Manu Delpech

A lot of promising developments here, Variety or THR have made comprehensive articles listing all the countries where productions are ongoing or starting up soon. Seems to me that quarantining the cast and crew the way BBC is proposing around the sound stages is the best way to be able to get going with big productions (some big movies are supposed to shoot for example in the UK or start: The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, The Little Mermaid, several Star Wars shows too later) and allowing actors in a scene to interact normally. The whole rewriting scenes (that some shows are doing right now) in order for actors to be able to stand 1.5 meters away from each other (which by the way is not enough, studies have shown that the 6 ft distance is bogus as droplets can travel up to 6-7 meters from shouting, or coughing or whatever) is ridiculous and too constricting creatively. On those big productions shooting for several months, as long as everyone agrees, it's a darn good idea, no strays wandering off set going god knows where ? Temperature checks are not enough though as asymptomatic carriers don't necessarily display a fever, same with some regular carriers. A daily test is a good way to go, with really reliable tests, as some have a margin of error. By the way, Oxford is saying they will know by June, July if their vaccine works, if all goes well, there could be hundreds of millions of doses produced by late 2020, they are building new facilities to boost the production. @Miguel Angel I see movie theaters are set to reopen in early August in Ireland too. I think Nolan can kiss his Tenet July release goodbye.

I find it hysterical that Netflix LITERALLY told the other directors "you're not Chazelle, therefore you don't get to shoot on film". I don't think they've done any work matching the digital with the 16mm. I remember watching the trailer (on YouTube mind you, so horrible compression) but was surprised at first because I thought it was shot on film, but turns out the trailer mostly has footage from other episodes, so mostly digital there. By the way, Netflix is fine with film now it seems since The Irishman, another one of their upcoming Netflix films is shot on film as well. Just shows you how much pull Damien has. Also, HBO does it in a similar way. The Newsroom's pilot (shot by Barry Ackroyd) was beautiful 16mm and they had to shoot the rest on the Alexa, so boring. HBO would allow Marty and Rodrigo Prieto to shoot the Vinyl pilot on 16mm but wanted the other episodes to be digital, which led to them going with the F55.

Only the first two directed by Chazelle are shot on super 16, lol.

They still reacted early and were proactive, I say miraculous because of how quickly they acted and the results speak for themselves. About LOTR, this is a billion dollar show, they can without a doubt afford to quarantine for 14 days people if needed. And all the guidelines flying around include quarantining and the idea of quarantined sets is also being floated (which is a great idea, that is if people are willing to stay in the vicinity in a hotel for months).

What's promising is countries like Australia where there are now very very few new cases, but that doesn't mean you're just loosening up everything and dropping social distancing, etc. New Zealand is miraculous, only 17 deaths, 1,450+ infections, very well contained, I guess production on the Lord Of The Rings series might resume sooner than expected there.

In the meantime, very interesting to see case studies like this soap opera Neighbors going back into production in Australia with strict guidelines, Netflix is in production in Korea and Iceland (where they seem to have a very good handle on the virus), Tyler Perry has given to Deadline his whole set of guidelines that he's currently using as he shoots 22 episode seasons in 2 WEEKS AND A HALF (no typo) at his studio, which includes quarantining his cast and crew before and after shooting on his studio lot (where there are tons of houses), with really a very thorough plan. The UK has their guidelines in place for TV and big film productions, including Warner Bros Leavesden, they hope to get back into production in the summer, everything of course is being monitored by the government, health institutes, etc, and depending on the lockdowns in place. And there's also this Mickey Rourke film that shot during the outbreak in Russia and just finished shooting ? they had strict guidelines, and were allowed to keep shooting, and the director has been given the go ahead to shoot other things. So very interesting, and it seems like it's totally doable, not without some amount of risk of course. What's going to be interesting is anything to do with two characters or more in a shot, as obviously, films, especially big ones can't just have two characters 6 feet away (more is preferable) from each other in every scene or it's just going to be so creatively compromising. Although that's where a lot of creativity and ingenuity and VFX work will do wonders I guess. I'm imagining films like Fantastic Beasts 3 or Killers Of The Flower Moon, especially the latter where there will probably or would have been a LOT of extras, maybe they really can only have a few real extras and with LIDAR, and other tech, fill in the rest of the crowds with CG.

Nothing will happen to Kodak, the end.

Okay, this might be one of the stupidest ideas and I'm not sure how practical it would be BUT what IF films (of a certain budget I imagine or until there's a vaccine) used transparent masks on the actors' faces with a green lining around the edges. Transparent enough so you can clearly see the actors' mouths and expressions and the lighting isn't too affected. And then remove it in post afterwards? Granted, any physical, intimate contact involving touching the face, kissing, etc wouldn't be practical for obvious reasons but you could use those for all scenes involving at least two characters or all scenes involving an actor if you want to be absolutely sure. Seeing how much VFX touchups are done these days, imperceptible things, or sometimes even removing things on faces and whatnot, wouldn't it be possible theoretically? And would it be cost prohibitive to do so?

Interesting indeed that shooting is happening in Denmark, Sweden, Netflix is in production in Iceland and South Korea. About intimate scenes, it'll just have to be done, you can't rewrite every film and have two characters standing that many feet away in every scene. The best way is really to have tests and antibody tests as accurate as possible (keeping in mind that some people seem to have very few antibodies, I guess folks with antibodies will have to give plasma), temperature checks as planned (although some don't necessarily have a temperature). Crowd scenes is an interesting one, it sounds super interesting the idea of using LIDAR to generate more CG crowds, which is often done but I'm real interested in seeing if VFX artists can manage for example to have only a few real extras on set (at the required distance) and then fill in the rest of the crowd with CG doubles. I'm sure many VFX heavy films and even others you wouldn't suspect have such shots combining real extras and CG ones and are invisible. But I wanna see if they can manage to make it look seamless in tighter shots if necessary, or perhaps most productions will keep such crowd shots in wide shots to avoid too much scrutiny. And yes, as I expected, it seems productions shooting entirely on studio lots (like Fantastic Beasts 3 which hasn't started yet) will have a big advantage. Location shooting seems possibly harder to control but if safety measures are followed, yes, there will possibly still be some risk, it should be okay. Not NOW of course but August, September possibly when new cases decrease significantly (it's already happening in many countries, there's often a lag effect) and MORE tests are being done (test, test, test as they say). And Robin, I HIGHLY doubt productions will just let extras or crew people or cast just wander off the set and go get something, I don't see that happening. My guess is they'll keep super close tabs on anyone involved in the production. Also, there's zero need for the films and shows to come to reflect the current world, NO ONE wants to see that, they just don't. We know some are already working on projects using it as fodder but people want to escape.

Very good, beautiful film that didn't get the love it deserves from critics. A fresh take on the Peter Pan mythos, surprisingly dark. I think Brandth-Grovlen's work is excellent, I would have gone a bit more whimsical but the approach is clearly naturalistic and realistic. Great locales too that stand out (and meant the film took its sweet time getting made). This is really the sharpest 16mm I've seen yet, surprisingly little grain, well, in the iTunes 1080p version.

It IS possible (although a lot has to go right) that a vaccine is ready in September, although if it is, it'd take a few months to implement. The idea of reopening slowly and accepting a certain death toll is hard to comprehend though. I get that some people want to get back to work but it's important as many have said NOT to do it too quickly and it ending up being worse than ever. I'm guessing that films and co shooting exclusively on studio lots will be much easier to control, and the antibody tests are rolling in in the US, soon in the UK and are already operational in several countries. This allows to tell who has had the virus. Now the unknown right now is how many are TRULY immune, as we see quite a few cases of folks cleared multiple times and then retesting positive after the two week quarantine. Apparently some folks, which is not uncommon it seems, have less antibodies than others. So that's kind of an additional hurdle. We need to somehow be sure that there can't be reinfection or transmission going after being cleared. But as Deadline says, the studios are consulting with some of the best epidemiologists out there and I'm sure everything will be thought of to make sure everyone on set is as safe as possible. It'll be harder for smaller productions though that won't be able to afford having a medical team on set.

A lot of answers are here: https://deadline.com/2020/04/how-hollywood-reopens-coronavirus-shutdown-production-insurance-actors-crews-1202908471/

In the meantime, folks in Canada can apply, and receive $2,000 two days later. Lord.

Richard embarrassing himself in here. Jesus christ. SELF ISOLATION IS A MUST, it's been said over and over again, it's to save lives, slow the spread and yes, cases are decreasing in countries doing it, even if it might take weeks to take effect. This is as basic as it gets. Anyone not complying with self isolation (unless they're doing something essential or are with members of their household) should be locked up. They're endangering lives. I'd advise people to log onto Twitter and take a look at many of the testimonies from nurses, doctors, civilians to see how bad it is. BUT it will pass, who knows when, the antibody test is coming to the US as well as to the UK and will be a game changer. From what we know, people who have had Covid 19 are immune for the time being. A virologist on Twitter explained the rumored handful of cases in Asia, where the virus supposedly reemerged as trace amounts of it still remaining in the system although not being infectious or sick anymore, and being detected OR faulty tests.

Cases are shown to decrease. NO STATES SHOULD BE REOPENED, this is insanity. Absolute insanity. This is not the **(obscenity removed)** flu, just so we're clear.

Social isolating and lockdown are shown to work in Austria, China, Italy etc as new cases go down. It's the only way it's going to work, that and drugs like remdesivir and co being tested as treatments. AND the famous antibody test touted by Boris Johnson is making its way to the US and the UK which is said to be a gamechanger as it'll tell you who has had the virus, so people can start going back to work. Supposedly people SHOULD be immune to it, there are a handful of cases where the virus was said to have reactivated but can be explained by a false positive or the person simply hadn't completely kicked the virus. Then, there's also recovered patients donating blood for infected folks to fight it.

Did you read anything I said, did you watch the video? Have you been watching what WHO and the CDC have been saying? IT'S NOT FOR YOU. It's for others. It's not fear mongering. Take a look at her calculations, and no, she's not the only one who came up with those. There are not nearly enough ventilators in the US, nor in any country to take on the demand. SOCIAL DISTANCING is to save lives. You might not give a flying f*** but with that attitude of yours, if you do not practice social distancing, you might wound up getting infected and infecting someone who will infect others at risk and you might end up being responsible for who knows how many deaths. You might also have a family, older relatives. Are the dots connecting in your head? We've got far too many idiots (like those clowns in Florida spring breaking, or those other clowns in the UK in pubs) not following the guidelines, not giving a crap. There were one or two such idiots in South Korea who did so, guess what? They're responsible for 80% of the cases in SK.

And I'll make an isolated post for this. SHOW this video to anyone you know, and especially ANYONE who isn't practicing social distancing.

Apparently, it'll be 18 months before a vaccine, but there are several promising leads in multiple countries with treatments working well against COVID-19. Several vaccines are being tested on humans right now, but it takes 18 months for that process apparently. I advise everyone to watch Dr John Campbell's videos on YouTube, informed, clear, concise. Other promising lead is the antibody test Boris Johnson mentioned in the UK which would allow us to know who has had the virus, allowing some people to go back to work. Also, folks don't appear to be infectious after 10 days, SOME take a little longer to get rid of the virus. I think that's why most studios originally set a two week hiatus before going back to work. It might have to be a bit longer than that just to be safe BUT for example, on bigger productions like The Batman, FB3, those sorts of films, you can bet that the studios will have access to test kits and will be testing every single cast and crew member before resuming anything. So I think that with absolute precaution, ie you don't let any outsiders onto your set, some productions will be able to resume shooting in a few weeks, especially the ones shooting on studio lots where it's more contained. Location shooting I guess might be logistically more complicated. It seems clear that billions of people will be infected, and yes, hospitals will (and already are in several countries, Italy for example) be filled to capacity and won't be able to treat everyone. The positive point there is that 80% of all cases should have no symptoms, we see it with Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, other celebrities, who are basically like asymptomatic carriers. The point right now is to flatten that curve and the only way to do that, as has been made clear by Dr Campbell and many health officials, WHO, CDC, etc, is social distancing, physical distancing as well. That way, you don't reach a peak in infections too quickly that hospitals can't deal with it. And as we see with China (whose numbers can be reasonably verified now by health organizations), South Korea, social distancing works and there are practically no more infections in China. The measures are drastic but it needs to be done. A town in Italy with 3300 people tested everyone, and then quarantined the infected bunch, the result: no more infections. Hard to implement on bigger scales but it can be done. It's very likely apparently though that this will last for the rest of the year, and might come in waves but we will defeat it. By the way, Netflix created a 100 million dollar fund to help members of the creative community: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/netflix-coronavirus-relief-fund-100-million-dollars-1203540530/ And I'm sure we'll see more of those kinds of solutions in addition to the packages being planned by Dems and Republicans (as long as some a-holes don't stall, hem hem). On another note, there's the interesting situation of the theatrical window collapsing with several high profile films that were in theaters for a week or two dropping on PVOD, and discussions being had for some of the bigger films coming this year, considering that there'll be a massive scheduling headache to fit those delayed films in the schedule.

Film is important to me and I don't want to ever have to shoot digitally. I have a love for celluloid I'll simply never have for digital, all my favorite films are shot on film (not an accident), it's not just the texture which is incredibly important (and a reason why I overall don't like digital, it's too often flat, clean, soulless), I have an emotional attachment to it. There's some great work being done digitally but there's not one time when I'm watching something shot digitally (even when it's a well done facsimile of film) where I'm not distracted or thinking "I wish this was shot on film". I've said it before and don't want to go into another debate, there's a soul, life and inherent texture to film that is incredibly vital to me, and I won't lie, when something is shot on film, it increases my excitement and it always bums me out whenever some directors cave (or they don't have a choice for that particular project) and give in to digital. I might have to do so some day, I hope not. It also matters when you shoot on film, no one cares that something is shot on the same boring digital camera that everyone uses. I love it when directors make the effort of shooting on film, NOT that directors shooting digitally are lazy, but you know what I mean.

I don't want to be mean but it's all nonsense (Yedlin's theory). As said, Knives Out doesn't look like film, I saw it in the trailer, and for some reason, the grain wasn't at all visible in the movie theater (and I was sitting close to the screen), so it bothers me that Yedlin is continuing with this approach and singing its praises and then Rian Johnson literally said that Yedlin told him that he had MORE trouble making film look like film (can you believe this?) than making digital look like film. Some people are fooled though. (doesn't mean much really) I now see that the 4K Blu Ray has issues with the grain and screencaps show a very electronic looking grain, I asked Yedlin who doesn't know, he hasn't even seen the 4K disc. As Jon says: SHOOT ON FILM if you can. Enough with the cheating, the trickery, why lose all this time trying to make digital look like film if you can do it for real, no cheating and guess what, it'll look like the real thing because it is. Yedlin's "secret sauce" has been used before on San Andreas, Danny Collins and TLJ and you can just see through it. It intercuts well on TLJ but pixel peeping shows how different the grain structure is, the rendering of the faces, etc.

Just saw that in the trades. Apparently you guys only had one week left and it's unsure whether the production will return there. I guess you guys will have to use greenscreen and plates? I guess the "good" thing in the Tom Hanks situation is that the folks who are infected will self quarantine until the virus fades away and should theoretically not be getting infected again (although we're not 100% on whether you can get reinfected or not). Rumbles that The Batman could be interrupted in the UK too. Fantastic Beasts 3 is supposed to begin filming on Monday, I hope it won't be impacted, although they're shooting it all in Leavesden on sets.

I'm glad that Parasite won, historic. Still wanted The Irishman to win, but the only other worthy pick was Parasite and Bong imo.

It's funny, I was shocked by how video looking Dark Waters is, and he made it clear he didn't like the experience ? Adding grain is not enough, you can't just add a layer of fake grain and expect it to look like film, I mean, obviously. There's always a difference (and yes, even when Yedlin does it, still looks like digital), how can you mimic perfectly film grain when it's random, every frame being different, and it's about more than grain. Dark Waters used LiveGrain, which I was stunned to see considering LiveGrain has been used on plenty of shows and films and yet it's barely perceptible.