Production resumed a few weeks ago on “Jurassic World: Dominion” and now Universal Pictures has released a batch of new photos from the film – the first major blockbuster to resume shooting in the COVID-19 era.
The photos come as part of a New York Times story which goes into the new safety protocols for filming which includes a 107-page safety manual each cast and crew member had to go through before returning to set and film.
The production is using almost everything in the toolbox – infrared temperature scanners which the cast and crew undergo upon arrival, COVID-19 tests conducted three times a week, a takeout-only cafeteria providing vacuum-sealed meals, actors having to mic themselves before filming, boom operators wearing masks and shields, sets fogged with an antiviral mist before each use, a special ‘living room’ for cast to retire to, mandatory handwashing and highly controlled living conditions.
Production is divided into two categories – the larger one being departments that don’t need access to the set during filming such as construction and props. The smaller Green Zone category includes the director, the cast and only essential crew like camera operators and the sound department. It has been comparable to what used to be dubbed a ‘closed set’.
The costs associated with the safety protocols for the film total roughly $9 million and include the expense of renting out an entire hotel where staff are tested as frequently as the actors. One general practitioner works with the production full time, along with four nurses in temperature-taking stations at the set’s entrance. There are also a handful of on-set medics.
Actor Chris Pratt was a complication as his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger was about to give birth. Universal scored a quarantine exemption so Pratt shot for three weeks at Pinewood, flew home to be with his wife for their baby’s birth, and will return to England at the beginning of September. Production will then move to Malta for eight days, where Pratt will undergo multiple tests, before returning to Pinewood for seven more weeks.
The safety protocols being put in place are being used as the model for other productions that have since resumed filming including Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in Sydney. Other major features currently in production are Sony’s “Uncharted” in Berlin and Disney’s “Avatar” sequels in New Zealand.
