what made it into the final cut came from giving them space to discover the comedy in character, rather than in punchlines.

We leaned heavily on location as storytelling – shooting in lived-in spaces that added layers of detail and humour – and every crew member was encouraged to contribute creatively.

The goal was to create a piece that felt authored but loose, crafted but unforced – something that could hold its own in a comedy block but still feel intimate, specific, and unmistakably local.