Contents
“We lived in a hotel for a month and a half”: how a television worker was forced to separate from her children in order to shoot reality during a pandemic
Due to the pandemic, most of us have left our offices to continue working remotely. And yet, not only doctors, salesmen and taxi drivers retained the old regime. Healthy Food Near Me talked with the television operator Daria Kiseleva, who had to not only work with a vengeance, but even part with her family for a long time.
Daria Kiseleva
At the beginning of this year, I tried to work in a new field for myself and in a new format: I began to conduct educational courses for children. Due to the aggravated situation, we have already conducted the last few sessions online. I really liked this experience and the fact that you do not need to spend time, effort and finances on the road: you sit at home and prepare for the lesson.
Who knew that after just a couple of weeks my colleagues and I would be accommodated in a hotel near the pavilions so that we could live only by filming our TV project and not be in contact with potential carriers of COVID-19 …
Not a woman’s business?
As you already understood, I work in television. I can’t say that from an early age I dreamed of becoming a part of this magical world: it was just that my family had the prerequisites for the development of a TV dynasty.
My father worked in the bureau of an American television company. As a child, I very often visited his work and, it seems, was aware of all the processes taking place there.
After school, I decided to enter the same place where my brother studied – at the Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting. My choice fell on the department of camera art.
There is such a stereotype that only men can work with the camera. Firstly, in order to build a beautiful frame, it is important for the operator to have some physical and mathematical knowledge – and the exact sciences are supposedly difficult for women. Secondly, many professional cameras are quite heavy, and it is simply unbearable for the fairer sex to carry them in their hands (or, moreover, on the shoulder).
However, technology is moving forward. Every year, more and more compact versions of cameras and additional devices appear on the market to facilitate the filming process. And if during my studies girls-operators could be counted on one hand, today everyone can try themselves in this craft.
In total, I have been working behind the scenes for over 15 years. There are many different projects in my portfolio. I started my journey, filling my hand on the filming of events and small programs. And having become a good specialist, she even worked on live news broadcasts – this is one of the most responsible and exciting formats.
Recently, I have been a member of the film crew of a fairly well-known reality show, the new season of which will be released this fall.
“There was something in the air …”
When the first prerequisites for an epidemic appeared in our country, I was both calm and anxious at the same time. Of course, I liked that the work was transferred to a remote format. I taught online courses, and as soon as I was released, I went out of town to chat with my family. It’s good that I had such an opportunity – as soon as the kindergartens were closed, my parents went to the dacha, taking their grandchildren with them.
At that time, the isolation regime had not yet been declared, but, as they say, something was already in the air. Over time, I just stopped reading the news about the coronavirus. It was very alarming what losses this could result in.
My reality TV colleagues and I thought that because of COVID-19 we would be left without work – how can you shoot a project with a huge number of contestants in such a stressful time? However, the management decided not to move the filming dates – but to do everything to keep our team safe.
New reality
It’s not a secret for anyone that the work of an operator implies an irregular schedule and a long absence from home due to on-site filming. Yet I was not prepared for my activities during a pandemic to change so dramatically.
In order not to get out of the shooting process schedule, the authorities decided … to settle the whole team in a hotel near the pavilions where the show was filmed!
We all lived together – participants in reality, and cameramen, directors, assistants, and producers. Thus, we were shielded from the outside world so that we would not get infected from someone else and jeopardize the work of the entire team.
I am raising sons without a husband, alone. If I didn’t have relatives ready to help with the children, I would probably have to give up such an opportunity to earn money. In such and such a financially unstable time!
In total, I was not at home for a whole month and a half!
Of course, I had the option to take time off on a day off and go outside the hotel. And I even did that a couple of times. At such moments, I went for a walk around Moscow in order to get a little distraction from the work routine. But I still didn’t dare to go to my family. I was very worried about the health of my elderly parents. Who knows, maybe I am asymptomatic and can accidentally infect them?
Face to face
Despite such rigid isolation, my colleagues and I complied with all security measures to the maximum. However, close contact was simply impossible to avoid: we were constantly in tight spaces and had to create a quality product suitable for display at normal times.
Since our reality show will only be released in the fall, we tried to distance ourselves from the coronavirus topic. Of course, at that time we had no idea how long the mask mode would last, and we really hoped that by summer we would finish shooting and go on a long-awaited vacation.
At first we were all incredibly tense. Is it a joke – to leave for an indefinite period of his usual life, and even when it is not clear what is going on around?
In our free minutes, we read the news and vigorously discussed new bans, the number of infected and the economic situation. Of course, this greatly distracted us from “non-quarantine” work – but life in such closed conditions simply required fresh information.
In part, we ourselves began to feel like participants in a reality show who are forbidden to leave the borders of a certain territory.
However, soon we clearly saw how quickly a person gets used to the conditions in which he falls. After a while, my colleagues and I even stopped following the news carefully! We realized that in reality the situation is not as critical as initially predicted. Of course, the pandemic caused many casualties, but the alarmists believed that everything would be much worse.
Count the days
The main test for me during a pandemic was separation from my children. I have never been away from them for such a long period before!
I am very grateful to my sisters who tried to surround my nephews and our parents with maximum care.
Of course, it was very difficult for the children to explain where I am, what is with me and when I will return. But I tried to get in touch with them more often by video and say that every day our meeting is getting closer. Perhaps it calmed me down too.
Now I’m at home – this shooting is over! I asked the management not to touch me for at least a week – I want to devote myself to my sons and relax away from the city, in the fresh air. But very soon I will be back at work – albeit in other, freer projects, where I will not be obliged to leave my family. The most you have to do is wear a mask and try to keep your distance.