The short answer
Before anyone leaves: back up the footage twice and verify it, count the equipment against the list, restore and hand over the location, complete the day's paperwork, and write down what the next person needs to know.
The checklist
- Footage. Every card copied to two drives and verified. Drives travel separately. Cards are not erased yet.
- Sound. Sound files copied with the picture and the sound report.
- Equipment count. Each case ticked against the check-out list. Rentals separated from owned gear.
- Damage and loss. Noted now, with a photo, and reported to production.
- Batteries and media. On charge and labeled for tomorrow.
- Location. Furniture back in place, tape removed, garbage out, a walk-through with the owner or manager.
- Paperwork. Releases signed, production report filled in, time sheets collected, receipts gathered.
- Tomorrow. Call sheet confirmed and sent; wrap time checked against tomorrow's call.
- Notes. Three lines on what went wrong and what to do differently.
Who does it
The first assistant director calls the wrap. Each department head wraps their own gear. The production coordinator or manager checks the list as a whole. On a small crew, one named person holds the checklist; it is never everyone's job.
The three lines that improve a company
After each shoot, write what you would tell yourself the day before: the freight elevator closes at six, the client's product needs matte spray, the lavalier pack fails when cold. Kept with the production, these notes make the tenth shoot easier than the first.
In CrewDesk
The wrap checklist is a task template applied to each shoot day. Gear is counted against the inventory, where each item has its storage location. The day's notes and signed documents are saved on the production, where the editor and the next producer will find them.