Call Sheets, Shot Lists, and Location Recces!
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:
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':
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:
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.
It was still very much in a rough draft, but you can already see what the atmosphere of this set will be like.