How to Read a Film Call Sheet: A Guide for Cast and Crew

The call sheet is written by the 2nd AD the evening before a shoot day, approved by the 1st AD and the UPM or line producer, and sent to everyone who works that day. It's dense on purpose. The same page has to tell a makeup artist when to open the trailer, a driver when to collect an actor, and a location manager where the trucks can park.

Most people only need a handful of lines on it. The trick is knowing where those lines are and what the abbreviations mean. Below is a sample call sheet for a fictional indie feature, read the way a working crew member reads one: your own information first, then everything that could change it.

The sample: Day 9 of HALF MOON BAY

Here is the top half of the sheet, trimmed to the parts people get wrong most often.

And the work for the day:

Every production lays its sheet out a little differently, and the annotated call sheet example goes through a full two-page sheet box by box. The reading order below works on any of them.

Start with your own call time

The biggest mistake new crew make is reading the crew call in the header and treating it as their own. Crew call (sometimes printed as general crew call) is when the bulk of the crew starts. Plenty of people have a different time, and the one that applies to you is printed next to your name.

On HALF MOON BAY, crew call is 7:00 AM, but:

• The 2nd AC and the camera PA are listed at 6:30 AM to prep the cameras.
• Hair and makeup open at 6:15 AM because Nora (cast #1) has a 6:45 AM makeup call.
• The locations team is listed at 5:30 AM to open the diner and put out signs for Lot B.
• The sound mixer is listed at 7:00 AM like most of the crew.

Your call is when you should be at work and ready to start. It isn't when you leave the house or when you pull into the lot. On a location day with shuttle parking, like this one, add the shuttle time. If you want breakfast and breakfast ends when the crew call starts, arrive early enough to eat.

If your line says "W/N" (will notify), the ADs haven't set your time yet. Expect a text or call from the 2nd AD or 2nd 2nd AD. "O/C" means on call: you're not given a fixed time, but you need to be able to come in quickly.

Crew call and shooting call are different numbers

Shooting call is when the AD team plans to roll on the first shot. On this sheet it's 8:00 AM, an hour after crew call. That hour covers the blocking rehearsal with the director and actors, lighting the first setup, and camera and sound getting ready.

The gap matters more for some jobs than others. If you're in hair and makeup or wardrobe, the actors need to be finished by the time they're called to set, which on this day is 8:00 AM. If you're a grip or electric, the first setup has to be lit before shooting call, so the hour is already spoken for. If shooting call slips, the first team (the actors) often waits in their trailers while the crew catches up, and the ADs will say so on the walkie.

Location, parking, and base camp

Next, read the addresses. Sets, parking, and base camp are often three separate places. On this sheet, the diner is on Front Street, crew parks behind a church on Main Street, and base camp (the trucks, trailers, honeywagon, and catering) is in that same church lot. Parking at the set itself is almost always reserved for the working trucks, and parking there anyway is the fastest way to annoy the locations department and the neighbors.

A company move after lunch means the day has a second set. Look at the map on the back of the sheet or the location notes for the route. If you drive your own car between sets, find out whether the move has its own parking plan. The company moves guide explains why ADs try to keep these to one a day.

Weather, light, and the cover set

The weather line is there for anyone working outside, but everyone should read it. On this sheet, a 20% chance of rain on a day that ends with an exterior means the marina scene is at some risk. If the production has a cover set planned, the notes will say something like "Weather cover: Sc. 30, INT. NORA'S KITCHEN," and departments that support that scene will be asked to have it prepped.

Sunrise and sunset matter for exteriors and for night work. Sunset here is 6:36 PM with a 7:30 PM estimated wrap, so the marina scene has to be done well before 6:36 PM or it won't match the daylight in the rest of the sequence. If you work in camera or electric, that tells you how much the afternoon depends on keeping pace. Productions usually pull these times from a forecast service and a solar table, such as the National Weather Service and the NOAA solar calculator, so check them yourself for a big exterior day.

The nearest hospital line

Every sheet lists the nearest emergency room, ideally one open 24 hours and not an urgent care clinic that closes at 8:00 PM. Read it once, even if you never expect to need it. On a company move day there may be a hospital listed for each set. The set medic, if the show has one, will be listed in the crew section.

What the scene list tells you

The scene list is in shooting order, not script order. Scene 12 shoots last on this day because it's at the marina, after the move. The columns are the same ones on the shooting schedule:

• Sc. is the scene number from the locked script. A letter after it, such as 23A, means a scene added after the script was numbered.
• D/N is day or night in the story, which isn't always when it's shot.
• Script day (D5, D8, D3) is the day in the story. Wardrobe, makeup, and props use it for continuity. Scenes 23 and 24 are both D5, so Nora and Sam wear the same outfits; scene 41 is D8, so Nora changes before it.
• Cast lists character numbers, not names. Cast #1 is Nora; the key is in the cast section.
• Pages is the length of each scene in eighths of a page. 5 5/8 pages is a moderate day for a small indie; the page count guide explains the measurement.

If you work in a department that preps scenes, compare the scene list with your own breakdown. Scene 41 needs a costume change for Nora. If the wardrobe department didn't have that on its list, the call sheet is where it shows up first.

Reading the cast section and status codes

The cast section looks like this:

The status column uses the same codes as the day out of days:

Three times usually appear for each actor. Pickup is when a driver collects them, if production is providing transport. MU/Hair (sometimes "Rpt" for report) is when they sit in the chair. On set is when the ADs want them in costume and ready to rehearse. If you're a performer, the time that applies to you is the earliest one listed on your line.

WF and SWF are worth noticing even if you aren't the actor. Many shows mark someone's last day with a picture wrap announcement, and the second AD will want the actor's wardrobe returned before they leave. The call sheet abbreviations page lists the less common codes and shorthand.

Background, stand-ins, and special requirements

Below the cast there's usually a block for background actors and stand-ins:

8 BG diner patrons. Report 7:30 AM to holding (church hall). Wardrobe: fall casual, no logos, bring 2 changes. 1 stand-in for Nora. Report 7:00 AM to set.

Background actors should read the report location carefully. Holding is often a different building from the set.

Then comes the notes section, organized by department. This is where scene-specific needs appear: fake blood for a fight, a crane or Steadicam, a picture vehicle, an animal and its wrangler, a camera car, press or EPK crew visiting set, a closed set for an intimate scene, or a note that the director wants no phones in the diner. If your department is named in the notes, your prep list for the day just got longer. If the note says something like "SFX rain in Sc. 12," everyone working that scene should expect to get wet.

Crew calls on the back

On a printed call sheet the crew list sits on the second page, grouped by department with a call time for each person. Find your name, confirm the time matches what your department head told you, and check the "meal" and "wrap" lines if the show lists them. If your name is missing, tell the 2nd AD. A missing name can mean you're not on the day, or it can mean someone forgot to add you, and the production report later needs to show that you worked.

The advance schedule

The bottom of the sheet has an advance schedule, usually the next one or two shoot days in the same format as today's scene list. Read it before you leave set. On HALF MOON BAY it reads:

This tells you several things. Tomorrow is a night day with a late call, so crew rest between today's wrap and tomorrow's call won't be a problem. Cast #4, on hold today, works tomorrow. Sam is listed for scenes 51 and 52, even though his status today is WF, which is either a mistake or a sign that his finish date is about to change. Details like that are why the advance schedule is marked "subject to change" and why the ADs send a fresh call sheet each day. For how call times and rest periods are set, see the turnaround rules comparison.

When a revised call sheet arrives

Call sheets change after they go out. An actor gets sick, a location falls through, the forecast gets worse, or the day runs long and the ADs push tomorrow's call. The new version should be clearly marked, usually "REVISED" with a time or a version number at the top.

When you get one:

1. Open the new version and check your own call time first. It's the line most likely to have changed.
2. Check the location and parking, then the scene list.
3. Delete or clearly mark the old copy so you don't open it at 5:00 AM by mistake.
4. If you can't make a new call time, contact the 2nd AD directly. Replying to the whole distribution list with a question wastes everyone's time and can bury the answer.

If you get a text from an AD that contradicts the sheet, the AD's direct message is usually the newer information, but ask for a revised sheet so there's a written record.

Questions to ask if something doesn't add up

A call sheet is built fast, often after a 12-hour day, and errors get through. These are the checks that catch most of them:

• Does your call time leave enough time for your department's prep before crew call or shooting call?
• Do the page counts add up to the total? If the scene list says 5 5/8 and the total says 4 5/8, something was left off.
• Does anyone's status contradict the advance schedule, as Sam's does above?
• Is the date and day of the week correct? A sheet copied from yesterday sometimes keeps yesterday's date.
• Is there a hospital listed for every set on a move day?

Raise problems with the 2nd AD privately, and do it the night before, while there's still time to send a corrected sheet.

Call sheets sent from Storiara

On productions that use Storiara, the call sheet arrives by email, sent either right away or at a time the ADs scheduled, with the same information as a printed sheet including weather and the hospital the production entered. There is also a web link for each shoot date that opens the sheet without logging in. Everyone on the show gets the same link for that day, so don't forward it outside the production.