1. Unit 4 – Pre-Production Lauren Whyte
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Health and Safety
In order to make a successful production, during the pre-production stages it is vital that
health and safety is considered. Health and safety keeps the members that are involved in
the production as safe as possible. This can be done through a number of stages:
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments must be carried out for any task that the producer, the cast or the crew
carries out that has any identifiable risks. This means that any task that can possess a threat
to the previously mentioned people must be identified and the potential risks must be noted.
During the risk assessment, the steps that can be taken to avoid any harm occurring to the
members of the production must be acknowledged and implemented. By identifying the steps
that need to occur, this will protect people from getting hurt, in the event that something
does go wrong during the production.
For example, during the production of ‘Pursued’, members of my crew and cast are seen
walking across a road. The potential risk here would be a member being hit by a passing car.
In order to avoid this risk as much as possible I ensured that my scene was being shot on a
quiet road, that is not used often during the time of filming. Furthermore, I ensured that my
crew and castmembers were vigilantbefore crossing the road and made sure that it was clear
and safe to do so.
Public Liability Insurance
Public Liability Insurance must be arranged before any media production is shot. This
insurance will then cover the production in the event that something does go wrong that
harms a member of the public or their possessions. By purchasing this insurance, this ensures
that there are no catastrophic repercussions for the production team and their company. If
they were to not have this insurance, this could lead to expensive legal disputes and potential
loss of profit for the company.
Child Actors
Child Actors lead to multiple elements of a production needing further, much deeper
consideration. This is due to the vulnerable nature of the young actor. It is vital that when
casting achild actor, the rest of the people who are working on the production have a Criminal
Records Bureau Clearance. This is to ensure that there are no convicted criminals working
around the child actor, that could potentially possess harm to them or have maleficence
intentions. Furthermore, permission from the local council must also be gained in order to
employ the child actor. Finally, there are many rules involved when working with an actor
who is a child. For example, the child is only allowed to work for a certain amount of time
before they must stop, the shooting must not interfere with the times that they are required
to be at school, and there should be no harmful content that they are exposed to during their
shoot.
