When COVID-19 hit, the world froze for a bit. Some people had to leave school while others lost their jobs. For SCAD student Ryan Henry Knight, it was the time he questioned his career path.
Knight is an award-winning writer, director, producer, entrepreneur and part-time musician from Virginia. Ahab Mullick is an independent filmmaker, also from Virginia. Together, they founded HÖMA Motion Pictures in 2017.
Picture by Ryan Henry Knight
Pre-COVID, Knight helmed music video shoots, friends’ short film, was heading into production for his next feature-length movie. “We were about a week away from our first day of principal photography, but then COVID-19 happened,” Knight says. “Everyone that came out to help went back home with the quickness.”
Knight went back home, too. However, he left with unfinished business. Even so, Knight didn’t wallow around for too long. Instead, he used the time as a learning opportunity. He took a nosedive into writing, making new plans, and learning more about himself as a person. “It gave me time to think about my life now and in the future,” Knight says.
It wasn’t until early August that Knight was able to film again, this time working with his best friend and partner in crime, Mullick.
The filmmaking process consists of many steps and regulations that I learned from talking to Knight and searching the Internet. I have boiled it down to what I see as the four most important steps:
Development, which is where you fine-tune the story you plan to shoot. Pre-production; this step is where you get all your casting, scheduling, and budgets in order. And then, production — most people know this step — when you finally get to go into principal photography with your cast and crew. Lastly, post-production, where the film is cut together and finalized for distribution.
My point is that even before COVID-19, filmmakers like Knight, already had many rules to follow. COVID-19 just added some more to the plate.
Knight and his skeleton crew followed COVID-19 regulations as well as their own. “Everyone got tested for COVID-19,” Knight says. “I was tested five or six times.”
It was worth it. After weeks of hard work, the team wrapped, getting the most beautiful shots, performances and are now in post-production.
“Other than extra rules and quarantining with the team, nothing changed too much,” Knight says about filming under COVID-19 regulations. “I’m super grateful it all worked out.”
