Digital Artist, filmmaker and UKZN graphic design intern Mr Mvelo Zimu has written, directed and animated a short psychological thriller film, The Detective. The film is about a detective who suffers psychological injury due to the loss of the closest people in his life. It is narrated by another alumnus Mr Qhawe Ndlovu.
‘This film was inspired by several thriller movies that I watched. There were so many drafts, and the preparations and storyboards took about four months to complete before animation,’ explained Zimu.
The film was Zimu’s honours practical project. ‘I spent a lot of time preparing and executing the animation. The process was very difficult. I had zero budget, so I had to do everything myself, the sound effects, music and directing. I was also using a very low budget laptop to improve the film’s graphics and quality to the level I’d imagined it would be. I’m planning to improve the graphics and quality before it is released in the public domain,’ he said.
His message to aspiring filmmakers is, ‘If you have an idea, or a story to tell, start telling it now. It doesn’t matter how minimal your resources are. I managed to reach the Top 8 in an international student film festival with just my laptop as my resource. I also managed to network with industry bigwigs and other young talented filmmakers. You can do it.’
