FMP – Effects of COVID

He was shouting about how if they broke Covid Protocols they could be shut down, and how lots of people could lose their jobs, their homes, not be able to “put food on the table”. And how all the world was watching their production to see if the Film Industry was going to be able to start up again during Covid.

The general view of people seemed to be “wrong delivery, but right message”.

I agree with this. I don’t think you get the best out of people by shouting at them and I always try to be nice to people. But I can also understand his frustration, since he had worked so hard to try to keep this production going. I read that he had put loads of his own money into trying to keep it a safe environment. Some people were saying well of course he wants to keep it going, he wants to make money from it. But I think you can want something to be a success, which does imply you’ll probably make money from it, and also have the best interests of your cast and crew in mind. I hope that it how I will be if I get to be a Fiction Film/TV Director, trying to produce successful films, not always using money as a measure of success but it does help you to make your next film. But also being nice to people. However, if people do something that could have serious repercussions when they should know not to then I think I would be cross too. I hope I wouldn’t shout but some people were saying that he was at the end of his tether, and I think everyone would agree that, wonderful as a film set can be, there is a lot of pressure.

Also, he would have to be thinking about the Insurance too. I learnt more about the importance of Risk Assessments while doing my Year 1 FMP. I was filming in a wood, and I did what I thought was a pretty detailed Risk Assessment. But one area that I hadn’t thought about was the risk TO the wildlife, since sometimes there are small deer in the wood. I had thought that they might run through where we were filming and knock one of my cameras over. Unlikely during the day with people around, but possible. So I had put in about risk of damage to equipment from wildlife. Nargess (tutor) explained that you shouldn’t only think about the damage the wildlife could cause, you should also think about and avoid possible damage or injury TO the wildlife. I found that very interesting. I am also filming in a wood this year, so I made certain to include it.

Still on Risk Assessments, a very important addition, both this year and last year, is considering risks to do with Covid. Obviously, we can include Covid Precautions in our Risk Assessments. But the important thing is to make sure that we follow them.  My Dad is an Explorer Scout leader, and since the start of Covid, with various levels of restrictions, he has had to do many extra, different, pretty complicated Risk Assessments in order to be able to safely meet up. He explained that, apart from wanting to keep everyone safe, another reason is that if something does happen and you haven’t taken reasonable precautions then you can make your Insurance invalid, which is pretty serious.

It is also true in the Film/TV Industry that Insurance is important, and when Tom Cruise got mad because some of his crew were violating Covid Safety rules, he would have been concerned about insurance too. People have died making films even before Covid, like stunt people. Stunt people really take Risk Assessment seriously because their lives are often on the line. And look at when Tom Cruise broke his ankle doing a stunt jumping from one building to another. My point is that Risk Assessments need to be taken seriously, especially given wanting to go into the Film/TV Industry. I know I will need to think carefully when I write mine, and also make sure I follow it.

Covid has added a whole new layer to Risk Assessments. But I know it’s not just a case of writing one then forgetting about it. The point is to write a useful Risk Assessment that will actually help to keep everyone and everything safe.

This has been interesting with Covid. Film Crews are allowed to film. In January, I was a Runner for Director Damian Power (TOWIE, Made in Chelsea) for his new feature film. Damian made sure that both me and the other Runner, Sam Reed from Level 4, completed the Screen Skills Online Safety Course, and that we kept our certification proof on our phones in case we were challenged. He also decided to take the restrictions of Covid, which at the time generally involved only meeting with one other person outside, and turn them into a feature of his film. So he only had 2 main actors and the film is a mockumentary about 2 cousins trying to make a documentary during Covid Restrictions. There were a few supporting cast members, but since this was set during Covid times, Damian had the cousins mentioning Covid Rules as to why, for example, they couldn’t stand close to characters when they interviewed them.

However, as students, we are not counted as film crews and so we have to stick to the current Covid Restrictions. I decided that it was most sensible to build these restrictions into my planning right from the start. That is one reason why I rejected a lot of my original ideas for my Year 2 FMP, since they would have been contrary to Covid rules.

It’s not just about not breaking the rules, it’s also about being sensible. For example, I have decided to keep my cast and crew to people within my College bubble, so mostly my 90%Bloopers Group, and to keep it to 6 people. This means that although guidelines say people “should” socially distance wherever possible, I feel that since our bubble already spend a lot of time together in a classroom most days, I feel it is still safe to film together without going overboard about keeping 2m away from each other. I also feel the same about masks. Where appropriate we will use them, but since it is not a hard and fast rule outside, I will use my judgement. I will see what the state of Covid is when I film, and ensure we are safe.

I will, however, ask all cast and crew to do a Covid test before we meet up. We are used to doing this for College. We are all being cast and crew for each other’s Year 2 FMPs, and are all taking a similar approach, so that is helpful.

It’s not just about being responsible in relation to my own production. I am aware that if even one of us contracts Covid then, due to being at College together, we will all have to self-isolate, which will throw off each of our filming schedules.

One criteria that I used to determine which was the best of my ideas to film was location in relation to Covid. I discuss this more in my Ideas Section. Making the decision to film outdoors was a big positive in regards to Covid Issues. I also decided to keep my cast small, and do like Damian Power, taking Covid Restrictions and working with them rather than against. I discuss this in my Ideas Section.

I am working hard to stop Covid being a limiting factor in my Year 2 FMP. In the Film Industry you often have issues to work around and overcome, so it could be said to be good practise. However, it would be also untrue to say that I have managed to mitigate all the effects of Covid. But that also is true in the Film Industry. Somethings simply can’t be worked round no matter how hard you try. Some productions just had to shut down. An extra episode of His Dark Materials (2020), about Lord Asriel, simply couldn’t get made, which is sad because I was looking forward to it. I think there is a fine line between pushing as hard as you can to get something done and taking unacceptable risks. Covid was unexpected and I feel that I, along with many other people, have done the best I can to limit its effect.

But the uncertainty of the various lockdowns has thrown up more challenges than normal for a Year 2 FMP. We haven’t had as long in College to familiarise ourselves with key equipment. I will try to mitigate that by borrowing the College Panasonic Lumix S1H 4K camera for a weekend and doing some test filming with it, but I would preferred to have had the chance to use it all last term.

The uncertainty of when we would move through various stages this year had made planning very challenging. Our College has been using a “blended learning” approach. On one hand I feel this has helped to keep the incidences of Covid in our College low, meaning that less people have had to self-isolate or be ill. Although it has meant less time in College and more in Zoom lessons, at least those lessons schedules were predictable. Having seen friends at different schools suddenly have either part of a class, half a class, a whole class, whole year or even the whole school having to self-isolate suddenly, I think that the predictability has been helpful.

But it has not been helpful not knowing exactly when and if the government will be lifting various restrictions. We ended up not knowing when and if we would get into College to do a large chunk of important practical assessed work. We did manage to get in, but it did affect the timing of our Year 2 FMP, meaning that we had less time to do our Year 2 FMP than usual, which has not been good, and which has frustrated our tutors as well.

Also, due to the “blended learning” at College, I went into the Easter Holiday with us not knowing which weeks we would be in College after Easter. That has made planning the weeks after Easter very challenging. My initial main idea, that I put a lot of thought and work into, would have involved filming at College (2^nd choice venue but 1^st choice unavailable due to – you guessed it – Covid). When I looked at the possibilities, after Easter the best-case scenario was in College all weeks except the first week. But the worst case was only 4 days in College to film since even that week the Monday was a Bank Holiday (excluding the week before the deadline, and I really can’t leave my filming that late). And in those 4 days, all the students who wanted to film in College would be wanting equipment and rooms.

We didn’t find out which of these scenarios it would be until the Sunday before Summer term started. Our tutors were as frustrated as we were. I have had to re-jig my schedule many times due to this uncertainty, and they have all been re-jigging schedules too. It is what it is, but what it is, is frustrating. In addition, I am having to keep in mind the very real possibility of needing to self-isolate if anyone I am in contact with caches Covid. I have been giving a lot of thought to advance planning and trying to put things in place to solve problems before they become an issue. For example, my decision to set my film outside in the woods with a small cast and crew means that I will be less vulnerable to Covid Guidance changes that do or don’t happen.

I am very hopeful that I will get my filming done, but in these uncertain times I don’t think anyone, professionals included, would say that they could be sure. So, yet another contingency is that I have in mind is an alternative plot that I could film with just my parents in my house. It is seriously less than ideal, neither of my parents are thrilled at the idea of acting, but they know how important this is to me if it comes to that, so have confirmed that they will do this.

I really hope it doesn’t, as do they, and I am solving problems left right and centre to make my woods idea work. I could have just gone straight for the plot with just my parents idea, or even written one for just my Mum to act in, so I don’t have to fit around my Dad’s Zoom meetings. But it’s a balance. I need to maximise the chances of being able to complete this project, while still being able to produce a film that I feel demonstrates my abilities and is an entertaining film to watch.

I feel I have found that balance. As I say, due to Covid, my problem-solving skills are being given lots of practise, and so far, so good. It is representative of the Film/TV Industry, and thus this experience will set me up well for working in the Film Industry.

I still wish, on so many levels not just this project, that Covid wasn’t even a “thing”.