3-D film to give workers ‘A Second Chance’ at safety Published Aug. 3, 2007 By Amanda Creel 78th ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, Ga. -- A professional film crew spent five days using Robins as its back drop for a safety film that is designed to help workers throughout the Department of Defense develop a safer culture both at work and wherever else life takes them. The film, titled "A Second Chance," is designed to give participants another chance by helping them see the consequences of their actions without actually suffering the penalty, said Dave Hodgson, president and CEO of 3-D ETC, the company contracted to produce the film. Monday, many members of Team Robins found themselves captured on film as the film crew made its way to various maintenance hangars on the flightline to film background footage for the movie. Then Tuesday, the crew brought in professional actors and actresses and began filming scenes for the interactive experience. Together the footage from throughout the five-day project will be used to create, "an immersive and interactive experience," Mr. Hodgson said. "We will basically be implanting our actors on machines and tools with dialogue," said Charlie Booth, producer and director for the film. The crew will even be working with local law enforcement authorities today to film a major vehicle accident as part of the film. Mr. Booth said it is important to add the off-base incident to the safety film because the statistics show that one in every six accidents involving DOD employees occurs outside of the work area. The footage at Robins will be combined with footage from other DOD locations to create a safety film experience like nothing else the base population has ever seen said Julie Cordova, a 402nd Maintenance Wing safety specialist. "We don't have anything to even compare to it," Ms. Cordova said. "We teach safety classes all the time but how often do you have the opportunity to show an employee what it's like to get hurt without actually injuring them?" She said another benefit of the film is it will not only show the worker the immediate impact on the injured party, but it also gives them insight into how injuries affect their coworkers, family and friends. By utilizing 3-D technology the film crew said it is able to influence the workers in a different way than traditional films used for safety briefings. "People can go watch traditional safety films and it puts them to sleep," said Daniel Symmes, co-director and cameraman. "3-D activates your brain in a different way." He said by experiencing the film in 3-D people are more apt to pay attention and retain the information presented. Mr. Booth said, "It requires both hemispheres of the brain to operate simultaneously, building a message that sinks deeper." The safety film project is funded by the Department of Defense's Defense Safety Oversight Council in an effort to reduce accidents and improve safety behaviors. The final product will allow members of the Robins community along with members of the Anniston Army Depot, Ala; Pentagon Reservation and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Wash., to see, hear and experience real-life consequences. "It's about as close to having a real accident as you'll ever want to get. We use 3-D stereoscopic video, 3-D binural audio and an immersive 'View-Master-like' headset to view the experience. When you put this technology all together, you end up with a productive training environment that is not only very realistic, but has no distractions," Mr. Hodgson said. The initial round will allow 1,500 from each of the four locations to view the safety video and will provide them with a 3-D DVD and glasses to help them continue to share the safety message with friends, family and coworkers. "'A Second Chance' will open the eyes, minds and hearts of anyone who experiences it. It puts into perspective how precious life is and instills the importance of the roles and responsibilities that DOD civilian employees have in the lives of those defending our country," Mr. Hodgson said. "Anyone who experiences this program will get a renewed sense for how valuable and important they are and will gain insight on what they can do to insure their personal safety." The training seminar will be Nov. 15 and Robins' safety specialists will begin conducting preregistration in September.