Getting back behind the lens.
Accurate Creative’s COVID-19 protocols for conducting safe photo and video sessions
Despite COVID-19, Accurate Creative quickly adapted, to continue delivering our services without major interruption. Due to the in-person nature of our professional photography and videography services however, this offering had to come to a halt.
As business returns slowly to a ‘new normal’, we too are safely offering photoshoots and live video recording with strict health and safety guidelines. Creating a safe work environment for clients and staff alike is our first priority. This means ensuring we establish and follow a comprehensive health and safety plan. In our case, we have adopted the professionally accepted health and safety guidelines for photographers and videographers published by the Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators (CAPIC).
CAPIC’s guidelines are extensive and provide a comprehensive safe roadmap. Accurate Creative has drawn on these guidelines to enact health and safety measures our crews are now implementing on set.
To summarize, Provincial Ministries of Labour require us to publish our health and safety plan detailing how we prepared for COVID-19 and how we plan to mitigate the potential spread. In accordance, Accurate Creative’s team will offer safe photography and video services to our clients by:
Complying with specific health regulations in local jurisdictions
Implementing pre-shoot screening measures to ensure no symptomatic staff or clients are present on the set
Clean and sanitize equipment before and after shoots
Practice physical distancing on the set
Provide a work schedule in advance identifying time and location of shooting that minimizes the number of people on the set at any one time
Keep all attendees on set aware of infection mitigation measures in place and their role in creating a safe environment
Safety protocols
No matter the size of the shoot, whether one of our photographers is taking a person’s professional portrait, or we are sending a crew of five to record a production with multiple actors, our safety protocols are the same.
To create a safe environment for all, our team will:
Provide in advance a plan to the client, actors or on-set participants at least 48 hours in advance of the shoot detailing any specific actions needed to be taken to create a safe environment.
Ensure in advance all individuals participating in the production are symptom-free of COVID-19 and have had no known contact in the last 14 days with a positive case
Log and collect contact information of all individuals on set
Create comprehensive back-up plans to replace any crew or actors should they be symptomatic on the production day
Provide tight shooting schedules to minimize the time on set for all involved
Minimize the number of people on set to only those essential to the production
Establish proper hygiene protocols and use of PPE on set
Creative implications
In this new normal, one must also plan and adapt creatively. Safety protocols not only affect how we operate on set, but many other factors as listed below.
Set location: Where possible we want to shoot outside to minimize the chance of airborne transmission. If we can find a large, more voluminous indoor space with good airflow and allows us to practice safe physical distancing, we will.
Framing: If you have always longed for your close-up, you might need to wait a little longer. Or, we will frame your close-up using a telephoto lens from a safe distance. Physical distancing also means creating a safe distance between subject and camera.
Adapting scripts and screenplays: Continuing on the safe distancing theme, as we write or plan videos or photo sessions, we need to adapt stories and shot lists to this new normal as well. That means spacing actors safely in scenes, avoiding the pre-COVID days of handshakes and high-fives, and all scenarios that breaks safety protocols.
Hair and make-up: Yes, you may have always wanted to sit in the make-up chair and get that professional treatment. To keep everyone safe, you will do your own hair and make-up in advance of the shoot and bring your own supplies for touch up if it is a long day of shooting.
Adapting to a new normal in the age of COVID-19 presents challenges for photography and video, but not insurmountable ones. Working together, we can all create a safe environment, while continuing to produce creative, original content.
