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Mobile filmmaking: Six films show the effect of Covid-19 on our cities

Written by Simon Wyndham | Jun 19, 2020 11:00:00 PM

The World Falls Silent is a collection of six films that capture the eerie effects of Covid-19 on our cities via the medium of mobile filmmaking.      


Cassius Rayner films his entry for the World Falls Silent series.

The World Falls Silent highlights the work of six filmmakers as they utilise mobile filmmaking technology to portray different cities from around the world during the Covid-19 crisis.

The films show what are normally bustling metropolises stark and empty of life. It’s often an eerie sight, but at the same time strangely calm. We have all read about how overwhelmed the hospitals of Italy were with cases, and yet here we see the streets of Roma pretty much silent. It is an odd thing to consider that the reason for the almost beautiful silence is something so deadly it has turned the world upside down.


The normally bustling Piccadilly Circus in London, devoid of life during the Covid 19 crisis. Image: Still from The World Falls Silent film series, Cassius Rayner.

They were filmed using the FiLMiC Pro app, and in some cases the LumaFusion editing app. The UK based film is particularly well put together. The filmmakers involved were not just amateurs however. They consisted of

  • Cassius Rayner (UK): Filmmaker/Filmmaker / iPhone cinematographer with 12 International film awards.
  • Sallyanne Massimini (USA): Filmmaker, VFX Emmy nominations and partner in Master Cinematographers.
  • Rob Layton (Australia): Lecturer, smartphone content creator, official finalist Apple Shot on iPhone global challenge 2019 & 2020.
  • Adegboyega Ayodeji Temitayo (Nigeria): Mobile filmmaker and owner of Diplo Montage Productions.
  • Jay Silver (USA): Commercial and film cinematographer.
  • Marco Taormina (Italy): Video reporter and camera op for news networks.

Thankfully many places are emerging from the crisis and life is starting to pick up again, but these films will stay as a poignant reminder.

The films can’t be embedded here, but head on over to the official website to view them.