Protocol for weapons on film set?

[gafftaper]

I think a school is a public place, at least there is no traditional "expectation of privacy" in a classroom or auditorium... but because we're usually taking about minors there is a whole lot of hand-wringing about student privacy.

There is a privacy law called FERPA that makes video of classroom activities very complicated. First yes you are right that when someone walks out on stage their rights to privacy mostly go away. But if the performance is for a class and graded. Then the video recording could potentially be called a record of their education, which FERPA says you can't do anything with. It gets really complicated as to if you are saving it as a record of their education and then worse identifying who is in that record of education. Theater/Music performances get more complicated than that depending on if the public is invited or not and if you allow the public to record or not. FERPA being a well intentioned government document that really was designed to make sure a teacher doesn't post videos of Johnny screwing up a hilarious speech in history class, doesn't realistically consider performing arts. It's complex and full of what I think of as contradictions. A lawyer could make your life a nightmare with a lawsuit even if you did win in the end. So the easiest solution is to have a release before you as an employee of the school record any school student on stage.

 

[TimMc]

There is a privacy law called FERPA that makes video of classroom activities very complicated. First yes you are right that when someone walks out on stage their rights to privacy mostly go away. But if the performance is for a class and graded. Then the video recording could potentially be called a record of their education, which FERPA says you can't do anything with. It gets really complicated as to if you are saving it as a record of their education and then worse identifying who is in that record of education. Theater/Music performances get more complicated than that depending on if the public is invited or not and if you allow the public to record or not. FERPA being a well intentioned government document that really was designed to make sure a teacher doesn't post videos of Johnny screwing up a hilarious speech in history class, doesn't realistically consider performing arts. It's complex and full of what I think of as contradictions. A lawyer could make your life a nightmare with a lawsuit even if you did win in the end. So the easiest solution is to have a release before you as an employee of the school record any school student on stage.

No disagreement, but I remember my public school education and there was far less ado about knowing a kid was in a classroom or school activity because all your neighbors and everyone in town knew what school was about. Now everyone expects a level of school privacy (not to be conflated with a lack of exploitation) that was unprecedented. JHMO. Good thing I didn't bother completing my education degree...

edit ps: today is different, in many ways, than the time I grew up. Even in the greater Los Angeles area my parents thought nothing (okay, it scared the hell out of them) of my walking to Jr. High or where I was before the street lights came on. But that was before kids and adults shot up schools; before internet predators, and before helicopter parenting. And just when one thinks things are locked down tight enough, more people behave badly anyway.

 

[StradivariusBone]

The FERPA laws did not anticipate the Zoom Pandemic. That was something I DO NOT miss. For us down here, most of the kids sign a release waiver that allows them to be photographed, filmed, etc., but generally requires that they not have identifying info accompanying the pic. E.g. Picture of Johnny can't say "This is a picture of Johnny" at the bottom. All of the fine arts kids and athletes generally sign these as part of their beginning of the year syllabus, etc. But the devil is in the details and the kids that refuse to sign are the ones who have parents who will blow their stack if they see their kids on Facebook.

 

[gafftaper]

The FERPA laws did not anticipate the Zoom Pandemic. That was something I DO NOT miss. For us down here, most of the kids sign a release waiver that allows them to be photographed, filmed, etc., but generally requires that they not have identifying info accompanying the pic. E.g. Picture of Johnny can't say "This is a picture of Johnny" at the bottom. All of the fine arts kids and athletes generally sign these as part of their beginning of the year syllabus, etc. But the devil is in the details and the kids that refuse to sign are the ones who have parents who will blow their stack if they see their kids on Facebook.

Yeah 99% don't care and have posted far more personal information on Facebook. But there is a small but very vocal group of privacy advocate parents. They will make your life a nightmare if you post a picture of Johnny without permission. Get a signed photo release for everything! We are in the process of developing a new release that will address streaming and rebroadcasting of a performance on line, because the standard release from a few years ago didn't. Keeping up with technology is a full time job.

 

[egilson1]

Related to this discussion.

ESTA to develop ANSI standard for Weapons Safety in Entertainment Productions

Below is the text from a letter we are sending out to folks who might be interested in contributing to the project. If you are interested in becoming involved you can fill out the attached form and submit it. There is a $100/yr participation fee required to help defray the cost of producing...

www.controlbooth.com

 

[MPowers]

Related to this discussion.

ESTA to develop ANSI standard for Weapons Safety in Entertainment Productions

Below is the text from a letter we are sending out to folks who might be interested in contributing to the project. If you are interested in becoming involved you can fill out the attached form and submit it. There is a $100/yr participation fee required to help defray the cost of producing...

www.controlbooth.com

Thank you for posting this. I certainly will apply for this commission.

 

[MPowers]

Given this week's tragedy, I have a lot of students who are interested in how weapons are supposed to be properly handled on a film set. I would love to be able to give them a short lesson next week while they are thinking about it.

Has anyone here worked as an armorer? What is the process like of becoming one? Is there any certification or licensing? What is the training like for actors to handle weapons? What sort of procedures and checks are in place on set to ensure safety?

Thanks!

I have worked as an armorer since 1975. Shows from student to AEA to summer stock and more, including one live, very large cast, summer pageant with a nightly firing of 120 rounds of black powder, two three pound cannon shots and five four inch mortar shots. My most recent show closed last night. I have never had an accident or incident on stage, and I intend to maintain that record. My actor training includes a “talk session” that explains and shows the weapons involved and how to operate them. Each person in the cast, whether or not they actually handle the weapon during the show, is allowed to fire a blank round IF they choose. I have a 3 page handout that lists the rules of handling a weapon on a live stage or sound stage. The handout includes a detailed list of the chain of custody from the lock box/safe/etc to the talent that fires the weapon, back to that same safe/lock box etc. A similar list is for the ammo that is fired from the weapon. I also include a demonstration of how to properly check a weapon, load and unload the weapon and who in the chain of custody is to perform those tasks. There is, of course, more, but I’ve already blathered on too long.

I would be very interested in participating in this project. Please let me know how I may be of help. If you wish, you may contact me directly at my email, mptecdir at gee male dot com.

 

[gafftaper]

Alright, I removed a bunch of posts that were drifting farther off topic and into personal insults. We don't do that around here. So I deleted the recent posts that were not focused on the original discussion of protocols for proper use of weapons on a set.

It's great to hear that ESTA is getting involved with this and looking at creating a standard. @egilson1 can you connect @MPowers up with someone on the committee? He would be an awesome contributor.

 

[What Rigger?]

Alright, I removed a bunch of posts that were drifting farther off topic and into personal insults. We don't do that around here. So I deleted the recent posts that were not focused on the original discussion of protocols for proper use of weapons on a set.

It's great to hear that ESTA is getting involved with this and looking at creating a standard. @egilson1 can you connect @MPowers up with someone on the committee? He would be an awesome contributor.

Hey @MPowers, I got my submission in today and got a reply real quick. Takes a quick minute to get it done, no worries. Get in there!

 

[MPowers]

Hey @MPowers, I got my submission in today and got a reply real quick. Takes a quick minute to get it done, no worries. Get in there!

Got it printed an filled out. I’ll mail it tomorrow. Thanks!