Pandemic Production: Aaron Arizpe, Editor/DP/PA

Aaron Arizpe, Director of Photography/Editor/Production Assistant
Credits include: Harvey, “Your Kind”

You know things are bad when half your crew abruptly leaves the country.

Aaron Arizpe was a production assistant on a commercial in Georgetown, four days into a six-day shoot. He recalled, “The producer came out and said, ‘Can I have everyone's attention? The shoot's been canceled.’ Everybody looked at each other and went, 'well, this is real.'” This was March 12, and the Trump administration had just placed a travel ban on all European countries. No one knew which border would close next, and half of the crew on this shoot were Canadian, so the producers called cut and got them on the first available flight home.

Since then, Arizpe’s been at home, filling the time. While he’s talked to other craftspeople who have been acquiring new skills like 3D modeling or learning new editing, the cinematographer has taken up backyard nature photography (“to keep my eye trained”). He and his roommate/sound engineer, Wes Suhlber, have even made a couple of short films, including a submission for the 48 Hour Film Project’s Global Film Challenge quarantine edition. "No one can leave,” Arizpe said, “so what else are we going to do?"

However, work hasn’t completely dried up, as he’s used his editing skills to piece together some work from existing clients. "My computer is fairly stout,” he said, and he has Google Fiber link, so he’s able to handle large files.

More surprising was when that same Canadian commercial company called him, and asked if he was interested in a PA gig in June. Initially, he was skeptical: “I'm overweight,” he said, “and for people who've been hit, if they have previous medical conditions it's hit it worse." However, there was no location or crew to worry about. They sent him a list of equipment and groceries to pick up, and a location to drop them off. The talent was going to work directly with the company over Zoom, and be their own crew: All he had to do was come back later and pick up the equipment. "I have a mask, and 70% ethanol to wipe everything down,” he said.

So far, the producers seem happy with the results of this format, and Arizpe has now done two such “drop and go” shoots. But he’s still unsure what the future will hold: He’s got an incomplete feature that was scheduled for pickups in March, and now there’s no timeline for those (the scene is set on a boat with over a dozen extras, and Arizpe said that the producers are seriously considering shooting them separately on green screen, and then compositing them digitally, rather than try to create a socially distanced shoot on a yacht). He mused, “It's so strange to think where we're going to be in six months, because three weeks ago you couldn't have told me where we would be now."