Parks Perspective: Movie-making in Time of Coronavirus

Jackson Parks
Junior Editor

As crowds and people wear masks, people of Hollywood will be forced to as well. Photo by Thomas Chan from Unsplash.com

As Coronavirus continues to change social norms, it will also take a toll on Hollywood. With limited romance scenes, scarce access to locations, and no crowd scenes, films and TV shows that will premiere in the near future will take a very different look.

After a five-month hiatus, the casts and crew of many TV series as well as movies begin to return to filming. Filming is determined by how restrictions are eased and adjusted in locations, such as Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. Not just the outcome will look different, but the process of creating and the interactions between the cast and crew will too.

In an article about these changing times, The Washington Post wrote, “Instead of crew members freely mingling, they’re being divided into ‘pods’ that limit how production departments such as wardrobe or lighting can associate. Covid-19 officers monitor the health of the cast and crew to determine who is allowed on set. ‘Zones’ dictate where those cast and crew can go.”

The way a movie or series will look will be much different as well. With restrictions varying for each city, state and country, real-world locations will be very limited. Due to social-distancing, crowd scenes will not be filmed anytime soon, and romance scenes will most likely be very scarce as well, only being limited to actors’ off-screen relationships. Even with the countless restrictions and roadblocks, filming is not made impossible.

According to Variety, “KJ Apa and Sofia Carson will star in the pandemic thriller ‘Songbird,’ joining previously announced cast members Demi Moore, Bradley Whitford, Craig Robinson, Jenna Ortega, Paul Walter Hauser and Peter Stormare.” The film is a pandemic thriller, which takes place two years in the future when a second lockdown is reinstated. Filming began on July 8th this year, making it the first feature film to be made during the events of Coronavirus.

The restrictions have also affected the lives of many casts as well. “Riverdale” star Lili Reinhart told Nylon Magazine, “I genuinely feel like a prisoner, going back to work, because I cannot leave Canada. That doesn’t feel good. […] You can’t go home for Thanksgiving, can’t visit your family. No one can come visit you unless they quarantine for two weeks.” With the many rules against interactions with your castmates and the added restrictions against seeing other people, it’s clear that it affects cast and crew, not just viewers.”

Hollywood life and filming changes for everyone who watched TV or movies regularly. Whether it be restrictions against the cast and filming, or against how we watch them, it is expected that Hollywood will not return to its normal format in the near future, as we won’t either.