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Three local filmmakers have used lockdown as inspiration for short pieces capturing the sentiments of life during the pandemic.
Callum Thorne, Mark Errington and Gatis Valters caught up with Express...
“On my way to the studio, which leads through St. Helier town centre, I skated and filmed the empty streets,” Gatis told Express. “Then I edited and uploaded the video in the evening.
In comparison to the once-busy town, Gatis commented that going through St. Helier now is an “odd” experience, and one he thinks many people can relate to. “I wanted to capture it in the way I felt it,” he said, explaining that the idea of doing so had been "hunting" him over the last couple of weeks.
And the film appears to have struck a chord.
Since shooting, Gatis said he has received "a lot of direct messages from people I know, and even strangers, who felt touched by the video".
“The goal of these films is really to be of help,” Mark explained. “And hopefully bring a smile to people’s faces.
“We hope that we can use the skills we have to create something that will have a positive impact.”
Mark and his team saw the opportunity as a good way to spread the message to stay inside whilst “boosting morale”.
During lockdown, they can only rely on their stock footage and graphics. “We thought there may be a way we could put all this footage we have to good use,” he said.
“It’s not intended to make people miss how things were,” he said, “but rather to encourage them that the things they enjoy will still be there later.”
“As soon as lockdown became real, it was one of the first projects I wanted to create to express the seriousness of our situation, particularly from an economic and self-employed standpoint, as myself and many others on the island own and run businesses,” Callum told Express.
To create the video, Callum used past footage from trips to London and Amsterdam. “I wanted to create an edit using busy, travel-style visuals across the two cities to show how we had been functioning as a society before the pandemic,” he said.
“As I watched more news over the past few weeks, I decided to pull some of the quotes from the UK government to reinforce my final message.”
“I edited the film from my kitchen worktop,” he explained. “It isn’t something I would usually do, but you have to make do with what you have! Plus the coffee is close.”
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