THE WEIGH STATION is a fictional short film: 18 scenes, 24 4/8 pages, shooting Monday, March 2 to Friday, March 6, 2026, near Kingman, Arizona. What follows is its schedule as the 1st AD sent it out, with notes on why it's built this way. For the steps behind a schedule like this, read what a shooting schedule is and how to build one; this page is the finished document.
The header
THE WEIGH STATION. SHOOTING SCHEDULE. WHITE, 2/20/26. Five shoot days, 3/2/26 to 3/6/26. 18 scenes, 24 4/8 pages.
| ID | Character | Script days in the film |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DEE | D1, N1, D2 |
| 2 | RAY | D1, N1, D2 |
| 3 | MARGO | D1, N1, D2 |
| 4 | THE KID | D1, N1 |
| 5 | SGT. PRUITT | N1 |
The one-line schedule, all five days
| Sc. | Set / synopsis | I/E | D/N | Pgs | Day | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 | MON 3/2. PAYNE'S DINER. CREW CALL 9:00A | |||||
| 6 | PAYNE'S DINER. Dee buys the Kid breakfast | INT | D | 2 4/8 | D1 | 1, 3, 4 |
| 18 | PAYNE'S DINER. Dee comes back alone | INT | D | 1 2/8 | D2 | 1, 3 |
| 7 | PAYNE'S DINER, LOT. The Kid won't get out | EXT | D | 7/8 | D1 | 1, 4 |
| 15 | PAYNE'S DINER. Pruitt questions Margo (after dark) | INT | N | 1 3/8 | N1 | 3, 5 |
| END DAY 1 | 6 | |||||
| DAY 2 | TUE 3/3. OLD ROUTE 66 FRONTAGE RD. CREW CALL 10:00A | |||||
| 2 | DEE'S TRUCK CAB (MOVING). Dee on the radio | INT | D | 1 2/8 | D1 | 1 |
| 8 | DEE'S TRUCK CAB (MOVING). The Kid's story | INT | D | 1 4/8 | D1 | 1, 4 |
| 9 | HIGHWAY SHOULDER. Flat tire at sunset | EXT | DUSK | 1 | D1 | 1, 4 |
| END DAY 2 | 3 6/8 | |||||
| DAY 3 | WED 3/4. I-40 WEIGH STATION. CREW CALL 7:30A | |||||
| 3 | SCALE HOUSE. Ray flags Dee's logbook | INT | D | 2 2/8 | D1 | 1, 2 |
| 5 | SCALE HOUSE. Ray runs the plates | INT | D | 1 5/8 | D1 | 2 |
| 1 | I-40 WEIGH STATION. Dee's rig pulls onto the scale | EXT | D | 6/8 | D1 | 1 |
| 4 | WEIGH STATION LOT. Ray spots the Kid in the cab | EXT | D | 1 1/8 | D1 | 1, 2, 4 |
| END DAY 3 | 5 6/8 | |||||
| DAY 4 | THU 3/5. I-40 WEIGH STATION. CREW CALL 7:00P | |||||
| 12 | SCALE HOUSE. Pruitt arrives | INT | N | 2 | N1 | 1, 2, 5 |
| 13 | SCALE HOUSE, BACK ROOM. The evidence bag | INT | N | 7/8 | N1 | 2, 5 |
| 14 | WEIGH STATION LOT. The Kid runs | EXT | N | 1 6/8 | N1 | 1, 2, 4, 5 |
| 17 | I-40 WEIGH STATION. Ray waves Dee through | EXT | DAWN | 4/8 | D2 | 1, 2 |
| END DAY 4 | 5 1/8 | |||||
| DAY 5 | FRI 3/6. STARDUST MOTEL. CREW CALL 6:00P | |||||
| 10 | STARDUST MOTEL, ROOM 9. The Kid counts the cash | INT | N | 2 1/8 | N1 | 1, 4 |
| 11 | STARDUST MOTEL. The Kid leaves on foot | EXT | N | 5/8 | N1 | 4 |
| 16 | DEE'S TRUCK CAB (PARKED), MOTEL LOT. Dee alone | INT | N | 1 1/8 | N1 | 1 |
| END DAY 5 | 3 7/8 |
Check the week against the script. In eighths the days are 48, 30, 46, 41, and 31. That's 196 eighths, and 196 / 8 = 24 with 4 left over: 24 4/8 pages, which matches the script's total. The page count calculator does this addition if you're checking your own.
Why the days sit where they do
Day 1 at the diner. A single interior location with a small cast gives the crew a controlled first day. Scenes 6 and 18 are on different script days, so Dee changes wardrobe between them. Scene 15 plays at night, and rather than tent the diner's long front windows, the AD put it last. Sunset on March 2 is 6:33P and civil twilight ends at 6:58P, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, so scene 15 starts around 7:00P, and camera wraps at 9:00P.
Day 2 is light on purpose. Scenes 2 and 8 are driving scenes on a tow rig, where every run means turning the rig around on a frontage road, and scene 9 needs dusk. With sunset at 6:34P and civil twilight ending at 6:59P, the whole day is built backward from a 6:30P start on scene 9. That's also why the call is 10:00A: cast released at 9:15P on Day 1 have their 12 hours of rest by 9:15A.
Days 3 and 4 at the weigh station. Day exteriors and interiors first, then the night the following evening. Ray (2) works both days back to back, with no hold days. Day 4's 7:00P call gives the actors dismissed around 7:30P on Day 3 nearly 24 hours before they return.
Day 4 ends at dawn. Scene 17 is a D2 morning scene at the scale. On March 6, civil twilight begins at 6:34A and sunrise is 6:59A, so shooting scene 17 at the end of the night catches real dawn light without a separate early call. It also sets Day 5's call. Cast dismissed at 7:15A Friday can't be called before 7:15P, the crew wraps out by 7:30A and returns ten and a half hours later at 6:00P to light the motel, and cast arrive at 7:15P.
One long-form day: Day 4
The long form prints the breakdown elements under each scene. Here is Day 4 as the department heads received it.
| Sc. | Set | D/N | Pgs | Day | Cast | Elements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | INT. SCALE HOUSE | N | 2 | N1 | 1, 2, 5 | Dee's logbook (hero), citation pad, Ray uniform #2, Pruitt uniform, Dee jacket #2 | Pruitt's first day on camera |
| 13 | INT. SCALE HOUSE - BACK ROOM | N | 7/8 | N1 | 2, 5 | Evidence bag with cash (dupes x3), holding room key | |
| 14 | EXT. WEIGH STATION LOT | N | 1 6/8 | N1 | 1, 2, 4, 5 | Dee's rig (1998 Peterbilt), Pruitt's cruiser, 2 BG truckers, Kid's backpack | Stunt: Kid's run across the lot. Safety meeting before rehearsal. Lot pre-lit by electric from 3:00P |
| 17 | EXT. I-40 WEIGH STATION | DAWN | 4/8 | D2 | 1, 2 | Dee's rig, Ray's coffee thermos | Must roll by 6:35A. Two setups only |
| END OF DAY 4 | 5 1/8 |
The electric pre-rig in scene 14's notes is what makes the night possible: lighting a truck lot after dark from scratch would eat the first two hours of the shoot.
Day 4 call times
| Time | Item |
|---|---|
| 3:00P | Electric pre-rig crew call, weigh station lot |
| 6:35P | Sunset |
| 7:00P | General crew call. Dee (1), Ray (2) to wardrobe and makeup |
| 7:30P | Pruitt (5) to wardrobe and makeup |
| 8:00P | Sc. 12 |
| 10:30P | Sc. 13 |
| 11:30P | The Kid (4) and stunt double to set. Safety meeting |
| 12:00A | Rehearse Sc. 14 |
| 1:00A | Lunch, 30 minutes |
| 1:30A | Sc. 14 |
| 5:30A | Reset for dawn at the scale |
| 6:34A | Civil twilight begins |
| 6:35A to 6:59A | Sc. 17 |
| 7:00A | Camera wrap. Picture wrap on Ray (2) and Pruitt (5) |
| 7:30A | Crew wrap out |
The meal lands at 1:00A, six hours after the 7:00P general call. The electric pre-rig crew started at 3:00P, so their meal falls due much earlier; they eat at 9:00P on a separate meal, which the 2nd AD notes on the call sheet. The call sheet template has the fields for all of this, and how to set call times covers staggering calls by department.
Cast day out of days
| ID | Character | Mon 3/2 | Tue 3/3 | Wed 3/4 | Thu 3/5 | Fri 3/6 | Work | Hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DEE | SW | W | W | W | WF | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | RAY | SW | WF | 2 | 0 | |||
| 3 | MARGO | SWF | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | THE KID | SW | W | W | W | WF | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | SGT. PRUITT | SW | H | H | WF | 2 | 2 |
The one weak spot is Pruitt. His diner scene (15) is on Day 1 and his weigh station scenes are on Day 4, so he starts Monday, sits on hold Tuesday and Wednesday, and finishes Thursday. The alternatives were worse. Moving scene 15 to Day 4 would add 1 3/8 pages and a night company move to the diner on a day that already ends at dawn. Moving the diner to Day 3 would split Ray's days apart instead, and Ray has more scenes. So the producer either pays the holds or checks whether Pruitt's deal allows a drop and pickup. The day out of days is where that decision becomes visible, and the shooting schedule mistakes post covers this problem in more detail.
Using this example
Copy the columns into the shooting schedule template and the one-line schedule template, then replace the scenes with yours. Recalculate every day total in eighths after each change, and run each release time through the turnaround calculator; the rest periods here follow SAG-AFTRA's 12-hour theatrical rule for cast and a 10-hour rest for crew, even though a short like this might be non-union.
If you build THE WEIGH STATION in Storiara instead, the 18 scenes come from the uploaded script with page counts in eighths, you drag them into the five days on the stripboard, and the cast Day Out of Days above is generated from that board, with codes you can override by hand where a deal calls for it.