The short answer
The day before a shoot, do four things in this order: confirm people and places in writing, prepare and test the equipment, send one final call sheet, and pack the vehicle. Finish early enough that everyone sleeps. Anything still uncertain at six in the evening becomes a named risk with a backup, not a hope.
Morning: confirm people and places
A yes given by phone two weeks ago is not a confirmation. In the morning, write to every person and every place involved and wait for an answer.
- Crew and cast. Each person confirms their call time and how they get there.
- The location. Arrival time, the contact on site, where to park, where to plug in, which doors are open.
- The client. Who attends, when, and who has the authority to approve on set.
- Rentals and transport. Pickup time, what is included, the return time.
- Catering. Number of people, time, dietary restrictions.
Afternoon: prepare and test the equipment
- Lay everything out by department, following the equipment list.
- Charge every battery, including the ones for monitors, audio and lights.
- Format the memory cards after checking that the last project was backed up twice.
- Mount the camera and record ten seconds with sound. Play it back.
- Check the small things that stop a shoot: cables, adapters, tape, spare bulbs, extension cords.
- Close and label each case. Count them. Write the count on the list.
The test recording is the step people skip and the one that finds the dead cable. It takes five minutes.
Late afternoon: send the final call sheet
Send one call sheet, once, as a file and in the body of the message, and ask each person to reply. It carries the date, the call times, the address with parking, the order of the day, phone numbers, the nearest hospital and the weather with sunrise and sunset. If something changes after it is sent, send a new version with the change in the subject line, and remove the old one from the shared folder.
Evening: pack and plan the first hour
- Load the vehicle in reverse order. What comes out first goes in last.
- Prepare a paper kit. Printed call sheets, the shot list, release forms, permits, pens.
- Decide the first shot. An easy one, so the day starts with something in the can.
- Name the backup. For rain, for a late performer, for a location that falls through.
What goes wrong most often
In our experience, three things: parking that was assumed, power that was not checked, and a person who read an older version of the schedule. All three are solved by a written confirmation and a single place where the current documents live.
How this looks in CrewDesk
In CrewDesk, the day-before list is a task template applied to each production, with an owner on every line and a Waiting status for answers that have not come back. The call sheet and the permits sit on the production's documents tab, and the inventory shows where each case is stored. Open the demo to try it, or write to TECHMA for a version adapted to your company.