Working on films or shooting for commercials and documentary, a call sheet has always been a great part of every production director's job. It's pretty hard to determine who were those people who came and help you out when you need them most. That's why as a production director, you just need to have a call sheet to set proper monitoring. We know your struggles and your everyday endeavors, that's why we encourage you to utilize our beautifully designed and completely customizable Call Sheet Templates which are ready-made for your great convenience. Available in all file formats including Google Docs, MS Word, and Pages, as well as in A4 and US letter sizes. Download today and save yourself from stress in ensuring you have your team at your back!
What Is a Call Sheet?
A call sheet may also be considered as a docket sheet, call ross, or log sheet; this is basically where the agenda of the day to whom the production staff, assistant director, and of course, the production director shares. This is used in production on a daily basis since this also aims to monitor the attendance as well as their roles upon achieving such agendum. In addition, a call sheet also aims to acknowledge the contribution of each production staff, from makeup artists to production head.
How to Create a Call Sheet
Whenever we attend to a call for work, we need to address the agenda, and one way to ensure we do so is to have a call sheet handy. Speaking of agenda, a call sheet is basically a production plan. Here are the steps you can use to create a call sheet.
1. Determine Who Needs to Be There
As a production director, it's very important to identify what scenes you would like to shoot for that particular day and time. Make sure to include the said scene in your simple sheet. Make sure that when you come up with a scene, choose the ones that are most appropriate for the role that they would play in that scene. In addition, you should also make sure you call in your available actors—if possible, set an appointment two weeks prior. Additionally, make sure you have enough staff who will help you out especially when it showcases medieval-themed plays or typically for fantasy.
2. Secure Your Location
Before you plan to set the date of your shoot, make sure you have already set an appointment to use that particular location to use in your photo shoot or videotaping. It's pretty hard if you have your crew with you already but the gates were shut before you came in because you haven't made a prior appointment. In case there is a need for a location contract, it would be best if you make sure to have it handy to make the deal legally closed.
3. Lock In the Date
As mentioned, it's important to set a longer time frame (such as 2 weeks) prior to the planned shooting date. If you don't do so, there will be a tendency that you will keep on postponing your agenda because your crew may have canceled just an hour or a day prior, which is disappointing, right? That's why it's also really important to be strict with dates and to be fair for the crew; set it maybe two or three weeks prior. Don't forget to include the date in your sample sheet.
4. Fill In Contact Information
As soon as you have finished setting the date, ensure you have the complete, specific, and the best contact numbers or your crew. Make sure to fill in your contact details and that of your client or vendor, especially when you are shooting for a commercial. In addition, you should also include the contact details of every person you have dealt with from every location you've utilized for future references.
5. Inform Everyone
Finally, it's time to share the agenda with everyone. Since a log sheet is essential for you and your crew members, everything that's been planned has to be shared to everyone in order to make sure they're on the same page.
