The Show must go on -- Netflix shows how to shoot film despite Corona
[14:31 Tue,5.May 2020 by blip]
How can films and series finally be shot again? Netflix is already trying it out in South Korea and Iceland, where the virus has been brought under control, but soon a series will be produced again in Sweden. Ted Sarandos (Chief content officer at Netflix) describes in an article for the Los Angeles Times under which security precautions these shootings take place.
The conditions agreed upon with the authorities vary from country to country, especially with regard to the testing of the crew members. In Iceland, for example, everyone on the team is tested daily, in South Korea only those who show symptoms. It is not known whether corona rapid tests are also used, such as the one from Abbott Laboratories, which gives a result within 15 minutes. Since there is very little testing at all in Sweden, the actors as well as the costume and make-up team, who are in close contact with them, have agreed to maintain a 14-day quarantine before shooting starts.
Everywhere it seems that a fever measurement before the working day is mandatory. Of course, masks and gloves must be worn on the set and safety distances must be observed. At least in Iceland there is additional security staff on location to make sure that there are no more people on the set than allowed. There are also, as it seems, different access areas to keep crew departments apart as much as possible.
Also the catering has to work differently, of course -- there are no more buffets but packed portions. Every few hours, frequently used surfaces are disinfected, the props and costumes every evening.
Sarandos is quite confident that in this way life can come back to the film industry, even if many things have to be planned anew or differently. Some planned locations will certainly have to be replaced because they are too narrow or inaccessible, and still hardly realizable are, for example, travel or mass scenes. A lot of physical contact (action, romance..) is also tricky to realize, especially since the actors can't wear protective masks in the picture. Therefore, scripts have to be changed and where live-action or mass scenes were planned, CGI may be necessary.
All this is costly and obstructive, but in order to be able to produce anything at all again, you will have to put up with it for quite some time. At least Netflix already shows how it could work.
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