Pre-Production Preparation

 

Pre-Production Preparation

During the week I have spent time finalising all the pre-production paperwork e.g., call sheet, schedule, risk assessment, script breakdown, artist contracts and contributor consent forms. I also liaised with talent to helped organise travel, plans for the day and food requirements.

I made sure the talent knew what train station they should travel to and roughly what time the train should arrive to fit into the schedule. I also asked about dietary requirements/what type of lunch they would like e.g., cold lunch (e.g., sandwich platters) or hot lunch (e.g., homemade cottage pie). From this I organised a cold lunch of sandwich platters with vegetarian options for talent due to requirements. It was also important I found out about any intolerances so I could cater for everyone and allergies for the risk assessment.

I carried out a location recce to help with the risk assessment as I understood the space available. This also allowed me to know there was a first aid kit on site, where the fire escapes were and access to heating, access to power, water, toilets, and suitable food storage. Doing a recce made sure I knew how much space was available and I could plan where to put lights. As the space was quite tight, I made sure to minimise trailing cables as much as possible and ensure any trailing cables were taped down to avoid creating trip hazards. I also knew what furniture would be on set and could account for any heavy lifting of chairs etc within the risk assessment.

When making the schedule I took into consideration how long travel would take talent, the length of shots and allocated time in case the shoot over ran. I also looked at train departure times ensuring the shoot finished at a reasonable time, to drop the talent back at the station in time for the train home.

Once the schedule was finished, I could make the call sheets. I made a call sheet for crew and a call sheet for cast. This is because I knew what time crew were needed on set to begin setting up and what time cast would be arriving at the train station ready for collection. I made sure to detail the date, individually call times, location of the shoot, nearest hospital, lunch time, scene, and description, and set requirements. Sharing all this info meant everyone was on the same page and knew when they were expected on set.

After solidifying the schedule with a set date and location I shared the artist contracts and contributor consent form so it was clear what was expected from myself, as the director and producer, and what was expected of the actor/actress. These included the reimbursement of travel expenses.  

I also completed a script breakdown, this detailed the cast needed, wardrobe, hair and makeup, and sound effects/music. This was to create a clear communication of what was needed on set for this scene.

Links

Midnight Mass Adaptation - Schedule.docx

Emily Cheesman - Midnight Mass Risk Assessment.docx

CALL SHEET - Midnight Mass Cast.docx

CALL SHEET - Midnight Mass Crew.docx

Artist Contracts - Michael Flanagan.PDF

Contributor Consent Form - Roxanne Cavanagh .PDF

Artist Contract - Roxanne Cavanagh.png