MARK KESHISHIAN

I just wanted to inform any production companies and clients, of some of the precautionary measures I will personally be taking, in order to provide a safe and secure method of working, whilst in the midst of this devastating pandemic. 

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We have received some clear guidance from our professional governing bodies such as BECTU and AMPS about how to go about some of the more intricate parts of the Location Sound and Camera industries. Below I will summarise some of the key points and actions to be taken:

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SOUND

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• Whilst physically mic'ing up any contributors/actors: All sound personnel will wear face visor, face mask and gloves.

• Where possible, the personal microphones will be offered to the contributor/actor for them to mic themselves up. With minor tweaks being done by the sound team, and kept to an absolute minimum. 

• All personal mics will be used as one mic per contributor/actor, per day. No swapping of transmitter packs between cast or contributors will be done during a full day's shoot. *

• All mics and transmitter packs will be placed in sealed bags after each use, and fully sanitised before being used again. 

• Booming will be vital during these times, as it will offer us the option of remaining 2 meters apart whilst shooting. 

• All handheld, gooseneck or other such microphones, headsets/phones and IFB/IEM receivers will be thoroughly sanitised before being handed out to cast, crew and agency. These will be used by only the person who has been given that unit. Where possible, speakers will be used over personal headsets for any fold back to clients and agency.

• All rushes will be thoroughly sanitised before being delivered to the DIT or production team

• All timecode and digislate modules will be thoroughly sanitised before being passed to the camera team for sync purposes. Remote timecode syncing of the cameras will be done where possible. 

• All sound crew will travel to and from location separately by car where and when possible. *

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• There maybe some additional costs to consider during this period, such as an assistant for the location recordist to manage safe sanitation and boom operations, on jobs that may ordinarily only require a single sound operator.

• We may require additional radio mic packs,  to make certain that we have enough to cover single use per day/per person on the day. 

• We would require that production engage with us prior to the shoot to discuss travel and parking arrangements for the crew on the day.

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CAMERA

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• ​All camera equipment to be thoroughly sanitised before being brought to set.

• Any hired equipment to be selected to come from a sanitised source/hire facility.

• Gloves, masks and where possible face visors to be worn by crew when working closely together. 

• Camera teams to remain in their department during the shoot, so as not to intermingle within 2 meter distance of other departments on set. 

• Only qualified camera crew to handle any camera equipment. 

• Safe measure to be in place for handling and transferring of data/rushes to DIT and production. 

• Camera positions to be organised without an other members of the crew on set, to avoid close proximity.

• Where practical remote focus, remote monitoring and other technologies to be used.

• All HOD's to maintain a safe working distance with each other for the duration of the shoot.

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• We are aware that this may cause additional delays as some procedures will slow down the entire process of the making of programs and films. This must be taken into consideration when planning and preparing for a shooting day, and any additional costs incurred discussed in advance of shooting commencing with the production company. 

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