Lights, Camera Action!

 

    Hi! I haven't shared any writing in a while. Here's an article that I wrote for Newspaper Club at school:

Lights, Camera, Action!

Buy some popcorn and have a seat in the huge theater in front of the screen! Everyone knows how it’s like to buy some tickets and watch a good movie in the theater with your family. But that changed in 2020. No more do we go out and watch movies in the theater. Instead, we lounge on the couch eating homemade popcorn, watching a movie on your own TV in your own house.

COVID-19 has delayed many movies coming, and caused an impact on movies in the middle of making. Some directors had to get creative to find ways to finish their movie this year while being aware of social distancing and wearing masks. The new SpongeBob movie Sponge on the Run had an especially unique way of filming. Although the staff was fortunate enough to be able to work remotely, the process wasn’t easy.

First of all, the Sponge on the Run crew had to find a way to record the music. This was tough since generally musicians and performers all come together to form a beautiful piece of music. But that was obviously not going to work this year, so they would have to work it out remotely. Their plan was to send each musician separately into a studio. One by one, the musicians made their way (with a mask on, of course) into the recording studio closest to their home and played just their part of the score. Eventually, every musician and performer had their part of the song recorded, and sound engineers put it all together, creating one song.

According to Variety.com, every day before movie crews start working, they check the cast and staff’s temperature to be safe. If the number of cases increased, it “could soon halt filming in places like London and Georgia,” Variety.com said. While they filmed a new Jurassic Park movie, a lot of it was made remotely, and they used a lot of special effects.  

Filming virtually is easier said than done. Before the pandemic, sets were made, cameras were shooting, and actors were acting. Now, the process is a lot more sophisticated. The actors can’t get together to act scenes, make-up artists can’t get together to fix up someone’s face, and camera men can’t get together to film. A lot of movie crews all over the world all found ways to film during the pandemic, and many crews have decided to take a break from filming, and take advantage of quarantine and are staying home. 

So, when you think about it, for us, nothing has changed much. We still watch movies at home, and it doesn’t feel like there’s been a difference. But for movie crews and staff, a lot of the process has changed. They had to adapt, and do most of the whole process in a different way, but of course, they don’t give up, They work their best to make a movie worth watching.