This wasn’t what I was planning on writing about this week. Then again, one can’t exactly plan for tragedy.
A young woman, Sarah Jones, 27, was killed on set of “Midnight Rider,” a Greg Allman biopic that’s been shooting in Georgia, after being struck by a freight train.
God dammit.
5 comments:
This is crazy. How could people be so unaware of everything that has to be done? Why did no one think to talk to the railroad that day to make sure they were still clear to film even if they had gotten permits? This makes me really want to never work on films that could possibly have a dangerous aspect to them, which is quite career limiting as audiences nowadays love action films. No one's life is supposed to be in danger when making a film. There needs to be a certain aspect of responsibility. I hope charges are brought up against the people that have failed at their jobs because this is serious stuff. Every little detail should be fleshed out BEFORE getting on the set. It's a movie, there isn't supposed to be crazy stunts for the crew, not even for the actors.
This is so sad. I just finished working on set for a student film last week, and I'll be on another in April. This reminds me of the danger of working with the equipment on a film set of on location. On the last set I worked on, no one paid great attention to details such as blowing fuses or lights over-heating. I didn't pay the lack of attention much mind because, as the article says, "we were just making movies." But this special equipment needs special attention, and I will be sure to be extra aware of of these safely hazards the next time I am on set.
This article brings up many important yet possibly taboo discussions about the structure of entertainment production. First, the idea that someone else should have said something is tricky. In theatre and film there are many many moving parts that all have to fall together at the right time in the right place. This orchestration happens in meetings and in private moments and the idea is that this analysis and discussion will prevent issues from arising too late. But what happens when something falls through the cracks or isn't actually communicated clearly until it has been realized.
With regards to hierarchy and not feeling able to speak-up: fortunately the crew heads and designers here are usually very eager to discuss aspects of their work or take suggestions which is great. I do however believe that in the real world this line of communication is not as open and speaking up may be discouraged. I think theatre artists may be more apt at collaborating and accepting ideas from all levels of positions but I would assume the same may not be as true with film. From our PTM lecture, the idea of "exploiting everyone's talents" but utilizing people who know more than you and listening to what they have to say is an amazing philosophy it may just be harder to organize. Potentially, tearing down the inhibition of people of less authority to contribute could prevent things like this that people that are in the moment and may not have as much to steal their attention could notice beforehand.
The bottom line here is that it's not the worker's responsibility to ensure that the working environment is safe. That's crucially important for us, who will ultimately be managing people of some kind, to remember. We all fudge things and say something is "X enough," good enough, strong enough, safe enough etc. but this serves as a really unnecessarily tragic reminder that we are putting not just ourselves, but other people at risk.
Powerful, tragic reminder that safety protocols exist for a reason. I've read a few other articles about this, and all agree that the producers, or, as they say, "adults", should have known better and ensured the safety of all those present on set. I think that the article highlights a very important factor, the group mentality of "we have to get this shot". I'm not sure why, but it seems like the performance industry, film or theater alike, fosters the mentality that whatever project you're working on is of the utmost importance. It's probably due to the fact that most people joined the industry in the first place because there were passionate about it. This mentality is the reason that safety measures are often overlooked on set or in the theater, and one of the most urgent problems to be solved so that tragic accidents such as this one can be avoided.
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