Like most freelancers, Rayner lost his income during the pandemic while fearing for his health. But rather than giving up, he poured his worries into a creative project that documented history in the making
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The last six months have been a nightmare for freelancers everywhere in the media world. Going bust, losing big projects and the threat of the disease took many at a crisis point.
In this week's podcast, we talk to Cassius Rayner, filmmaker and iPhone cinematographer, about how the pandemic may have 'financially broke him, but it did not break his spirit'.
Covid 19 financially broke me..but it didn’t break my spirit...mobile filmmaking has been key in documenting history - the various projects I have shot in 2020 (mostly volunteered) using @FiLMiCPro full version on YT https://t.co/JrgWSbQaQh #iphonefilmmaking #mobilefilmmaking pic.twitter.com/awF8ZPYIpe— Cassius Rayner (@CassiusRayner) August 21, 2020
Covid 19 financially broke me..but it didn’t break my spirit...mobile filmmaking has been key in documenting history - the various projects I have shot in 2020 (mostly volunteered) using @FiLMiCPro full version on YT https://t.co/JrgWSbQaQh #iphonefilmmaking #mobilefilmmaking pic.twitter.com/awF8ZPYIpe
Instead, he put his motivation into his craft. After volunteering on the frontline, he decided to do what he does best. He took out his iPhone and started filming the empty streets of London.
This inspired the 'World Falls Silent' project, where he and five other mobile filmmakers across the world documented the history they were witnessing in their deserted cities.
At a time when social media puts us under pressure to broadcast a misleading image of happiness and success, Rayner talks honestly about his struggles, the need to be proactive at this time and the new conditions of returning to work.
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