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A crew member holds up a clapperboard in the rain beside market stalls on a location shoot.

Step-up toolkit · 4 of 5

Hard days, and keeping going.

Every show has a bad day. Calm HoDs get rebooked. Here's how to handle one, and how to stay well over a long run.

Checked . SourcesPart 4 of the step-up toolkit.

Watch first

4

They play here. Each one is also a lesson in the free step-up path.

On the day

When it goes wrong

  • Kit fails: tell the 1st AD how long, and what you can shoot meanwhile
  • You're running over: tell the 1st AD early, with options
  • Someone's hurt: stop, medic, accident book. Then the schedule
  • A row with another HoD: take it off the floor and sort it at the next break

Words

What to say to production

Bad news, early, with a plan. "We've lost the remote head. Spare's an hour away. We can shoot the singles hand-held now."

A crew rehearses on a lit stage set while camera and lighting kit waits on carts in the foreground.
A long day on a lit set, kit waiting on carts.

Your team

Look after your crew

  • Watch hours and turnaround. Tired crew make mistakes
  • Notice who's gone quiet
  • Know the Film and TV Charity's 24-hour line: 0800 054 0000
  • Say thank you at wrap. It costs nothing

You

Look after yourself

Resilience isn't toughing it out. It's sleep, food, a day off, and people to talk to.

  • Plan the gap after the job, money and rest
  • Keep in touch with people outside the industry
  • Use the Film and TV Charity's support. It's free and confidential
  • Bectu can help with contract and pay problems

Sources

Where this comes from

Checked 13 November 2026.

The rest of the toolkit

Step up on our unit.

Take the next grade on a FIF unit, with a HoD who knows the arrangement. Free.

Apply as working crewStart the step-up path

A studio floor between set-ups: a camera on a dolly, crew at the monitors and lights in the background.

Last reviewed 13 November 2026