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Should USC have known about remote set, possible dangers of film shoot that led to Chapman student’s death?

On its opening page, the script for “Finale” — a USC student film production during which the project’s volunteer cinematographer died in ATV rollover accident in Imperial County — sets the action in a remote and unforgiving desert, a fictional location in stark contrast to the university’s real-world campus in the heart of Los Angeles.

“Ext. (Exterior) Desert — Day,” the script opens. “Stephen (30) is walking alone in the desert. He is walking with his bare feet. His feet are thickly chopped and filled with blood clots; so are his lips. His lip looks exactly the same as his feet. He looks so tiny in the desert. The desert looks exactly the same with or without him.”

Shortly after the April 15 death of Peng “Aaron” Wang, a Chapman University student participating in the project, USC film school officials said that shooting a film more than 50 miles away from campus would have required approval, and that approval also would have been needed for use of an ATV. Wang, 29, died after an ATV toppled down a sand dune with four people aboard at the desert scene in Imperial County, roughly 200 miles from campus.

School officials have said they were unaware of requests for such approvals. USC School of Cinematic Arts officials, in fact, have declined to confirm publicly whether they approved any aspect of the “Finale” project.

Documents obtained by Southern California News Group, however, show that the film school did issue a “production number” that is required before shooting and “is the way the School of Cinematic Arts keeps track of classes, students and productions,” according to the film school safety manual.

Prior to granting a “production number” for “Finale,” did any faculty members read the script? Did they ask questions about the shooting location? If so, did the desert setting for the film raise safety issues? USC officials have remained mum, declining to answer those questions, among others, and otherwise failing to respond to inquiries from a reporter.

But interviews with the dean of a Boston film school and a USC film school graduate indicate that it’s common practice for faculty to read scripts before allowing a shoot to go forward.

Rob Sabal, who heads the School of the Arts at Emerson University, said he has worked at four film schools, and they all required students to submit scripts before filming. Nationwide, he said of the practice, “I would expect it would be 100%.”

“It’s important for the developing the student’s idea,” Sabal said. “But they are also looking for things that might be problematic from a production standpoint. Are you trying to do too much in too limited a time? And from a safety perspective … Are you shooting someone in a swimming pool? Do you have a lifeguard?”

Sabal said he knows the deans of the Chapman and USC film schools, and both schools are “very safety conscious,” he said.

Anthony Tringali, who graduated from USC in 2020 with a degree in cinema and media studies and now works in entertainment development, agreed that USC film school faculty are diligent about safety.

As part of his degree studies, Tringali said, students were required to take a production class and submit scripts before shooting. He said he couldn’t remember who reviewed the scripts but did recall consulting with director of physical production Joe Wallenstein, including about shooting off campus. Wallenstein did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

“They made the rules very clear from Day 1. … If there was anything potentially hazardous, we had to make them aware of it,” Tringali said.

But he also noted: “Film students, they want to make their visions come to life. So they do things against the wishes of faculty. You take liberties as a student. It’s within the realm of possibility that it’s not something in the original script.”

Documents indicate approval

One of the documents obtained by SCNG, titled “Student certification” and dated April 5, appears to have been filled out by Ting Su, who is listed on a crew contact sheet as the “Finale” director. The document, on USC School of Cinematic Arts letterhead and bearing the university seal, lists a production number. USC officials have not responded to questions about the process to obtain a production number.

Another document on film school letterhead approved Bingliang Li, the movie’s producer, to rent $20,000 worth of equipment from Castex, a supplier to Hollywood productions. The document, dated April 12, included the name of the movie and was signed by Wallenstein in typewritten letters.

In the 13-page script, Stephen, who the crew sheet says was played by Alex Herrald, wanders through the desert for a couple of days, reflecting on the guilt he feels about his relationship with his father, who previously died in a hospital. Stephen eventually perishes in the desert.

“The desert is the same as the beginning of the film. The end,” the script concludes.

The film was being shot for CTPR-533, a class an online syllabus describes as a second semester of intermediate directing. Students are required to film three short movies for the course to develop their filmmaking style and learn to work with cast and crew.

Wang, a third-year graduate student from China, volunteered to be the cinematographer on the shoot. There is a tight bond among Chinese students at Southern California film schools, said Stephen Galloway, dean of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman.

A timeline of events for April 14-15, which appeared to be contributed to by people involved in the production and was obtained along with other documents, says Wang left his Walnut home about 1 p.m. on April 14. He was accompanied by the first assistant camera operator. They stopped to pick up equipment at two rental places before arriving at a Days Inn in Brawley just after midnight.

Wang went to sleep at about 3 a.m. and arrived on Osborne Park Road at about 9 a.m. The crew finished shooting the first scene just before 1 p.m. after five takes. Wang, producer Biangliang Li, director Ting Su and first assistant director Young Li, then climbed in an off-road vehicle that had been rented in Brawley.

The California Highway Patrol said Bingliang Li was driving when the vehicle slowly slid down the side of a sand dune, rolling over. Wang was not wearing a seat belt, the CHP said, and was ejected. The exact cause of the crash was still under investigation.

The timeline said the crew used walkie-talkies to call for help. Wang was pinned beneath the vehicle for about an hour until rescuers pulled him out at about 2 p.m. and pronounced him dead, the timeline said.

Bill Dill, a professor of cinematography at Chapman, offered suggestions for improving student filmmaking safety in an email to a reporter.

They included shooting only within the Los Angeles Studio Zone, a 30-mile radius used by union film projects to determine per diem rates for crew members; imposing a maximum 10-hour workday (USC’s safety manual allows for a 12-hour day); and discouraging students from working on specific courses at USC. “CTPR 533 is one of them,” Dill wrote. He did not respond to a request for elaboration.

“I don’t think we should be overly smug about the safety on our sets.  What happened to Peng could have happened anywhere,” Dill added.


Source: Orange County Register

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