Personal
A personal short film made for the love of making — shot solo at golden hour on Clifton Beach, Cape Town, with no brief and no client.
Client
Personal Project
Year
2023
A personal short film, made entirely for the love of making. No brief, no client — just a storyboard, a camera, a drone, and a feeling. Shot on Clifton Beach in Cape Town at golden hour, The Gift is about life itself — everything it gives, everything it asks for in return. It features Aletta, a Dutch Bali-based model who visits Cape Town every year. I'd always wanted to make something with her. I waited until the moment felt right. It always does.
I operated everything myself — camera and drone, solo. The plan was clear but the day breathed naturally. The sea was spraying up water that caught and diffused the golden light, wrapping everything in softness. The drone caught Aletta walking across the beach as a wave came rolling in, folding around a large rock in the middle — one of those frames you can't plan. At some point she started filming me on her phone for backstage content. I hadn't planned to include it, but it made the film more honest. Less posed, more real.
A purely personal piece, shared to socials and living permanently on the portfolio. Aletta thought it was beautiful. Sometimes the work you make just for yourself is the work that says the most about who you are.