Risk assessment - Miss Georgiou

Here is a copy of my risk assessment which I completed prior to the filming of my production:

Creating a risk assessment prior to the filming of my production was essential as without having done so there would be no legal document to prove that I had consider the various different risks which may occur throughout the production of my music video and put steps in place so to ensure that my production would be as safe as it possibly could. This is important as when you are employing people to work with/for you not only is it ethically right to ensure their safety but it is also a legal requirement.

Not only did planning out the risk assessment enable me to make sure that the entire production crew as well as actors or extras were aware of how to prevent issues but it also ensured that I provided clear instructions as to what to do if these issues are still not prevented with this added effort. For instance if I was to simply state on my risk assessment that breaking a camera would be a risk to the production and then told everyone involved in the production how to prevent this from happening which may well be helpful as it provides those involved with rules to follow so to avoid such damage unfortunately accidents do happen. The team being aware of a risk and having been provided with tips to avoid it isn't enough, if something is to go wrong then there would be no set guide or structure for the team to follow hence completely ruining the production as without a camera there would be no or limited footage and without footage there would be no music video. Hence it is important to also provide a section to information the group what to do if there are issues with avoiding the mistake.

Providing this extra column also helped me to prepare for the production as it provoked me to think about aspects of the production which I hadn't considered before. As I had only really been focusing on the actual production itself focusing my efforts on what went into it that I hadn't considered the things which would be needed on set away from the actual filming itself but would still be essential for instance plasters had I not prepared properly for my solutions to risks and someone had fallen and hurt themselves I wouldn't have had any plasters, bandages or any sort of health kit on set. Nor had I even thought about some of the littlest things such as making sure that I had enough bottles of water on set for everyone on the set to make sure that they are hydrated. Also this sounds like the simplest thing I hadn't thought about it simply because it doesn't appear to have an out right effect on my music video. However if crew members find that they are feeling dehydrated this is likely to effect theirs moods as they are likely to become tired and irritable as well as drained from headaches etc. hence it is important to ensure that my crew are feeling fit and well for production. After all if the crew, actors and extras are feeling unwell and demotivated then they are going to be living up to the best that they can be which shall have knocking effects on the music video as it won't be up to standard.

Although some of the elements planned out within the table may appear to be fairly straight forward and basic things which anyone who doesn't necessarily have to have any background knowledge of production would be aware of. However it is still important to address these issues as if myself and my other team members were to write these issues of as fairly small and not being areas of production which we needed to address we may miss out on vital planning which could become helpful to us when filming if these things do occur. As I said before accidents are accidents and cannot be helped it isn't enough for the cast and crew on set to know not to do certain things and behave in certain ways in unfortunately people can't always help certain things such as tripping over wires etc. Henceforth it is important to continue to plan for these problems so that there is a ready made structure for the cast and crew to follow so to help them overcome these issues if they are to arise. For instance we could rule out the idea of people falling over but if we were to do this and not plan for this instant as all simply as we have told people to be careful and not to fall if someone was to still trip then the production team may not know how to respond. There would likely be confusion as there wouldn't be one set way to go about it which would result in conflict as production members argue over what they feel is the right idea and therefore want to be the method adopted via the team. With this planning I can also make sure that the correction equipment is on set so to help my team resolve this issues such as plasters and bandages as well as first aid kits.

Again although this scenario is unlikely it is still possible and therefore should be planned for so to prevent any kind of unnecessary complications forming further down the line into our production. Although with the electrical issues I have both planned and informed team members that people need to be on set guarding wires ensuring that no one spills any water or any other liquids on them. However also this action can be put into place if there is to be a leak for instance on the ceiling which beings to drip onto the wires either in one big gush or little and often which team members may not notice until it is too late as they are being keep so busy with all of their other jobs as well as likely finding themselves distracted via all of the people around them and the actual production itself. Can course issues hence it is important that I have planned to have back ups on set so that if the worst really does happen my team are prepared and the production won't be set back or facing further complications from having good shots which we want to use however not having enough filming to make sense of them and being unable to create the same vibes and atmosphere as was formed on the original day of shooting.

Unfortunately when I arrived to film the party scene I discovered that many of our extras, cast and crew members had already been drinking quite heavily and were fairly intoxicated. Although originally I had planned to arrive to the scene early I had to take another group member who later after planning and setting a date for filming learned that she had family obligations that night which meant that she would have to arrive to filming later on. As we weren't on set when people decided to begin drinking alcoholic substances which we only allowed on set as it was agreed that they would only be opened once the filming was finished we couldn't control what people did. Obtaining two of the higher up positions in the production being two out of three creators of the music video meant that other members of our production team found that they didn't have the same kind of authority as us or felt that it wasn't their job to control the on goings of other people on set. As people were already intoxicated when we arrived this increased the chances of something going wrong by a higher percentage meaning that we had to be extra careful. So we had to keep eyes as firmly on the production members as we were on the actual camera screen in the cases of my group members and my acting in the case of myself as I am portraying the artist. This in itself meant that the quality of our production would lessen disregarding the fact that when people are in this state they are less able to perform well and realistically nor are they as motivated. Hence we had no other choice but to cut the filming for this scene shot as it was becoming dangerous and wasn't coming together as we had hoped.

Although the weather isn't a risk which may be prevented it is an issue which may be planned around. It is best to keep an eye on weather reports so to prevent us from discovering on the day that we won't be able to film due to bad weather conditions. Or even arriving on set filming for a while and then rain begins to pour ruining the effect of the narrative for our music video. As well as being frustrating as it would be hard to get my hair and make up created so to mirror how it was before allowing us to be able to use any good footage capture prior to the rain. Listening to weather reports can indicate which days would be better to film on saving us much time and effort as it prevents us for facing this difficulties/issues. Also as it is hard for us to get everyone together along with all of the equipment needed it would make sense to then film a different scene of which the weather isn't as important for. Because of this I informed my team that if on the day of the 'walk of shame' scene we discover that the weather isn't cooperative then we shall find the 'bedroom scene' instead which means that we are able to keep  on top of our filming schedule which is important as we want to fit all of our filming into the time period we have allowed ourselves so to ensure that by the time it comes to editing we are prepared with different ranges of useable shoots and that we have a good amount of time to spend on these stages as they are most important. Without good and professional appearing editing it may appear that we are making a mockery of our music video or simply that it has gone wrong which provides negative connotations upon the artist. Henceforth turning the audience away from her.

One risk we did encounter when filming was the risk of the weather. Despite both myself and another group member having frequently checked weather reports for the chosen day of filming it still rained which was a weather condition which didn't suit to our music video as it didn't apply benefits to either the narrative or the portrayal of the artist. However luckily despite our frequent pre planning ahead checks I still put places in place just in case the weather wasn't on our side. Meaning that we would be able to get another scene done so that we wasn't wasting valuable time when everyone was free, ready and prepared to film which unfortunately is fairly rare time. Having not filming for this part of the schedule also would have put us back later on in the stages of our production as it would have meant that  we would have to catch up with this filming time later on otherwise we wouldn't have good enough amounts of footage etc.

Another risk we encounter was what resulted in the ruining of our originally planned for 'party scene'. Whereby production members where too drunk for filming hence this meant we wouldn't be able to film as group members were not only not in the right frame of mind for filming but they were also at a risk to themselves.  Meaning that we had to close the production as what was being produced wasn't  effective enough and too many risks were at risk of being breached for us to morally continue with our filming. From filling out my risk assessment I have learnt how seriously the planning stages before creating a music video need to be. For instance I planned for simple things such as people tripping over as this could be viewed as a fault of my production team as people may find themselves tripping over wires etc. which would be a fault of them team had they not put procautions in place to prevent this from happening.

Risk assessments are essential key items to filming a production as issues are likely to rise throughout however if they are planned for although they may not be prevented in all cases they may be worked around and simmered down.