The pandemic has hit the arts, culture, and entertainment industry not just locally but on a worldwide scale, probably as one of the most affected industries and sectors of the society. Live events were canceled, shows on the television went their way to keep their programs running, cinemas have been closed, and theater productions could not see the spotlight turned on from the up above the stage.
With lockdowns starting to be lifted on places where cases of COVID-19 are going down, people working behind shows, especially the televised ones, are gradually adjusting to the 'new normal' processes of resuming their on-site shoots to continue the airing of their programs.
Shows are Slowly Resuming On-Site Shoots
Different television series were reported that they have started resuming their shoots that were delayed due to the lockdown that happened in the past few months. Netflix hit Money Heist (La Casa De Papel) was rumored that they are now shooting the Spanish turned worldwide phenomenon's fifth season.
The same as the streaming platform's flagship title and juggernaut Stranger Things, whose cast are mostly teenagers, already resumed filming their fourth season, targeting next year's month of July as their usual release month for the past four years.
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ABC Network's The Good Doctor, however, which stars Freddie Highmore, already returned to the television scene with its latest season offering. Shooting and the production of their fourth season was originally scheduled to begin on August 4, 2020, but was postponed and moved to a later date on September 2, 2020, and is expected to end on May 28 of the next year.
The 'New Normal' of Live Events
All of these shows as seen by the continuing rise of COVID-19 cases, especially in the US. Production teams, including the artists and actors, are usually staying on a 'bubble' setup - the term the National Basketball Association used to refer to the camp-like setup they did during the resumption of their last season, wherein all the players, coaches, team staff, production staff, and all involved on all the processes to resume their season are all staying in one big place, with no one allowed to get out of it unless their team would be eliminated.
All necessities, including food, water, toiletries, and the frequent COVID-19 testing of all the people inside the people, are provided only inside the bubble. All external involvement was prevented as much as possible to cope-up with the social distancing protocols of the country's health department.
Aside from the 'bubble' setup, production teams could use the system that Amazon series Goliath's production staff are using today. Termed the "Safe Set," it was created by former production manager Greg Guzzetta who dedicated his time during the past decade to come up with a solution for public safety technology purposely made for live musical events.
This includes technology that caters to the advanced and high state of the art services such as remote-operated robotic cameras and trackers that keep social distancing inside the sets.
Although on-site shoots and bubble setups are already being done, some adapted to the virtual setup of productions that were highly seen on social media sites and streaming platforms during the early days of the lockdown.
Stargate Studios has come up with virtual sets for the actors so that when the industry could go back to a more normal setup, it could limit the size of people needed for on-site shoots and could help maintain the practice of social distancing most of the time.
