# How to Set Call Times for a Film Shoot, Worked Back From Sunrise

Source: https://storiara.com/blog/how-to-set-call-times
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Spencer Kaufman, Storiara

> Start from the time the first shot has to roll, which is often set by light. Subtract rehearsal, lighting and camera setup, and the walk to set to get crew calls. Subtract each actor's hair, makeup, and wardrobe time and their drive to get makeup calls and pickups. Then check every call against yesterday's dismissal plus the rest period, and place lunch within six hours.

Call times are the part of the call sheet people argue with. A crew member sees 5:00 AM and wants to know why not 6:00. An agent sees 4:40 AM next to their client and wants to know why the client is in the chair before the grips. Both questions have the same answer. Every call on the sheet was worked backward from one moment, the time the first shot has to roll, and then checked against what happened yesterday.

Below is the full process on a hard day, a dawn exterior. Every name is invented, but the sunrise times, rest periods, and meal rules come from the sources listed on this page.

## The day: a dawn exterior on a breakwater

HARBOR LIGHTS is a fictional SAG-AFTRA low budget feature. Day 12 is Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Long Beach, California. The first scene is:

```
Sc. 61   EXT. HARBOR BREAKWATER - DAWN   Tess walks out to the light.   Cast 2   1 2/8 pgs
```

The director wants the wide shot in the blue light before sunrise and the close-ups as the sun breaks. For Long Beach on that date, the sunrise and sunset data gives:

| Event | Time |
|---|---|
| Nautical twilight begins | 6:08 AM |
| Civil twilight begins | 6:37 AM |
| Sunrise | 7:01 AM |

The DP picks 6:40 AM for the first take of the wide. That gives about 20 minutes of blue light before sunrise and a few minutes of margin if the first take is ruined. Get these times for your own location and date from the [sunrise and sunset planner](https://storiara.com/tools/sunrise-sunset-planner). Don't use a phone weather app's rounded sunrise for a shot like this, and remember that a hill or a building to the east delays the sun on your set.

## Step 1: back out the crew calls

Work from 6:40 AM toward the start of the day, one block at a time, asking the department that owns each block.

| Block | Duration | Clock time |
|---|---|---|
| First take of the wide | | 6:40 AM |
| Rehearsal with Tess and camera, final lighting tweaks | 30 min | 6:10 AM |
| Camera build, lighting the path, sound, with stand-in | 45 min | 5:25 AM |
| Walk from base camp to the end of the breakwater with carts | 15 min | 5:10 AM |
| Coffee, radios, safety note at base camp | 10 min | 5:00 AM |

General crew call is 5:00 AM. Each duration came from a person: the gaffer said 45 minutes to light the path with battery units, the location manager walked the breakwater with a cart and timed it at 12 minutes, and the 1st AD rounded to 15. When a department says "it depends," ask what it depends on and plan for the slower answer. On a dawn shot there is no way to buy back five minutes after the fact.

Now look at yesterday. On Day 11, camera wrapped at 5:30 PM and the last department out, electric, left at 6:20 PM. A 10-hour crew turnaround (the Local 80 standard) makes the earliest legal call 4:20 AM. 5:00 AM is fine. Use each department's actual out time, never camera wrap, because the rigging and electric crews often leave last.

## Step 2: back out the actor's calls

Tess is played by Elena Brandt. Hair and makeup quote 60 minutes, wardrobe 15.

| Block | Duration | Clock time |
|---|---|---|
| On set for rehearsal | | 6:10 AM |
| Walk from the makeup trailer to the end of the breakwater | 15 min | 5:55 AM |
| Wardrobe | 15 min | 5:40 AM |
| Hair and makeup | 60 min | 4:40 AM |
| Van from the crew hotel | 25 min | 4:15 AM |

So the call sheet line reads: Elena Brandt, TESS, W, pickup 4:15 AM, MU/WD 4:40 AM, on set 6:10 AM. That's 20 minutes before the crew, which is normal for a lead with a long makeup.

## Step 3: check her rest period

This is the check that catches most problems, and it has to happen before the sheet goes out. On Day 11, Elena finished her last scene at 5:45 PM and was out of wardrobe at 6:05 PM. Her dismissal time is 6:05 PM, when she was released from wardrobe, not when camera cut.

SAG-AFTRA gives theatrical performers a 12-hour rest in the studio zone, measured from dismissal to the first call the next day, including makeup and wardrobe calls. 6:05 PM plus 12 hours is 6:05 AM. Her 4:40 AM makeup call is 1 hour 25 minutes inside that rest. That's a forced call.

The union's penalty for a forced call is the daily rate or $900, whichever is less, for a day performer, or one day's pay or $950, whichever is less, for a weekly performer. Elena is on a weekly contract, so it would cost up to $950. The [forced call](https://storiara.com/glossary/forced-call) entry covers the rule itself. The [turnaround calculator](https://storiara.com/tools/turnaround-calculator) will run this check for a whole cast list when release times are staggered.

The 2nd AD and 1st AD have four options:

1. Pay the penalty. Sometimes correct on a one-off, but it needs UPM approval.
2. Push the dawn scene to another day. Only works if another dawn exists in the schedule with Elena free the night before.
3. Replace the first shot with one that doesn't need Elena, like a plate of the empty breakwater, and bring her in later. The director won't accept it for this scene.
4. Change Day 11 so she's dismissed early enough.

They chose option 4. Working backward again: a 4:40 AM call needs a dismissal no later than 4:40 PM on Day 11. They wanted 30 minutes of margin, so her last shot on Day 11 has to be done by about 3:50 PM, leaving 20 minutes to get out of wardrobe by 4:10 PM. The 1st AD moved her two Day 11 scenes to the morning and brought another cast member's scenes to the afternoon. The call sheet for Day 11 went out with a note in her remarks: "Release by 4:10 PM. Dawn call Day 12."

Catching this the night before Day 12 would have been too late to fix cheaply. Check rest when the schedule is built, because a dawn call depends on how the previous afternoon was planned. [Turnaround rules compared](https://storiara.com/blog/turnaround-rules-compared) lists the numbers for other agreements.

## Step 4: place the meals

Now the other end of the morning. SAG-AFTRA's theatrical rules require the first meal within six hours of first call. California's wage order for the motion picture industry sets the same limit for employees: no work period of more than six hours without a meal period of at least 30 minutes.

For the crew, 5:00 AM plus six hours is 11:00 AM. That's early for lunch, so the company plans a non-deductible breakfast. Local 80's description of a qualifying NDB is a hot meal and 30 uninterrupted minutes on the clock after work starts, and lunch is then due six hours after the NDB ends. Breakfast at base camp from 7:30 to 8:00 AM, after the dawn scene, puts crew lunch at 2:00 PM.

For Elena it doesn't work the same way. SAG-AFTRA's non-deductible meal for performers is 15 minutes, given within two hours of the performer's call. Her call is 4:40 AM, so the window closes at 6:40 AM, the exact minute of her first take. She can't take it. Her first meal is due six hours from 4:40 AM, at 10:40 AM.

So the day has two meal clocks. The 1st AD scheduled her 30-minute lunch at 10:30 AM while the company shoots Scene 64, which she isn't in, and then the crew breaks at 1:45 PM. Put both on the call sheet so nobody assumes she's late back from nothing. If the morning runs long, the [meal penalty calculator](https://storiara.com/tools/meal-penalty-calculator) shows what a late lunch costs for cast and crew separately.

## Step 5: project the wrap and check tomorrow

With a 5:00 AM call, the NDB, a 30-minute crew lunch at 1:45 PM, and a planned 12-hour work day, camera wrap lands around 5:30 PM, and electric is out by about 6:15 PM. Day 13 is an interior with a 7:00 AM call. Crew rest runs to 4:15 AM, and Elena, if dismissed by 6:00 PM, is clear at 6:00 AM for a 6:00 AM or later makeup call. Both work.

The schedule should get this check every night for the next two days. A dawn call on Day 12 can push the problem onto Day 13 if Day 12 runs late.

## A short checklist for any day

1. Name the constraint for the first shot: light, location access, an actor's availability, a permit start time.
2. Set the first-shot time with the DP and 1st AD.
3. Back out each block with the department that owns it, including walks.
4. Back out cast calls from their on-set times, using hair, makeup, and wardrobe durations and drive times.
5. Check every call against yesterday's actual dismissal or out time plus the rest period for that person's agreement.
6. Place meals for crew and for cast, and write any split on the sheet.
7. Project wrap and check the next day's calls.
8. Stagger calls so people aren't paid to wait. Actors who work after lunch get a late call.

For a sheet where these numbers are already filled in, see the [annotated call sheet example](https://storiara.com/blog/call-sheet-example-annotated). The [call time](https://storiara.com/glossary/call-time) glossary entry covers the layers of calls on a typical sheet.

## Where Storiara fits

Storiara's schedule sets each shoot day's start and end time, and scenes are placed on the stripboard with times and durations. It flags scenes that would push a day past its maximum length. It doesn't check rest periods or meal timing, so the turnaround and meal steps above still happen outside the app. Call sheets are built per day from that schedule, with cast, crew, and location details and a weather forecast, and you can override times for a single day before sending.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who sets call times on a film set?

The 1st AD decides the shooting order and the time of the first shot. The 2nd AD works out individual calls from that, asking hair and makeup how long each actor takes, camera and electric how long the first setup takes, and transportation how long pickups take. The UPM approves anything that costs money, like a forced call.

### How early should crew call be before the first shot?

There's no fixed number. An interior with a pre-lit set might need 45 minutes to an hour. A dawn exterior at the end of a long walk can need an hour and a half or more. Ask the DP and gaffer how long the first setup takes, then add the walk from base camp.

### What happens if an actor's call time is inside their rest period?

It's a forced call. Under SAG-AFTRA's theatrical terms, a performer is owed a 12-hour rest in the studio zone, and a violation costs the daily rate or $900, whichever is less, for a day performer, or one day's pay or $950, whichever is less, for a weekly performer. Productions usually re-order scenes to avoid it.

### When is lunch due after call time?

Under SAG-AFTRA theatrical rules and California's motion picture wage order, the first meal is due within six hours. A qualifying non-deductible breakfast can move that clock, but cast and crew rules for it differ, so cast and crew lunch times sometimes split.

## Sources

- [Sunrise-Sunset.org API, Long Beach, CA, October 20, 2026](https://api.sunrise-sunset.org/json?lat=33.7701&lng=-118.1937&date=2026-10-20&tzid=America/Los_Angeles)
- [SAG-AFTRA: How do rest periods work for a theatrical production?](https://servicesagaftra.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1001/~/how-do-rest-periods-work-for-a-theatrical-production)
- [SAG-AFTRA: How do theatrical meal periods work?](https://servicesagaftra.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/999)
- [IATSE Local 80 FAQ (turnaround, NDB, meal penalties)](https://www.iatselocal80.org/our-faqs/faq-frequently-asked-questions/)
- [California IWC Order No. 12-2001, Motion Picture Industry](https://www.dir.ca.gov/iwc/IWCArticle12.pdf)