Film Shooting Schedules: Best Practices for Scheduling Your Shoot

There is a quote from Bob Carter that is very helpful for Content Creators: “Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.” This quote should be the foundation of best practices for scheduling your shoots. 

There's a lot to do for even the smallest shoot and putting together your schedule for a shoot can be daunting. Here are some tips to help develop best practices for scheduling your shoots: 

1. Location scouting: Visit the places you want to shoot at the time you’re looking to shoot. This is important as you want to know exactly what the environment is like before committing to having your shoot there. This is also a great time to find out who are the correct people to speak to to get permission to shoot there and if any permits are required.
2. Free organizational tools: From email communication, to calendar organization, documents, and file storage. A one stop powerhouse is Google Workspace, which offers popular products Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive among others. This provides effective communication and organization tools for you and your team to collaborate with.
3. Free film tools: Film specific free tools like StudioBinder can be very valuable for your production process. They offer powerful film specific organizational tools and resources for shot lists, storyboarding, script breakdowns, and call sheets. All tools that help with film scheduling and communication with crew and talent.
4. Checklists: Create a checklist for everything you need for the day of your shoot. Pack everything you need the day before and use your list to confirm all is ready.
5. Patience: Patience is a key skill to develop. Patience with locations, transportation, equipment, crew, and talent are important, but remember you also need to practice patience with yourself. Pace yourself and create alternate plans in case your main plan falls through. You can never be too prepared. 
6. Always be learning: Use every shoot as a learning tool. Take account of what worked and what didn’t work during your big day. This practice will help you with future shoots and will also increase your confidence and success. 

These tips will help you with scheduling your shoot and making it a success. For more information, tips, and tricks visit www.mnn.org/learn for free workshops, professional courses, filmmaking bootcamps, and more resources to make your productions successful.