This is part 3 of a 3 part series. Read part 1 for more information on museums and part 2 for information on performing arts.
As the entertainment and arts industries begin reopening, they face new challenges in light of COVID-19. Each industry is developing unique solutions to keep their audiences and staff safe. Part 3 of this series highlights the emerging trends and new protocols being implemented in the film and tv industries.
Social Distancing in the Film and TV Industries
While the Entertainment and Arts Industry contain different means of production and funding, they do share similar challenges in their responsibilities toward social distancing performers, staff, and audiences. Like with museums, the film industry saw its initial revival attempts sourced from Southeastern Asia. Korean moviemakers initially turned to streaming platforms when spring and early summer releases were pushed back, as when “Little Big Pictures, the local distributor behind “Time to Hunt,” decided to give up on the film’s theatrical release and licensed it directly to Netflix instead” (Variety). Once reopening was a possibility, the public was still wary of going out to public, traditionally crowded spaces, so other measures were taken to help bolster demand for film tickets. One measure included “the Korean government distribut[ing] discount vouchers for movie tickets through [the] Korean Film Council, as part of its $3.8 million (KRW 17 billion) fund to support the coronavirus-hit film industry” (Variety). On a private level, some theaters have “changed the entrance route so that it is a must for all our audiences to go through a desk to have their body temperature checked, with their masks on, before entering screening rooms” (Variety). These combined measures helped audiences and staff to feel secure in these reopening procedures, allowing for the Korean film market to see growth, albeit marginally small and slow-going.
Image 1: Robotic Contact-free Payment System in Korea Cinima. Source: Variety.
Now that countries outside the U.S.A. are seeing reduced numbers of COVID cases, larger film corporations have taken notice. For example, as of August 6th, the AMC theater chain “expects all its international theaters to resume operations in the next two to three weeks.” (Reuters) Prior to this decision, more than 130 of AMC’s international theaters have already been in operation. These theaters “in Europe and the Middle East … [amounting to] more than one-third of our international theaters.” (Reuters) Despite inconsistency within the United States in terms of social distancing regulations, AMC also plans to open 2/3 of its domestic theaters within the next two months, a delay that doubles their international counterparts. It is thought that AMC is going through with this plan after a deal with Universal Pictures, which set new terms as to how long a movie is required to be in theaters before being released to streaming platforms, as well as the uncertainty as to which companies will skip theatrical releases altogether. “AMC and Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures agreed to a major shift that will allow the studio’s movies to be made available to U.S. audiences at home after just three weekends in cinemas. Walt Disney Co[‘s] … ‘Mulan’ will … go directly to its streaming platform in September, due to uncertainty about when big movie theater chains will reopen.” (Reuters)
When looking at the United States, not only are COVID-19 cases inconsistent by state, but regulations as well. Due to this, it is difficult for moviegoers to anticipate what is expected from them once theaters reopen to the public. Currently, 36 states have opened their doors to in-person seating, with 7 states regulating these openings by region. (Indiewire) Common regulations include socially distanced seating, reduced capacity (at varying percentages), reduced/banned concession sales, mask use (in lobby and/or auditorium), and staggered showings. However, even among commonalities, discrepancies may hurt theaters’ already crippled finances, “In the U.K., masks inside theaters at all times are a national standard. That’s something the U.S. lacks for COVID-19 prevention across the board … the varied specifics between states, counties, cities, and theater chains are endless, and that friction is enough to seed anxiety and doubt in these already-uncertain times.” (Indiewire) For detailed information as to the regulations per state, see this spreadsheet by NATO.
Businesses that work in close relation with movie theaters are also trying to help audiences and theaters find common ground, thereby reducing confusion on both ends of the supply chain. For example, the ticketing company Fandango has turned to a digital platform to relay information. The service is a “new resource guide that will include information on safety and social distancing measures. The service … will feature a rundown of mask and protective-equipment policies and enhanced cleaning measures being implemented at more than 100 theater chains. There's also a special search filter to find reopened cinemas by location.” (Hollywood Reporter)
Image 2: Screenshot of Fandango's COVID Resource Offerings. Source: Fandango.
While these strategies have shown that the distribution part of the entertainment industry is ready for the changes and challenges of a socially distanced world, these efforts are fruitless if there aren’t any new movies/TV shows for audiences to watch. This creates added pressure on the development/production side of the industry - companies that are required to construct socially distanced avenues of content creation. At the start of quarantine and travel restrictions, a number of projects had to be canceled or delayed. As with theaters, this impacted the Korean industry early on, “due to travel bans that followed the World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration in March. Some of the country’s biggest financier-distributors such as CJ Entertainment, Showbox, and Megabox had to cancel or delay filming” (Variety). These canceled productions require all or portions of their filming to be done outside of the country, hence the inability to complete filming while COVID-19 is still unrestrained internationally. For the 50% of film productions that are still operational, “the Korean Film Council set up a special committee for safety management on film sets and cinemas that includes health and medical experts. The committee is planning to dispatch safety management crew to all film sets” (Variety). However, this travel issue appears to have only impacted the movie industry, as “TV and digital content [are] moving ahead. The majority of them are set in Korea, sets are adopting safety measures and have adopted kits including masks, hand sanitizers and temperature checks” (Variety).
For UK productions, experimentation with green screens and VFX are being used to allow actors and production staff to work at a distance. Because these shows are not live, as is usual with the performing arts, edits can be made in post-production that help to display a scene as intended, with actors closer than 2m apart. So far this technique has “been adopted by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky to protect actors and crews during the pandemic” (BBC). Other, less technology-oriented suggestions have also been put into place for Britain film crews. These include:
Delivering scripts earlier, to help plan a safe work environment on set
Changing scripts and scenes to enable social distancing
Requiring actors to pick up their own costumes, to avoid direct contact
Asking actors and presenters to put on their own make-up and microphones
Using green screens - which allow actors to be in front of different backgrounds, minimizing the number of people on set
Prioritizing outdoor filming over confined spaces
Using floor markings to mark 2m distances
Using local film crews to minimize the need for travel (BBC)
The use of VFX also has other uses beyond shifting the distance between actors, such as filling out crowds for background use by duplicating a small number of extras, through a method called “the paper doll cutout technique”. This helps to keep the number of people on set lower than the norm, therefore reducing the chance for disease to spread among cast and crews. VFX and optical artist Mark Sawicki (having done work for HBO and films including The Dark Knight) describes the process as, “you have 10 actors and you space them apart not 6 feet, but 10 feet, and you put them in front of a green screen, … and then you do that take. Then they walk away. They switch costumes, put on different hats, rearrange their order, and now they go back to the same place, but they move over 5 feet. Now you shoot take 2” (Deadline). This process is repeated until a line of people is formed. The line is then duplicated and layered behind the original, giving the appearance of a crowd. This technique can be combined with the use of CGI rendered models using software such as Massive. However, it is wise to use real actors near the point of action, as “if you were to examine one of those little CGI puppets up close, they’d look pretty goofy … In order to make it work, you have to have them be very simple, very low poly count, so to speak, so that if you look at them … they wouldn’t look real. So the trick would be to use real people when they’re close to the camera and then throw in the digital actors to continue with them if you need” (Deadline).
Image 3: Example of VFX Being Used to Create Background Crowds. Source: Deadline.
For added protection, the use of greenscreen technology can be used to allow actors to wear facemasks and protective gloves that can be edited out in post-production. This allows individuals to move closer together for intimate scenes that may be difficult to do at a distance. Another method includes using a stand in for other actors, such as a prop or dummy that actors can interact with, which is replaced with a digital copy or replication during the editing process. As proposed, this new strategy, “can be done by just modifying these green-suited people by not only wearing a green suit, but also wearing the same protective gear that a doctor would wear” (Deadline).
Sawicki continues to push the idea of greenscreen use beyond the screen and into promotional material, such as interviews about upcoming projects that can take place in isolated locations. To achieve this he suggests a “concept … that involved isolated green stages sanitized with UV light that could be occupied by one or two sole performers with robot cameras operated remotely” (Deadline). This helps ensure that the actors and cameraperson are completely isolated from one another. Even apart, communications about stage directions and camera movement can be given through Zoom or through post-editing. As stated by Sawicki, “You’ve got a cameraperson sitting at home … where they actually see the composite of the people in the CG set. They move forward. Camera says, ‘Oh, you just moved forward 3 feet, so I’m going to move the virtual camera forward 3 feet.’ It’s almost as if you’re replicating what you would’ve done on set, except separate and in post” (Deadline). If entertainment companies are able to use technology creatively, cast and crew can work safely, pushing out content at a faster rate than the current standstill. Once this is achieved, businesses further down the supply chain will be able to market to audiences again and acquaint them with the new norms of socially distanced theater.
RESOURCES
“AMC Expects to Reopen All International Theaters in Three Weeks.” Reuters. Reuters, August 7, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amc-ent-holdg-theatre/amc-expects-to-reopen-all-international-theaters-in-three-weeks-idUSKCN252370.
Brueggemann, Tom. “All Movie Theaters Have New Safety Guidelines, but They Vary Widely by State.” IndieWire. IndieWire, August 6, 2020. https://www.indiewire.com/2020/08/movie-theaters-safety-guidelines-vary-by-state-1234577599/.
D'Alessandro, Anthony. “Reopening Hollywood: How VFX Can Solve On-Set Social Distancing Dilemmas.” Deadline. Deadline, June 5, 2020. https://deadline.com/2020/06/hollywood-vfx-coronavirus-crowd-shots-social-distancing-mark-sawicki-1202950621/.
“Green Screens and Social Distancing - TV Industry Publishes Guidelines to Resume Filming.” BBC News. BBC, May 18, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52704584.
Kil, Sonia. “Korean Film Industry Struggles to Balance 'New Normal' and Social Distancing.” Variety. Variety, June 25, 2020. https://variety.com/2020/film/asia/korean-film-industry-struggling-new-normal-social-distancing-1234643759/.
McClintock, Pamela. “Fandango Launches Mask and Social Distancing Guide as Movie Theaters Reopen.” The Hollywood Reporter, June 23, 2020. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fandango-launches-mask-social-distancing-guide-as-movie-theaters-reopen-1299874.