Film Set Order Of Operations

So you know that the director calls action before a take, but did you know there’s a bunch of other things that are called out before that? You did? Oh… well you can skip to the next video but for everyone else let’s go over the order of operations on set when you’re going for a take.

Let’s talk about why an order of operations is important. First off, it helps ensure that everyone is on the same page, ready to go, and in the sound and camera department’s case rolling. It also helps to make sure it’s clearly and often loudly communicated to all cast and crew members on set that you're about to shoot a take. This way any crew members that might not be on set shooting, know to stop all work and generally well, just shut up during the take.

Now you might do a camera rehearsal beforehand and you’ll want to make sure all departments are ready to shoot, but when they are here’s the process. First, the assistant director (or AD for short) calls out “quit on set” followed by either “going for picture” or “picture’s up.” This lets the cast and crew know that they are about to roll on a take and they should again, shut up. Next, the AD will say “roll sound.” This is the que for the sound recordist to start “speeding” or rolling on sound. Basically they just hit that flashing red record button and confirm they are rolling by replying with “sound speeds.”

Now the next step is to roll the camera but before we get to that you might be wondering why roll on sound first? Well that’s because there’s nothing worse than capturing some perfectly good video without usable sound, so by rolling on sound first you’re ensuring audio for all of the video you’re about to shoot.

Ok, next the AD will say “roll camera.” This, similarly to the previous call, is the que for the camera department to start “speeding” or rolling. So again basically they just hit that big red record button. All camera operators then confirm they are rolling by replying with “camera speeds” or “speeding.” Fun tip, rolling or speeding actually harkens back to the old school days... when film cameras and audio tape recorders would actually roll.

Next comes slating. Here the second camera assistant or anyone you’ve given slating duties too, slates the shot and claps the slate to help sync sound and video in post. And finally the director yells action. And once the take is done, the director yells cut and the sound recordist and camera operators hit that big red button again to stop rolling.

Now on small indie shoots where you might not have an AD, the director or producer might fill in here. So now you know how to do proper order of operations before shooting your take.

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