Call Sheets, Shot Lists, and Location Recces!
- Feb 19, 2018
- 3 min read
We went one step further in our understanding and preparation of pre-production as we were introduced to the very backbone of every production, every shooting day, heck, even every budget - the call sheet!
The call sheet is very much a production schedule that is made specifically for each day, containing important information on whom and what needs to be where at any time.
Since a call sheet, which is usually compiled by the First AD - first Assistant Director - can turn into a massive beast of information and for the sake of efficiency, I will give you just a quick overview in bullet points over what definitely needs to be contained in a call sheet.
The Call Sheet Cheat Sheet (in no particular order):
- name of production
- time and place with address (and parking possibilities)
- maps
- weather and temperature
- times of sunrise and sunset (for outdoor filming)
- cast and crew with contact details (major roles)
- with larger crews: division into production units
- production schedule or time table for cast and crew
- tasks and responsibilities
- meals and breaks
- notes specific to the production or shoot (such as 'closed set' or 'non-smoking')
- health and safety regulations
- various radio channels for each unit/department, and
- the address and contact details of the nearest hospital and police station as well as the nearest exit of emergency!
The production schedule above will often further be divided into:
- scene number
- scene description
- pages of the script
- relevant cast for the scene
- shot size and particularities, and
- specialist equipment or non-standard handling.
To make it more succinct: The call sheet is - as our lecturer called it - the bible of filmmaking. And if you take it too lightly, hell will break loose.
I've already hinted at a in one of my posts from last year, when we briefly went over the production schedule over Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides. To give a good impression of what exactly I am talking about (and in case the list above was not making it clear enough), here is an example:
pirates-prelim-cs-d74
Okay, okay, I am well aware of the fact that it will take juuust a bit of time for me to reach these levels in filmmaking at which I would realistically encounter such call sheets (let alone create them), it is nonetheless a lesson in and of itself to look at such a scale of production and to wrap one's head around all the elements that need to be taken care of even BEFORE a single shot has been taken!
So, due to the nature of it, we spend the majority of today's lesson creating a 'mock call sheet' for our production starting in April - to get into the habit of doing things and doing them correctly. And here is an example of my first attempt in 'call sheeting':
Call Sheet A Good One_Svea Hartle
As you can see, I colour coded the call sheet in tandem with the shot list I created to be able to understand the schedule with only a quick glance:
Shot List Opening Scene A Good One_Svea Hartle 2.1
However, we were getting a feel for the location we are about to place our productions in as we dropped by the sound stage to see how the set was coming along.
thumb_IMG_1113_1024
It was still very much in a rough draft, but you can already see what the atmosphere of this set will be like.
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