Black Panther is the highest grossing box office film in the world at the moment.  The first African super hero Marvel film ever made, stars Chadwick Boseman and has earned close to $900 million. Parts of the film, were shot in the Free State.

Cape Town can be proud of having a presence in the production. Jonathan O’Connell is one of the cinematographers who worked his magic in Black Panther. O’Connell owns a cinematography company called Timeslice – operating from Hout Bay. They are one of the only official drone operating companies in South Africa.

‘There are far more international films being produced in our country and specifically Cape Town, than what people might know’ – he explains. Being part of this particular trail-blazing movie, is a professional highlight.

In the film, Wakanda is the fictional African nation at the centre of the story, where most of the footage was shot outside Bloemfontein.

Since shattering box office records, O’Connell has had the opportunity to share many red carpet moments with well-known stars, including Lupita Nyong’o. Drones were used in filming the mountainous area, and on completion the footage was sent to Marvel for the adding of visual effects.

O’Connell believes this is one of many filming firsts for his company, and wishes to continue working hard in producing cutting-edge footage for the international film arena – in an interview with Smile90.4FM, he promised that his company Timeslice Media, will give people of the Mother City many reasons to be very proud in future. He added that the pool of gifted videographers in our city continues to surprise him, and encouraged youngsters to consider film editing as a career.

O’Connell said he didn’t think it was a big deal at first when he was asked to film landscapes for Black Panther. In terms of the regular shoots he does, he found it very easy to accomplish, without a single car chase or explosion required.