Film Production

How to Prepare a Call Sheet (With Samples)

Published on December 29, 2016

If you are not familiar with the term, or are new to the film production scene, a Call Sheet is a combination of a time table and roster. After the script is finalised, shots are broken by the director (and his crew), its the job of the assistant director/s to prepare a call sheet. Lets Examine What is Called a Call Sheet in the Movie Industry? and, How to prepare it in a Proper way? You Can Get every details from the link given below.

This document (Call-Sheet) has every detail of every scene and character in the script. It basically collates the data of every scene. Which actors and crew members are supposed to show up on a location? When are they supposed to arrive? What props are needed? Everything is documented neatly and orderly in a call sheet. It basically tells people working on a movie the time and place they are supposed to show up. Besides fixing the time for actors and crew it also has the logistical information; anything from the nearest hospital to how the weather is predicted to be on the day of the shoot can find its designated box on a call sheet.

A Recommended Download: PDF Sample Agreement Between a Producer and Screenwriter OR Writer

Note: You can download the template for call sheets from here. (You can download it either in .PDF version or JPEG version.)

Watch Video: Anatomy of a Call Sheet

In order to prepare a call sheet, you need to know your movie in and out; especially the script. Being a blueprint of a film, the script can tell you everything about it. How many actors you need. What locations are there going to be, and most important of all, how much money this pile of paper is going to need to become a movie?

Basic Structure of a Call Sheet:

A basic call sheet begins with the name and roster of the main cast and crew. This contains the main characters of your film and the top brass crew; the director, assistant directors, DOP, camerapersons, executive producers etc. Everyone that needs to be present on the set based on their face and monetary value, are mentioned in this list.
Then comes the B team; the general crew. Grip persons, gaffers, spot, makeup artists, light men, boom operators etc. These are generally the crew members that can be replaced.
After that a compilation of lists tells us about the schedule. It contains the date, time and weather of the location. Any other major instruction or note about the time is mentioned in this section.
Now comes the physical address of the shoot. Besides the set location, this list can contain (but not limited to) the nearest hotel, hospital and even the pizzeria that could feed the whole crew. Bigger productions also have the location of big parking spaces in this section of their call list to accommodate the Vanity vans and cars of important people on set.
Then comes the shooting break down. In this section we have the scene numbers, along with their location, timing and characters. Do not forget to mention the page count for editing later. And make it a habit to sum up to the total page count for a shoot in a day. It gives you an idea how much film have you shot that day.
Now comes the B team of the B team; the background artists or as we call them in the industries — The Extras; the faceless nameless people you see in every movie are mentioned here in this list.
Miscellaneous — This section can cover basically what every other detail. For example if you are using walkie talkies on the set, you can mention the channel frequency here. The name and numbers of the transport and catering service providers along with their scheduler can be added here too.

So if you are looking at all these details and thinking “How am I going to remember all of that to write down?” Dont worry, because there are some softwares out there that can help you prepare a call sheet — Studiobinder and Final Draft can ease your burden.

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