Local short film captures lockdown in KZN

Lockdown might not be everyone’s cup of tea and while many feel that it has been dragged out for far too long, it certainly has put into perspective what the average South African takes for granted every day.

This is the message a locally produced short film has painted with the core focus being placed on combating the negativity around lockdown while reminding us what we have endured and overcome.

‘We’re trapped, we can’t buy cigarettes, we can’t surf’, were all complaints which flooded WhatsApp groups right through to social media platforms such as Facebook.

And while the effects of these on people, and the damage done to the economy, cannot be disputed Simbithi resident and producer, Tim Hay, along with co-producer and Hillcrest resident Simon Mulholland remind us what we as a Rainbow Nation have achieved through self-sacrifice.

The riveting footage, shot in 6K – 6 000 pixels of horizontal resolution – captures in crisp detail not only what South Africans have accomplished as a nation in its efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus, but shows KwaZulu-Natal in ways many have not seen before.

The short film pays tribute to front-line essential staff who have been put at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.

Both licensed drone pilots, Tim and Simon set about filming on day two of the lockdown with the final footage captured on June 8.

The majority of the short film was shot using drone footage.

Despite self-funding the project, having to repair computer hardware as computers crashed multiple times during editing, and combing through nearly 4 000 gigabytes of raw footage, the project was worth it, said Tim.

“We wanted to show and document what it was like during lockdown. But the idea since grew from what we had planned,” Tim said.

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