The sheet below belongs to NIGHT CLERK, a made-up 15-day SAG-AFTRA low budget feature shooting in Los Angeles. Every person, address, and phone number on it is invented (the phone numbers use 555). Day 7 is a good one to study because it isn't a normal 7:00 AM day. It starts late, finishes on a dusk exterior, retires one actor, and starts another.
Each block is printed the way it would look on the page, then annotated. If you want a blank version to fill in, use the call sheet template. If you're a crew member trying to find your own line on someone else's sheet, how to read a film call sheet is the shorter read.
Block 1: the header
NIGHT CLERK DAY 7 OF 15
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
CREW CALL 10:00 AM SUNRISE 6:56 AM
SHOOTING CALL 11:00 AM SUNSET 6:21 PM
LUNCH 4:00 PM WEATHER Sunny, high 81, low 62
EST. WRAP 8:00 PM
Director: Hal Mercer Producer: Dana Kowalczyk
UPM: Jo Ferrante 213-555-0110 1st AD: Luis Ocampo 213-555-0112
2nd AD: Bree Watts 213-555-0113 Office: 213-555-0100
Script: Pink revisions 10/9 Closed set. No visitors without UPM approval.
The 10:00 AM crew call is the first thing a new crew member will question, and it comes from the last scene of the day. Scene 38 is an alley at dusk. Sunset in Los Angeles on October 14, 2026 is 6:21 PM and civil twilight ends at 6:45 PM, so the DP has roughly 25 usable minutes of blue sky. The 1st AD wanted the company fed, moved to the alley, and rehearsed by 5:45 PM. A lunch at 4:00 PM does that, and six hours before 4:00 PM is 10:00 AM. SAG-AFTRA's theatrical rules put the first meal within six hours of call, and California's wage order for the motion picture industry sets the same six-hour limit for crew, so the call and the lunch were chosen together.
There is a second reason the call can't be earlier. Owen Taggart, who plays Ray, was dismissed at 9:40 PM on Day 6. Performers in the studio zone get a 12-hour rest from dismissal to the next call, which puts his earliest call at 9:40 AM. The turnaround calculator does this for a whole cast list at once.
Sunrise and sunset came from the sunrise and sunset planner. Put both on the sheet even on a mostly interior day, since the alley depends on one of them.
The script line matters more than it looks. Pink pages came out five days ago, and anyone holding white or blue pages for Scene 33 has old dialogue.
Block 2: locations, parking, and the hospital
LOC 1 PALMS MOTOR LODGE (front office, Room 9, rear alley)
4410 W. Harlan Ave, Los Angeles
Crew parking: Harlan Middle School lot, 1200 S. Birch St.
Shuttle every 15 min from 9:15 AM. No parking on Harlan Ave.
Base camp: motel rear lot. Honeywagon on Birch side.
NEAREST ER [24-hour emergency department name, address, phone]
Drive time from LOC 1 checked by locations 10/12.
There is one location today, with three sets inside it. Numbering it "LOC 1" anyway means the scene block can say "1" instead of repeating an address, and it keeps the layout the same on days with a move.
The parking line gives a start time for the shuttle. A 10:00 AM call from a lot that's a shuttle ride away means crew should be at the lot by about 9:40. Saying "shuttle every 15 min from 9:15 AM" answers that before anyone asks.
On a real sheet the ER line is a real 24-hour emergency department that someone on the locations team has phoned and driven to. Urgent care clinics close. Write the name, the street address, and the phone number, and note who checked the drive.
Block 3: scenes in shooting order
SC. SET / DESCRIPTION D/N CAST PGS LOC
31 INT. PALMS MOTOR LODGE - FRONT OFFICE D 1, 4 2 2/8 1
Ray checks in a woman with no luggage.
33 INT. PALMS MOTOR LODGE - FRONT OFFICE D 1, 3 1 5/8 1
Delia counts the till and warns Ray.
34 INT. PALMS MOTOR LODGE - ROOM 9 D 1 6/8 1
Ray finds a key taped under the mattress.
35 INT. ROOM 9 - INSERT: the key D 1/8 1
LUNCH 4:00 PM
38 EXT. PALMS MOTOR LODGE - ALLEY DUSK 1, 4 1 3/8 1
Ray follows Nadia to her car.
TOTAL PAGES 6 1/8
The total has to be checked by hand, in eighths. 2 2/8 is 18 eighths, 1 5/8 is 13, 6/8 is 6, 1/8 is 1, and 1 3/8 is 11. That adds to 49 eighths. Divide by 8 and you get 6 with 1 left over, so 6 1/8 pages. Compare that to Day 7 on the one-line schedule. When the two disagree, somebody moved a scene and only updated one document.
Scene 32 is missing on purpose. It's a night exterior scheduled with the Day 11 nights, so it isn't a mistake that 33 follows 31. Scene 35 is an insert with no cast, which is why it can sit right after 34 with the second unit camera or while the main unit resets.
Look at where lunch sits. The 1st AD put it in the scene list as its own row so the whole company sees the day in two halves: four interiors, then the alley.
Block 4: cast
# CHARACTER PERFORMER STATUS PICKUP MU/WD ON SET REMARKS
1 RAY Owen Taggart W Self drive 10:00 AM 10:45 AM 12 hr rest ends 9:40 AM
3 DELIA Marisol Vance WF Self drive 11:15 AM 12:15 PM Last day. Wardrobe #4.
4 NADIA Priya Holloway SW 9:15 AM, 9:45 AM 10:45 AM Wig fitting done 10/8.
home, Van 2 Report to MU trailer.
Status codes are copied from the day out of days for today's column, never from yesterday's sheet. Priya Holloway starts today (SW), so her start paperwork has to be signed before she works, and the 2nd AD should have it in hand at base camp. Marisol Vance finishes today (WF). Wardrobe will photograph her final look for continuity and collect her costume, and the office will want her wrap paperwork.
Every on-set time was worked backward from a 10:45 AM rehearsal for Scene 31. Owen needs 45 minutes in hair, makeup, and wardrobe, so 10:00 AM. Priya's wig takes an hour, so 9:45 AM, and a 30-minute drive from her place puts the van at 9:15 AM. Marisol isn't in the first scene. With Scene 31 expected to take about 90 minutes, she's on set at 12:15 PM, which puts her in makeup at 11:15 AM. Calling her at 10:00 AM with everyone else would buy nothing but idle hours. How to set call times walks through this arithmetic in more detail.
The remark on Owen's line is there for the 2nd 2nd AD, who will be logging times on the Exhibit G. If his makeup call slips earlier than 9:40 AM for any reason, it becomes a forced call.
Block 5: background and stand-ins
QTY DESCRIPTION REPORT ON SET NOTES
2 Motel guests (Sc. 31) 10:30 AM 10:45 AM Travel clothes, muted colors, no logos
1 Stand-in for Ray 10:00 AM 10:15 AM
1 Picture car driver, 1979 Buick 5:00 PM 5:30 PM Sc. 38 only. Report to alley.
Two guests is a small number, and that's the point of writing it down. The extras casting company books from this line, and the wardrobe note saves a rejected outfit at 10:30 AM. The picture car driver has a separate report time and location because nobody should have to find the alley at 5:00 PM by asking around.
Block 6: crew calls
PRODUCTION 1st AD 9:30A · 2nd AD 9:00A · 2nd 2nd AD 9:00A · Key PA 8:45A
CAMERA DP 10:00A · 1st AC 9:30A · 2nd AC 9:30A · DIT 10:00A
G&E Gaffer 10:00A · Key grip 10:00A · Rigging electric (alley) 2:00P
SOUND Mixer 10:00A · Boom 10:00A
ART Prop master 9:30A · Set dresser 9:30A
HMU / WARD Key makeup 9:15A · Hair 9:15A · Costumer 9:15A
LOCATIONS Location manager 8:30A · Asst. location manager 8:45A
TRANSPO Van 2 driver 8:45A
MEDIC 10:00A
Hair, makeup, and wardrobe come in 30 minutes before the first actor sits, since Priya is at 9:45 AM. The rigging electrician arrives at 2:00 PM to light the alley while the main unit shoots interiors, which is how the company can walk out of lunch and be rehearsing by 5:45 PM. Locations is first in because the shuttle and the no-parking signs on Harlan Avenue are theirs.
Watch the rigging electrician's hours. A 2:00 PM call with an 8:00 PM wrap and strike is a short day for them, and it's the cheapest way to pre-light a dusk set.
Block 7: department notes and safety
PROPS Hero key + 2 dupes (Sc. 34, 35). Till cash, prop money only.
ART Room 9 dressed night before; do not re-dress. Photos on shared drive.
CAMERA Sc. 38: 2 cameras, 30 min of usable light. Rehearse with stand-ins 5:30P.
LOCATIONS Motel stays open. Guests use the side entrance 10A to 6P.
SAFETY Safety meeting 10:40 AM. Alley is open to car traffic until the PD
traffic control officer arrives 5:15 PM. Nobody in the alley before then.
CATERING Breakfast at 9:30 AM. Lunch for 38 at 4:00 PM.
These are the lines that prevent phone calls. The motel is still open to guests, so the location note tells every department why people with suitcases are walking through the lobby. The safety note gives a time: nobody is in the alley before traffic control arrives. The breakfast at 9:30 AM is a courtesy on a late call. On a union show, check whether it's structured as a non-deductible meal under your agreement, because that changes when lunch is due.
Block 8: the advance schedule
DAY 8 THU 10/15 CREW CALL 5:00 PM (TENTATIVE)
Sc. 40, 41, 44 EXT./INT. DONUT KING - NIGHT 1, 4, 6 5 2/8
DAY 9 FRI 10/16 CREW CALL 6:00 PM (TENTATIVE)
Sc. 45, 46, 32 EXT. HARLAN AVE / MOTEL LOT - NIGHT 1, 4 4 7/8
Tomorrow is the start of nights. Printing that on Day 7 gives the cast and crew a day to sleep late and shift their clocks. Today's 8:00 PM wrap and tomorrow's 5:00 PM call leave far more than any rest period requires, which is part of why the 1st AD built Day 7 as a late day. The advance is marked tentative because it's two days out. Advance call sheets covers when to send a standalone version.
What this sheet doesn't show
A call sheet is a plan. Everything that actually happens on Day 7 (the real first shot, the real lunch time, whether Scene 38 got its light) goes on the daily production report that night. Cast in and out times go on the Exhibit G, which the 2nd AD compares against the times above. If you see an unfamiliar code on any sheet, call sheet abbreviations lists the common ones.
Making the same sheet in Storiara
In Storiara, the Callsheets page builds a sheet for each shoot day from the schedule, pulling the scheduled scenes along with cast, crew, and location details, and it adds a weather forecast. The nearest hospital is a field you fill in yourself, with address suggestions. You can override details for one day without changing the schedule, then print the sheet, copy that day's link, or email it now or at a scheduled time.