Call sheets

Build the shooting day once. Send it to everyone on it, see who has it and who confirmed, and keep their copy current, from a computer or a phone.

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Build the day

The day comes from the production.

A call sheet is a day on a production's Days tab. Most of it is already there when you open it.

  • Scenes come from the stripboard, with their set, day or night and length. Add a one-off row on the day itself.
  • People come from Crew and Talent. Each person's times are labelled: Pickup, Call, HMU, On set. With no call of their own, crew are on the general crew call.
  • Every location is on the sheet, with directions from its street address. Find nearest hospital adds the hospital and the drive time.
  • Sunrise and sunset are for the shoot date and place. The forecast fills in from 15 days out; before that the sheet says when it will.
  • Hide a section and it stays hidden on the preview, the PDF, the crew's copy, the email and the text.
Each day says whether it was sent, whether the crew's copy is current, and what it still needs.
Push from the board

Move scenes on the board. Review it, then apply.

Push to call sheets writes the stripboard onto the days. You read every change first, in words.

  • Days and scenes are matched by who they are, not by where they sit, so a scene moved to another day takes its cast and notes with it. The first push pairs days in order, and says so.
  • A sent day keeps its date unless you tick Change the date.
  • All or nothing. If any day can't be updated, nothing changes.
  • Undo puts back what nobody has changed since. A teammate's later edit stays.
How the schedule works
Every change the crew would see, said in words, before anything moves.
Send

Sent means a message was accepted.

Send the day by email, by text, or both, person by person. Each person gets a private link to their own copy.

  • If nothing went out, it says so, and if the email service never answered, it says that too. The day stays unsent.
  • Each person is counted once, however many ways they were reached.
  • A failure is named. The person, the channel and the reason, with Try again and Copy link.
  • Shared the links yourself? Mark the day as sent so Track and Home count it.
  • Send checks the day first. If it changed after you opened Send, it stops and asks you to look again.
Choose how each person is reached, then see exactly who has the day and who doesn't.
Track

Who confirmed, who opened it, who hasn't.

Track counts come live from the crew's phones as they tap I'm in. Only people the day was sent to are counted.

  • Four groups: Confirmed, Opened but not confirmed, Not opened yet, and Didn't get it.
  • Send again reaches only the people who don't have the day yet.
  • Your own preview never counts. Opening it can't confirm anyone or log a view.
  • With no signal, Track says so. It shows the count as of the last time it heard, never a guess.
Live while there is signal; “as of” the last answer when there isn't.
Update crew copy

Edits reach phones when you say so.

After a day is sent, you can keep editing it. The crew's copy changes only when you, or a manager, press Update crew copy.

  • Each sent day says whether the crew are current, worked out by comparing what you have with what their copy holds. Never assumed.
  • The changes are listed in plain words before you update: a call that moved, a note added, a phone number added.
  • One press brings every sent day of the production up to date. Nobody is emailed or texted; their open link shows the new version.
  • Delete a sent day and its link says the day was removed, and the days after it are renumbered and updated.
What the crew would see change, listed before you update.
The crew's copy

What the crew open: their call first.

A crew member opens their link from the email or text. No app, no account, no PDF to pinch and zoom.

  • Their own call leads, labelled as it is on the sheet, then the date, the weather and the version they have.
  • I'm in confirms. It shows as done only once it has been saved; if it can't be saved, it says so and offers to try again.
  • Tabs for the rest: My Call, Schedule, Crew, Notes, Refs and Shots.
  • Phone numbers call, places open directions, and the nearest hospital is one tap away.
Opened from a text: their call, the confirm, then the rest of the day in tabs.
Shots

The shot list, ticked on set.

When a production has a shot list, the day carries it. You choose who on the crew sees it on their copy.

  • The crew tick shots on their own copy. Their ticks arrive on your day as they happen, with a name and a time.
  • The group being shot is open; the rest are folded, each with what is done of what is planned.
  • Critical groups are marked: “Critical · do not wrap”.
  • A shot added after the day was sent says “Not on the crew's copy yet” until you update.
A tick on the crew's phone, and the same tick on yours.
On your phone

Run the day from the set.

On a phone, Home opens on Today, and a day opens to read first.

  • Today shows a shoot today in large type: the crew call, the weather, who confirmed and the way there, with Open the day and Track.
  • The day reads first: times, every place with its hospital, the schedule, the cast with their times, the crew by department.
  • Quick changes stay quick: the day's four times, one person's times, or a note.
  • Send and Track open full screen, and Update crew copy is one tap. Edit everything is always within reach for the rest.
Today on Home, and the day itself, laid out for a phone.
No signal

The day opens where the signal doesn't reach.

Open it once with signal, and it opens again without.

  • The crew's copy opens with no signal on a phone that opened it before. It says it is the copy the phone got, with its version, and that it may have changed since.
  • It is kept through the end of the day after the shoot. If it changed while they had no signal, it says what changed when they are back.
  • Your productions open with no signal too, as of the last time your phone reached the server.
  • A change you make with no signal is sent when you are back. If someone changed the same thing meanwhile, the saved value stays and you choose.
More about working with no signal
Both sides of a day with no signal: what the crew see, and what you see.
Getting started

Your first call sheet

  1. Add the day. Open the production, go to the Days tab and press Add a day. Set the shoot date and the general crew call.
  2. Bring in the scenes. Push the stripboard to call sheets, or add rows on the day itself. The Schedule is a help, not a requirement.
  3. Add the people. Pick cast and crew from Crew and Talent and set anyone's own times: Pickup, Call, HMU, On set.
  4. Add the places. Pick the day's locations and press Find nearest hospital.
  5. Preview, then Send. Choose email, text or both for each person, or copy their links. Track shows who has it.
  6. Change something later? Edit the day, read the changes, and press Update crew copy.

Worth knowing

A PDF too

Download a call sheet PDF for the wall, the van, or anyone who wants paper.

The hospital

Find nearest hospital adds it with the drive time, and the crew get directions to it.

The weather

Sunrise and sunset for the shoot date and place, and the forecast once it is within 15 days.

Private links

Each person's link opens their copy with no account. A preview link never counts as theirs.

An honest save line

“Saving…”, “Saved 6:05p”, or “Not saved yet” with the reason, at the top of the day.

Who sends

You and your managers send and update. Producers see Track.

Questions

Common questions

Do cast and crew need an account or an app?

No. They open the private link in the email or text. Only the people building the production sign in.

Can I send to just one person?

Yes. In Send, choose only that person. From Track, Send again reaches only the people who don't have the day yet.

I changed the day after sending. Does everyone get a new email?

No. Nothing goes out until you press Update crew copy, and then nobody is emailed or texted: the link they already have shows the new version. If you want to tell people, send again.

How do I know a message really went out?

After Send you see who has the day and how it reached them. Emailed and texted mean the email and text services accepted the message; Track then shows who opened it and who confirmed.

What if a crew member has no signal on set?

If their phone opened the link with signal before, it opens again without, and says which version it is showing. A confirm tapped with no signal is kept on the phone. While the page stays open it sends when the signal returns; if the page is reloaded first, the kept confirm is offered with Send now and goes only when they tap it. It never shows as done until it is saved.

Does everyone see everyone's call time?

The copy shows the day's calls, as a call sheet does. What is personal is the top: each person's own call leads.

Can I hide a section from the crew?

Yes. A hidden section is left off the preview, the PDF, the crew's copy, the email and the text, and Send lists what is hidden.

What happens if I delete a day I already sent?

Cinethread asks first. The crew's link then says the day was removed, and the days after it are renumbered and updated.

Related guides

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