GH5 Is making short films with small crews a risk with Covid 19?

R

rc444

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

Is making short films with small crews a risk with Covid 19? I've been asked to make a 5 minute short film with a team of 5-7 actors and crew in NZ. We would be mainly filming outdoors at the beach.

Is that a safe number to film in NZ, or should any short filmmaking be postponed? I know it's different for different countries -- your thoughts.

I know that the 48 hour short film competition has been postponed here.

Thanks
David
 
Its no problem if no one is carrying the virus, but a big problem if anyone is. Thats why the health professionals are asking people to stay home. Its individuals that show no symptoms that are the real problem. The virus can take over a week to show any signs and may not for some people. Its sucks to stay home but welcome to this new reality. I'd hate to be responsible for a friends death.
 
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Are you asking for yourself or for the cast and crew? Asking people to get together now is irresponsible. Each of us has to do our own risk evaluation. But some people may risk themselves unnecesarily for the sake of the art or the opportunity to be involved. So leaders need to be responsible and take the lead to decide for others what the prudent thing to do is. Make a short now is not necessary and is irresponsible.
 
Risks of actual contamination are minuscule - especially, if everyone abides by the established etiquette - but the person in charge will be on a losing end of the PR right from the start.
 
I have a couple of YouTube videos that I plan to make in the next few days, but that is just my wife and me working on them.

If there is shooting you can do that doesn't involve other people (cutaway shots, insert shots, etc.), you could collect those with no problem. In fact, this is an excellent time to shoot things like time-lapse videos.
 
The bottom line is that nobody really KNOWS what the risks are. As said before, if nobody has the virus, and won't be coming in contact with anyone who has it, or any surface that they've recently touched, then the risks may seem to you to be prudently managed. But that's not the way the medical experts are advising us to act.

I wouldn't take advice from anyone on the Internet; no matter how well-intentioned they may be and no matter how much they may think they know, the only ones I would be listening to are the top pandemic medical experts. In the US one of our leading voices put it this way: (paraphrased) In a pandemic, any actions we recommend will likely appear alarmist, and in hindsight will be thought of as inadequate.

I will repeat what I said before: there is an alarmingly high percentage of adults who won't even wash their hands after wiping their own butts. Given that, and the recommendations from the WHO and CDC etc, I have made the decision to be as self-quarantined as possible and would suggest to others to delay any unnecessary activities during this period of rapid case escalation and uncertainty.
 
Is it a "Risk"? Yes. Is the risk avoidable? Yes, by cancelling your event.
 
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I’d hold off. There is a long incubation period where people with mild or no symptoms are shedding virus (like the mayor in Florida). Until we get more testing and we can determine our status we need to hole up.
 
rc444 said:
Hi everyone,

Is making short films with small crews a risk with Covid 19? I've been asked to make a 5 minute short film with a team of 5-7 actors and crew in NZ. We would be mainly filming outdoors at the beach.

Is that a safe number to film in NZ, or should any short filmmaking be postponed? I know it's different for different countries -- your thoughts.

I know that the 48 hour short film competition has been postponed here.

Thanks
David
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You should postpone.
 
I live in Korea and the masks here are incredibly made. Also most people are wearing masks which definitely makes you think you are more protected. But still, film shoots are in crowded places and the distances are so tight it makes you wonder. Still haven't heard of film crews catching it, but there is a drop in projects here.
 
If it can be configured so everyone maintains a safe distance and it is all outside, the risk would be the same as catching a cold. UV radiation does, in fact, kill the virus on surfaces, so the risks outside are extremely low. It is a personal decision to do. Here in California, they are early releasing inmates from jail but then telling everyone to stay inside. None of it makes much sense to me. This virus is going to be around for a long time and so you should take the same precautions you would in a cold or flu season. Wash hands, don't touch your face, no come who is sick or not feeling well, maintain your distances, and especially, if outside in sunlight, I honestly don't believe there is any risk. But I understand if people don't want to and feel better staying inside. Also, I believe New Zealand closed its borders and doesn't have any type of lockdown in place. Now if you were shooting indoors, in cold weather, in a crowded environment and not keeping distances, then I would say no. But outside, in the sun, and no one is in your face and coughing, I feel the risk is virtually zero. Everyone is going to have to come to terms with their comfort level. In my entire life, I've never caught a cold (I realize this is fatal to some and a serious illness, but so is TB) at the beach in the sun. It has always been indoors with someone who was clearly coughing and sick. This virus is in the same family as the common cold and transmits the same way. I'm a total germ phobe by the way and would be the last one to suggest taking unnecessary risks, but I think you have to have common sense as well. I heard someone on the radio saying that to keep from getting sick people needed to wash their hands every 20 minutes and drink warm water every 15 minutes, and I thought that's just getting OCD. Another option would be to perhaps film and edit with minimal crew and cast, and creatively edit so there's only maybe one actor in each shot or something like that but make it look like more. The less people there, the better, esp if someone is paranoid about catching something. I am honestly coronavirus'd out with all this.
 
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rc444 said:
Is making short films with small crews a risk with Covid 19? I've been asked to make a 5 minute short film with a team of 5-7 actors and crew in NZ. We would be mainly filming outdoors at the beach. Is that a safe number to film in NZ, or should any short film making be postponed? I know it's different for different countries -- your thoughts.
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I would be thinking very hard about going ahead with it. The following might not be applicable to your production but the following is the atmosphere spreading across a lot of the production industry. You just have to look at insurance companies not being prepared to underwrite the risks on numerous productions because of this current Covid environment. Not having any idea of what your legal/insurance position is the following may or may not give you some ideas as to whether to proceed or not.

"At present, many production insurance companies are refusing to cover programmes against Covid-19 because of the growing financial threat that having important talent, or a key member of the production team, drop out due to infection brings. Producers are facing the unenviable task of deciding whether to go ahead or to delay indefinitely until something changes, causing ripple effects throughout the industry that trickle down to a multitude of workers and freelancers, not only across entertainment, but also to the local businesses in states, countries and territories where shoots often times take place."

Chances are you would be 100% okay BUT, and it's a big but should anything go wrong you are just inviting someone or some entity to have a go at you legally, especially in this charged Covid atmosphere we are all living in at the moment. Maybe worth a read!

shorturl.at/suGS6

Chris Young
 
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