Day One
- Lesson3 of 6
- Time40 min
Read a call sheet
Outcome
Read a UK call sheet and plan your morning from it: when to leave, where to go, what's being shot and where help is.
Mapped to 2 ScreenSkills checklist lines
- ScreenSkills floor runner / set PA skills checklist · Core responsibilities: "Make sure crew call sheets and other paperwork are handed out when needed"
- ScreenSkills floor runner / set PA skills checklist · Skills: "Plan practical needs for transport, catering, and cast and crew"
ScreenSkills checklists are guides, not accreditation. This course is not endorsed by ScreenSkills.
Watch
2 films · about 18 minutes
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More like this: Your first day on set path
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What's on it
- Top: the production, the day number ('Day 3 of 24'), the date, the unit call and any individual call times, sunrise and sunset, and the weather.
- Where: the location address and postcode, unit base, crew parking, and the nearest hospital with A&E.
- What: the scenes in shooting order, with scene number, interior or exterior, day or night, page count in eighths, and the cast in each.
- Who: cast pick-ups, make-up and costume times, and on-set times; then crew calls by department.
- Notes: department requirements, and safety notes such as SFX, stunts, vehicles, animals, water or a closed set. The advance schedule at the bottom shows the next days.
How to use it
- Read it the night before. Plan the journey and add time for parking and the walk from base.
- Your call time is the time you start work, ready, in the right place. Aim to arrive 15 minutes early.
- If you are going to be late, ring or text the AD contact on the sheet as soon as you know. Don't just turn up late.
- Call sheets are confidential. Never post them or photograph them for social media.
- SAMPLE CALL SHEET (fictional, for practice)
- Practice only
- Production
- NIGHT BUS (FIF practice drama)
- Day
- 3 of 5
- Date
- Tuesday 9 June 2026
- Unit call
- 07:00
- Location
- Old Tram Depot, Mill Lane, Hartfield HF2 7TQ (fictional)
- Unit base
- Hartfield Leisure Centre car park, 0.4 miles
- Crew parking
- Unit base only. No parking on Mill Lane
- Nearest A&E
- Hartfield General Hospital, Station Road, HF1 3AA, 2.1 miles
- Sunrise / sunset
- 04:44 / 21:18
- Weather
- Showers, 14°C
- Breakfast
- 06:15 to 06:55 at base
- Lunch
- 13:00 (one hour)
- Sc 14
- INT. BUS, NIGHT. 2 4/8 pages. Cast 1, 2. Note: SFX rain on windows
- Sc 15
- EXT. DEPOT YARD, NIGHT (day for night). 1 2/8 pages. Cast 1. Note: picture vehicle moving: closed set
- Sc 9
- INT. DEPOT OFFICE, DAY. 3/8 page. Cast 2, 3
- Camera dept call
- 06:45 (trainee 06:30)
- AD contact
- 2nd AD: 07700 900123 (fictional)
- Safety
- Hi-vis in the yard. Picture vehicle movements controlled by the 1st AD. Closed set for sc 15 moves
Check
3 questions drawn from 8 · pass mark 80% · safety-critical questions must be right · 3 attempts in 24 hours · new questions each time
Watch the films to open the check.
Do
Plan your morning from a call sheet · 15 minutes
Use the sample call sheet on this page. You are the camera trainee. Your journey to unit base takes 35 minutes.
How it's marked
- Arrives before 06:30 with time for parking and breakfast (leave about 05:30 or earlier)
- Parks at unit base, not on Mill Lane
- Names Hartfield General Hospital
- Names the SFX rain in sc 14 and the closed set with a moving vehicle in sc 15, and keeps clear
- Contacts the 2nd AD on the number given
Met or Not yet, with a comment from a trained reviewer. Until accounts open, open the model answer after you submit and mark your own work against it.
Model answer (open after you submit)
Leave by about 05:30: 35 minutes' drive, time to park and get breakfast before 06:15 to 06:55, and be ready for 06:30. Park at Hartfield Leisure Centre car park (unit base), 0.4 miles from the depot; never on Mill Lane. A&E: Hartfield General Hospital, Station Road, 2.1 miles. Safety: sc 14 has SFX rain (wet floors, cables: watch your step, don't touch SFX kit); sc 15 has a moving picture vehicle on a closed set (hi-vis, stay clear until the 1st AD says it's clear). If delayed: ring or text the 2nd AD on the number on the sheet as soon as I know.
Reflect
Record
This is everything kept about this lesson. In the pilot it's held by Futures in Film CIC in your account; Screen Sisters CIC sees named records only if you agree. Your data
Moving on doesn't complete a lesson. A lesson is complete when the films are watched, the check is passed and the task is marked Met.