robo wilson
cinematographer
robert james wilson
view my best work
Born in the Netherlands Robert James Wilson AKA Robo is a working cinematographer based in South Africa shooting documentary, commercial, feature, short film, music, art, fashion, web, interactive, apps & online films worldwide.
He is especially known for shooting solo or near solo in remote areas yet producing elegant work that belies the humble means available. Although regularly working with Arriflex, Panavision, Alexa, Red, Sony and other larger cameras he’s especially drawn to the potential of DSLR’s for filming.
His passion for doing often self funded ‘love work’ collaborations to advance his aesthetic and pioneer visual techniques has led to many brave pieces of music, art, fashion, & web film. Behind this lies a trajectory of a year as a photographer assistant at agency Mcann, two years of military photographer, three years of industrial design studies, three years of production design, fifteen years as a cine camera assistant, two years of programming motion control robots, and ten years as a cinematographer.
In search of bespoke light qualities he has designed & built various light shaping structures. As a designer and inventor he has engineered many bespoke optical, support, motion control and technique specific camera rigs. An early adopter of new technology, he has collaborated in the creation of film mobile app’s since 2011.
As a lecturer, he has presented his own two week cine camera course thirty times over fifteen years to over a thousand students, is a regular annual guest lecturer at universities and film schools in both Cape Town and Johannesburg and himself attends courses in colour space and emerging cine technology. At any given time, he is always grooming at least three camera assistants he is also regularly asked to speak on transitioning digital technologies to commercial film producers and advertising agencies.
Notable recent work includes the blindness documentary ‘first sight’ which besides being national geographic’s most viewed film online in 2015 is currently at 12 million views worldwide across all platforms as well as filming the world’s longest surfing wave in the amazon in brazil. International brands filmed include NatGeo, Fox Channel, Airbnb, Nike, Adidas, Nikon, BMW, Toyota, Kia, Ford, VW, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Sab, Sony & McDonald’s.
His work is the recipient of over fifty awards notable amongst them is a D&AD Black Pencil – London, a Bronze Lion – Cannes, Gold, Silver & Bronze Loeries and awards in the USA and Asia. Besides being an avid student of aesthetics & design, his passion includes cycle races, scuba, systema and outdoor exploration.
But if you’re looking for him in a crowd, he’ll be the guy with a camera in his hand, and a smile on his face.
a collection of my work
contact me directly or via my agent
office tel: +27 (0) 11 026 3732
saskia stuart-clake mobile: +27 83 444 4513
neil roberts mobile: + 27 83 253 8283
email: saskia@krewkut.co.za
website: www.krewkut.co.za
Click here to download my most recent curriculum vitae
mobile: +27 (0) 83 601 2239
email: robonautwilson@gmail.com
website: www.robowilson.co.za