We often have fun creating videos for our clients, but sometimes there is a highlight worth sharing with everyone, such as the market open event with a difference that we recently covered for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Springbok Duane Vermeulen, South African Rugby Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year, was invited to open the JSE trading day by blowing the kudu horn, a practice unique to the JSE, while most other stock exchanges around the world open their trading day with the ringing of a bell.

Duane comes across as a gentle giant – shy, retiring and humble about his remarkable achievements on the rugby field, which have earned him the respect of his fans, the media and most importantly his fellow players. He had everyone in fits of laughter as he explained the reason for the formidable beard that he is cultivating. It turns out that Bakkies Botha challenged Duane to grow his beard until the upcoming Rugby World Cup, promising Duane that if he hung in there and met the challenge, then he (Bakkies) would have a mullet haircut for the duration of the Rugby World Cup 🙂 Duane said that he was definitely seeing the challenge through because to see Bakkies with a ‘mullet’ would be too hilarious for words to explain.

Watch the video below and experience some of the vibrant energy of the morning for yourself:

Shooting this event with two HD video cameras from distinctly different perspectives allowed us to add impact to the production. We were kept on our toes communicating between cameras to ensure that we included important, relevant content without losing focus on the speakers and the message they were sharing with the audience. We also employed a range of zoom ratios to inject variety and interest, such as cutting between Duane playfully passing the ball to staff members of the JSE who are die-hard fans of his, to capturing the excitement and expectancy of the entire audience before the event kicked off.

It’s truly an honour to cover events such as these for the JSE, which – similarly to Duane – exemplifies excellence in so many ways, including being voted by the world economic forum as the best regulated exchange in the world, for the fifth time running. Visit their JSE YouTube Channel for more informative videos that reinforce this accolade. Congratulations to Duane as well as the entire JSE team for their outstanding achievements!