Can movies start shooting in places like Los Angeles in five weeks? Michael Bay seems to think so. Bay and Adam Goodman are teaming to produce Songbird, a pandemic thriller that is said to “take an unusual approach to shooting a movie in Los Angeles during the lockdown.” It also starts to hope shooting in five weeks, which might make it the first post-coronavirus outbreak production in the city. But…how?

Deadline has the scoop on Songbird, a film that wants to start shooting very soon and incorporate our current situation into its narrative. Into the Dark helmer Adam Mason is directing from a script he co-wrote with Simon Boyes. The filmmakers have been “providing remote training” for the cast of Songbird, but beyond that, there are no real details as to how this movie is going to be able to shoot. Especially since guilds have yet to lay out safety protocols. However, Deadline adds that “the filmmakers behind Songbird have screened their plans by the guilds, and they are good to go.”

Songbird is being described as akin to Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, which hints at a found-footage/faux documentary aspect. Here are some vague plot details:

It takes place two years in the future. The pandemic has not gone away. Lockdowns have been rolled back and then reinstated and it becomes even more serious as the virus continues to mutate.

There are reportedly no supernatural elements at play, but “there is governmental conspiracy and paranoia and how it impacts the cast of characters who remain in lockdown.” Is this a great idea overall, or something being done in incredibly poor taste? You decide!

From the sound of things, I’m thinking this might end up being one of those computer screen movies, like Unfriended and Searching, where all of the action takes place via webcams, with people safely at home. But if that’s what’s happening here, why not just say that instead of being so vague about how the production is going to happen? Perhaps they plan on having the cast bring their cameras outside in the process, which would change up the “all action on a screen” angle.

This is all guesswork on my part. For all I know, Songbird is going to surprise us all with something different. If the film really does manage to start shooting in five weeks I imagine we’ll learn more soon.

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