Zeno Petersen is an award-winning South African cinematographer and director with over 20 years experience in the industry. His work includes shows like Zone 14 , Jacobs Cross , Isibaya , MTV Shuga , The Road , Isisthembiso , House of Zwide , Gomora and the recent hit series Shaka Ilembe. Teambooktu was fortunate to catch him one Sunday afternoon for brief chat on the latter show.
Welcome, Zeno Petersen, to Teambooktu.
Thank you for having me.
Congratulations on the first season of Shaka Ilembe. The storyline and cinematography were quite impressive; comparable to popular epic shows like Vikings and Rome. So it’s a real pleasure speaking to the show’s cinematographer. First off, I’d like to ask: What is the meaning of Ilembe?
Ilembe means ‘axe’ in Zulu. Quite fitting for the character because in almost everything he does in life he needs to get through or cut through to become the man everyone knows about now. We just found it a fitting title for the series. It also sets it apart from what has come before. We didn’t want this series to be taken as a remake of the old Shaka Zulu series. It’s not. It’s a brand new telling of his story. Not just his but those of the people around him who shaped him.
Glad you pointed out the difference between the old and new Shaka shows. Can you expatiate on this?
Shaka Zulu (80s) was told from the perspective of a European. It was shot in English and they made the Zulu people even speak English. Shaka didn’t speak Zulu in the series. While in Ilembe we wanted to make sure we respected the Zulu language and the languages of other tribes around the Zulu nation. That was our main goal. We said we wouldn’t do the show unless it was in vernacular. We wanted people to appreciate the beauty of the languages and stay true to the story.
I was so invested in the story it seemed they spoke to me in English. The subtitles were not a hindrance at all. Cinematography was topnotch. Lighting, weather and background matched the mood and helped build the emotion for each scene. This seemed all very deliberate, yes?
Thank you. Yes, it was. Cinematography had to compliment the actors and the story first. We set out to ensure the camera was not noticed. We wanted the focus to be on the performances before the shots and then the lighting. So it was a combination of good editing, fortuitous weather conditions, and special effects to achieve the mood of the scenes. And of course, a lot of planning.
What do you think of cinematography in Africa compared to the West? Is the challenge in our skill set? Equipment? Or both? How far behind are we in this department?
For me, it’s not about either skill set or equipment. We have the skill set to challenge the rest of the world. The challenges we have in Africa are time and funding. If we had more time and the kind of funds they have, we could create shows that are just as grand. We were lucky in Shaka to have a substantial budget that allowed us to create something amazing. We were also allowed the time to create something that could rival the West.
It’s also not about equipment here (Shaka Ilembe) because we didn’t want to be fancy with the camera. We didn’t want it to stand out. So we didn’t have any of those fancy toys. We stuck to what we knew. We didn’t overspend. We had a camera. We had a dolly. On special days, we bring in a crane. We worked with less.
I always say this to students: Don’t worry about getting the most expensive camera or all the gear. It’s about telling a story. So use what you have and create something amazing. And that’s exactly what we did.
Just curious. Is one of the showwriters, Andy Petersen, your brother or relation?
(Laughs) I get that a lot. No, we just have the same surname.
Okay. So you had 5 creators, 3 directors (Angus Gibson, Adze Ugah, and yourself), 7 story writers, and loads of historical advisors. Seems to be a lot of people in the creative process. There must have been a lot of headbutting. How did you manage to achieve coordination and synergy with so many?
I’ll start with the historical/cultural advisors. When we first got this job, we knew we had to start with the cultural advisors and get it right so people could appreciate it. So it took us about 5 years to do the research before we started the first season. So we spoke to different cultural experts hence the long list and once we had all the info we needed it went into a reference book. And that book goes to all the other departments like the art director, costume designer, food etc.
As for the directors, we decided to have a team of directors and each will have 2 or 3 episodes they will focus on. We gave each other time because it’s hard to do a big show like this with 1 or 2 directors as you constantly have to prep the whole time. Everything was discussed beforehand so that all directors were on the same page.
My challenge was being the cinematographer for the whole season. We needed to make sure the look, composition, and lighting stayed the same. So I decided to take on that role as well as direct a few episodes.
It was a good idea. You stitched up the entire series.
Exactly. Although we invited small units to come in sometimes to film some close shots time and again. But I’d give them an idea of how they’d shoot it and see what we’d done before so it doesn’t feel like a different show. Same thing we’re doing next season.
Quite excited about next season. Is it coming out next year?
Yes, it is. A lot of people are excited about it too but you know it takes a while to create something like this. The anticipation is good though.
Correct me if I’m wrong but there appears to be a love theme behind Shaka Ilembe, right?
Yes, there is. We all know love stories are what everyone can relate to. We didn’t want to make a documentary. We wanted to make something exciting and relatable. So we had to find something within the history that threads through the whole series. It’s definitely a love story and continues into the next season with new characters. We didn’t want it to be just about a king who goes around killing people and then creates an empire. We wanted to give him heart and emotions.
Making entertaining stories from history or legends sometimes requires taking some creative liberties. Sticklers will naturally give you flack for deviating from the source material. Did you get such negative feedback?
Oh yes. We got that a lot. Even though we did a lot of research you’ll still meet people who disagree with it. This is because there are various versions of the story so, early on, we decided on which version to follow. But generally, the positive feedback outweighed the naysayers. You can’t please everyone. Our goal is to respect the culture and entertain people. Striking a balance is key.
This series reminded me of the movie ‘300’. Did every guy in it go into the gym for this show?
(Laughs) They were already well-built, good-looking African people. It was about creating a show that people would enjoy looking at. Everyone came to the party.
You once had an enlightening interview where you talked about the importance of lighting African skin tones. Ingenious. I think it needs to be taught more in film school. Can you comment on this? How did you achieve that balance in Shaka Ilembe?
Yeah, it can be a challenge. But when you surround yourself with a very good team it helps. I surrounded myself with a good lighting team. We have a lot of experience working on shows with many different skin tones on set. It sort of led me to this moment.
Congrats on a great job once again and thanks for your time. All the best with Season 2.
Thanks for the compliment. Can’t wait for you guys to see what we have coming up next season.