The Morning Routine of a Stand In

it's late tonight and I messed up my sleeping schedule somehow... I just took some Melatonin, but I'm not sure if that will work... maybe I should take some more and get off of the computer?

The morning routine of a stand in starts with knowing your call time before you go to bed the night before. My call time is 8am tomorrow so i have to be ON SET at 8am. This doesn't mean PARKING at 8 or walking to set at 8.

A good stand in is usually there about 30 minutes early so that they can drop by wardrobe for their color cover (a shirt to match the color clothes that the actor is wearing) and still have time to grab breakfast from catering. Lately, I've been a bad stand in because I've been getting to crew parking around 10 minutes before my call time and rushing by wardrobe to check color cover on my way to set.

Once ON SET in the morning, there are usually two possible scenarios: 1) watch a rehearsal of the actors performing a scene, or 2) jump right onto a mark and look where the actor is supposed to be looking so that the Director of Photography can light you and the camera department can determine what movement the camera will be doing.

In scenario one, actors rehearse a scene and the stand ins or "second team" watch so that they can reproduce the actions and body language of the actors after the rehearsal. Different Directors and Assistant Directors have different routines for rehearsals and lighting setups. Some directors will play with different ideas and go with their instincts and some already have everything mapped out for the day with shot by shot plans.

In scenario two, the actors are not present for a rehearsal for whatever reason and second team is used to light the set for the actors to come in and perform the scene. The history of stand ins is not entirely know to me, but most of the reason for the job existing is a courtesy and aid to the actors so that they don't have to be on set all the time. Stand ins are on set ALL day and are expected to inform an AD or production assistant when they leave set, even just to go to the bathroom.

After a lighting setup, second team relaxes while the actors perform the scene. I like to think of it as two shifts. There is always a shift of people working on set, but when the cast is working, the crew is catching their breathe for the most part. This is due to the need for silence and quiet on set or stage...

WOW, this sounds pretty technical and boring... any questions?