Covid 19 Awareness Video

I want to start by saying that everyday I see posts on all my social media pages such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, from news sites and friends of mine who work for the NHS. Pleading for people not to break the lockdown rules and how serious the situation is becoming. How Hospitals across the country don't have enough beds to treat people with Covid 19 or the fact that all the great Doctors and Nurses in this country are currently going through hell everyday in order to take care of us all.

So instead of just making another post on any of those social media sites I mentioned earlier, about how people should continue to follow the rules the government have laid out. Instead I decided to make a short film that showcases the kind of impact that this virus has had on so many people around the world already and is continuing to have with more deaths recorded across the world each day. Hopefully reminding people why these rules and regulations are in place to begin with. It's not the government trying to ruin our lives its them that are trying to save it. I know a lot of people have their issues with the government right now so I wont get into all of that as that's not what this blog post is about.

I am no Doctor and have no medical skills whatsoever but what I do have is the power to spread awareness about this particular matter through the art of filmmaking. I was not told to make this film by the NHS, The Government or anyone for that matter. I just felt that if I could help show people what the side effects could be if we were to break lockdown rules on an emotional and hard hitting level. Then I will have at least contributed a very tiny amount to helping keep the country safe for now.

It only took a day to come up with the concept of the video and then bring my vision to life by shooting the film and then later that day editing it through AVID. The idea came to mind when I was sat in my room drafting up ideas in my head for what could make a good video seeing as how I was in lockdown and not able to go out anywhere at the time. I tend to have these brain storming sessions every once in a while where I will be lying in bed thinking about what videos I could make for either my personal YouTube channel or even perhaps for a future short film project. Annoyingly, these brain storm sessions tend to happen late at night when I find myself not being able to sleep to which then I all of a sudden come up with many great potential video ideas that leads me to start noting those ideas down. So that I dont forget them the next day which in turn ends up resulting in me getting no sleep whatsoever. I was trying to come up with a way to do a small horror themed video that would act as a five minute short film of sorts, only to find myself struggling with how the plot of said short film would play out. It was only after scrolling through my Instagram and seeing a lot of my friends who work for the NHS yearning for people to stay indoors that I realized I could accomplish two things here. All the things I was considering to include in this horror video idea I could apply to a Covid 19 safety video that has a certain edge to it. From the ominous music to the idea of a ghostly figure being present, it all sort of lent itself to this idea that eventually became the Covid 19 Awareness video you see today.

So I then began coming up with a simple shot list which then not too long after lead to me pitching the idea to my siblings Sophie and Robert who would later go on to star in the film. They were enthusiastic about the idea and immediately jumped onboard with the project which was great for me as I really wanted to make this idea become reality as soon as possible. So we then shot the film for what felt like an hour before I then took the footage and pieced it all together in the post production stage. The most challenging part of the entire shoot was probably making sure that when the sister character disappears and all that is left is her clothes is that it feels like it happens naturally. Rather than have it look like a cheap editing trick where its the mid shot of them two hugging but then suddenly replaced by the same type of mid shot only now with the brother holding the clothes instead. It took many takes and many different camera angles to try and pull this off in a surprising and believable manner before I then thought of perhaps filming the clothes first falling down from an extreme close up shot of the two of them hugging. Which ended up working really well and I am pleased to say it ended up looking really good on screen and believable which is what I wanted from the start. The premise behind the video may seem simple but it’s the use of haunting music and sounds and the dark/spooky imagery that’s used here where I feel it helps sell the very eerie atmosphere and feeling of unease thats present in the video.

To anybody reading this I hope that you are keeping safe during these difficult and stressful times and to remind you that we will get through this. As long as we continue to obey the rules that have been laid out in front of us and ensuring that we help the wonderful Doctors and Nurses at the NHS by listening to their guidance and staying home where it is safe. As they are the real heroes during this pandemic crisis we have all faced. Much love and respect goes out to all the brave workers out on the front line in hospitals across the globe right now who are working to beat this virus by treating patients and helping vaccinate the population.