Old Hymerian, Catherine Willoughby, used some of her free time in lockdown to create an inspiring and uplifting video highlighting the current pandemic.
 
Her reason for creating the video was to “record the experience, create a scrapbook to look back on, and hopefully spread some smiles.

Catherine explains, “I was struck by the apparent paradox that during one of the most universally distressing times in living memory, I was receiving more funny videos, memes and jokes into my whatsapp group chats and on my social feeds than ever. I researched the use of humour to deal with difficult times, and learnt the psychological reasons for it: to gain a sense of control, and to bond with others. Both crucially relevant during a socially isolated pandemic. I was also reading Kate Fox's 'Watching the English' which describes the strong sense of pride and identity Brits associate with our sense of humour, which is distinctive (characterised for example by the heavy use of irony and understatement).”

“These ideas led me to write the script, over a couple of weekends in April (around my full-time job as a Junior Strategist in a London advertising agency, which I'm continuing from home). Ant and I worked together on the storyboard, and then in the evenings after work I would help search for clips to feature while he designed the graphics and sequences and edited it all together in the epic way you have witnessed.”

“Rainbows on windows, reminds us when the rain shows, that joy can happen.”

Catherine Willoughby