StudioBinder auto-imports your contacts onto the call sheet

Film call sheet example 2. Production title & crew call Every call sheet needs to have the title of the production and general crew call time prominently placed near the top. If you have a special announcement to highlight, this is a great place for it.

Your general crew call should be large and in charge

feature film call sheet Template 4. Set sddress, parking & hospitals Locations are often stated near the top half of a call sheet. If there’s more than one location, label each with a number (i.e. “Location 1,” “Location 2,” “Location 3” etc.). Also include the address for parking since it is usually different than where you’ll be shooting. If there are any notes about parking, driving directions, or shuttles, this is where you would include it. Regardless of production scale, always include the location of the nearest hospital to each location. The only time you’ll need be looking this up on the callsheet is when you have a serious emergency on set, so it’s important. Double check to make sure your call sheet lists a full hospital with an 24 hour emergency center (not just a local clinic).

StudioBinder automatically lists the nearest hospital based on location

film call sheet 5. Daily shooting schedule The next major chunk of a call sheet is dedicated to what you’re actually shooting for that day. At the bottom, sum up all the pages to get a total page count for the day. A typical, dialogue-driven indie film shoots about 5 pages per day. WHAT GOES ONTO A DAILY SHOOTING SCHEDULE Scene Number

Scene Heading from Script

Notes regarding the scene (i.e. key props, stunts, prep, etc.)

Day or Night scene

Performing talent in the scene (Character ID)

Location in the storyline

Page count for the scene

Daily Shooting Schedule

PRO TIP: ﻿﻿MEALS AND COMPANY MOVES Don’t forget to include what time lunch will be served! According to union rules, a full meal must be served no more than six hours from the general crew call. If you have any company moves, add them as well (include time, address, and parking notes). StudioBinder colors schedule notes and company moves yellow and blue respectively.

Free Film call sheet template 6. Talent list Below the schedule for the day, you can find there will be a section that indicates talent call times for the day. This area typically has the talent’s name, character ID number (i.e. 1, 2, 3, etc.), character name, status, and call times.

Talent List

WHAT DOES STATUS MEAN ON A CALL SHEET? The status column indicates the length of the talent’s job on a multi-day project. The column is populated with a combination of the letters S, W, H, F, which stands for Start, Work, Hold, Finish. “SW” stands for “Starts Work,” and means it is the talent’s first day on the job.

“W” stands for “Works,” and it means your talent is in the midst of their job.

“WF” stands for “Work Finish,” and it means it is your talent’s last day on the job.

“SWF” stands for “Start-Work-Finish,” and it means your talent will work for just that one day.

“H” stands for “Hold,” and it means that your talent is not being used that day. WHAT DOES PICKUP AND ON SET MEAN ON A CALL SHEET? Pickup indicates what time talent will be picked up for transport to set. This is most often used when talent is shooting away from home, and will be shuttled from their hotel lodging. On local projects, talent may drive themselves to set. In this case, you can leave the pickup column blank or enter O/T which stands for “Own Transport.” The “On Set” call time column indicates what time the talent must be finished with makeup / wardrobe, and report to set for performance.

anatomy of a call sheet 7. Background & stand-ins The extras list features a headcount of all the extra ‘types’ that will be coming in that day along with their call times. So for example, if you’re shooting a scene that takes place in a Cafe, you could have 17 extras playing cafe patrons, 3 baristas, 4 servers, etc. You then add up all of the extras to get a total head count. This informs the production unit, make-up, wardrobe, catering, assistant director (etc) of the number of extras that will need to be maintained that day.

Extras and Stand-ins

A stand-in or stunt person, is someone that that stands in for major talent when their face is not featured on-camera, or when they’re not performing their own stunts. Similar to extras, they usually have one or two call times. However, a stand-in or stunt person’s name should be stated along with the name of the talent or character they are standing in for.

call sheet sections 8. Department notes In most call sheets, you’ll need an area to highlight specific notes for departments. These notes can be anything; key props in the scene, wardrobe, a note regarding a complicated lighting setup, or a reminder to bring something to set (i.e. paperwork). You get the idea.

Set up an organized communication system for gathering notes

call sheet essentials 9. Crew list After talent, you can add a list of all the crew members in attendance that day. Usually all you need is their position, name and call time. Some productions like to include contact details as well.

In StudioBinder, you can easily set custom call times for each crew member

critical components of call sheets 10. Advanced schedule An advanced schedule is essentially a preliminary shooting schedule for the next day. This is not always necessary (as changes are made daily to the shooting schedule), but it’s helpful in many cases to provide the talent and crew an idea of what’s coming up on the next day of the shoot so they can prep. The advanced schedule looks exactly like the schedule featured above (see point #5), but to avoid confusion, it is labeled “Advanced Schedule” with the corresponding date and appropriate day-of-days.

StudioBinder breaks your script into 1/8 pa﻿﻿﻿ges, the industry standard for shooting

components of call sheets 11. Walkie talkie channels You can add walkie channels in the footer or general notes of a call sheet. Although there are industry standards for which channels to use for certain departments, sometimes channels may vary by production so it’s best practice to have them listed out on the callsheet.

Walkie Talkie Channels

building a call sheet Make a call sheet in 60 seconds If you’re looking to create a call sheet, you can create it either do it in Excel or use free production management software like StudioBinder. Call sheets can now be turned around much quicker online. Weather, map links, and hospitals can be filled in automatically. Recipients receive personalized text messages to avoid information overload and confusion. They can be viewed nicely on smartphones for talent and crew on-the-go. Using call sheet software provides full visibility to when (or if) call sheets are viewed. StudioBinder is Free to Get Started →

Call sheet status updates