In order to shift liability for accidents onto the crew, we are required to undergo safety training.
The bulk of the classes were some time ago, and now it’s just the occasional add-on whenever someone gets hurt, or someone important thinks they might get hurt.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for education and safety training, I really am. An educated workforce is the best insurance against accidents.
This particular class was about process trailer safety. And that’s an important class, especially for people who haven’t had any experience with process trailers.
That funny-looking thing you see in the link is a process trailer. Because it’s asking a bit much of actors to remember their lines and drive at the same time (no snark here, it’s difficult), one puts the car on a trailer and tows it around while the actors mimic driving and say the lines.
It’s also very useful if your car is a stick shift and your actor doesn’t know how to drive one – or if you want a dolly shot of the car while it’s moving, or if you want…
Hell, there’s a million reasons to use a process trailer and very few to let an actor drive.
It was taught by a former AD, so it was a very interesting perspective on the whole thing, and despite the warnings I’d heard that the class was boring and useless I found it very interesting.
The only bad part is the driving all the way across town.
I’m not kidding. The training facility is on the other side of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, and I have to traverse the worst traffic corridor in North America to get there.
So I went to the 12:30 to 3:30 class in the hopes of missing the worst of the traffic.
I combined errands and went to the bank, dropped off the recycling, swam in the 50 meter pool in the valley, and then hit the class.
I’d intended to go to Ikea after, but Obama is coming so I went straight home in the hopes of missing that clusterfuck.
Still no work, but I’m hearing it’s going to be really busy, soon.
Until then, I will continue with cleaning the apartment and weeding the garden – two tasks that get neglected when I get busy.
Filed under: life in LA, long long drives, Los Angeles, Non-Work, California, Commute, film, production, safety, shotmaker, television, training
Totally Unauthorized 
My class was taught by an ex-UPM who admitted that he’d been on a camera car only once in his entire career — and suspected the Director had insisted he be there just to piss him off. He was a nice guy who did a decent job, but was something of a fish out of water — he taught the lessons like someone who’d learned them from a book, without having the benefit of much real-world experience.
Having done a lot of camera car/process trailer work early in my career, I didn’t learn a whole lot from this class — maybe half an hour’s worth — but it wasn’t a waste of time. People need to learn the protocols and how to work safely before they ever get on or around a camera car.
Kins of off-topic, but speaking of garden….are you going to Tomatomania next weekend? You should. HUNDREDS of different tomato seedling varieties. I get mine there every year. AMAZING. http://tomatomania.com
I didn’t get there, but there will be more of them. Tomatoes in my garden don’t do well before about May. Too much shade :(