Breaks while shooting short scenes

L

Lynos

Well-known member
Hi all

i would love to have your take on this: I shoot a couple of exterior scenes in a remote area, meaning there are no restaurants or coffee shops near by. Also, the scenes are to be shot on a very tight time frame of between 3-5 hours, mainly because of light.
How do you handle food breaks (or coffee breaks. It's somewhat cold) in short shoots? I mean, in 8 or 12 hour days it's a given that there is to be a meal, but in this case I'm not sure what to do. I don't have time to take everyone to lunch.
I personally don't have a car but I can send someone to bring... something. It'll take time, though. And even if I send someone, it's someone with a job on the set. I thought about just buying some donuts and bring bottles of water. How do you guys would've fed your crew in such conditions?

Thanks.
 
If you're doing less than 6 hours you don't need to supply a full meal, though you could if you're so inclined.

What I would do is, if I planned to supply a meal, have the food ready and on location when everyone shows up, but not as part of your day schedule. E.G. if you want to start working at 6PM, crew call is 6PM, but let everyone know that meal call is 5PM. Once 6PM hits, everyone puts the food down and gets to work.

Alternatively, you could save a meal for AFTER the shoot, rewarding everyone for thier hard work and dedication by getting them a lunch/dinner. Remember, it's still part of the shoot, so you're paying.

Either way, definitely have snacks for throughout the shoot. Enough to be "comfort food" if they get bored or stressed, not enough to make them sluggish or need to sit down to eat.
 
Yeah, I think I'll go the snacks route for now. A lot of sugar to pump things up. I can't really bring a cooler or set a table, though.
 
Lynos said:
Yeah, I think I'll go the snacks route for now. A lot of sugar to pump things up. I can't really bring a cooler or set a table, though.
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Really? Aren't you bringing a whole load of other bulky items? A cooler and a small folding table shouldn't break the camel's back...

I don't mean to be going after you personally, just offering my input here, but as an actor, I find food choices like that pretty thoughtless. In my experience, there's all too often been way too much starch and carbs in set food. I can't count the number of times it's been pasta/pizza, chips and soft drinks. Like maybe 80% of the time. As though we're all 14 year olds at summer camp. : (

Actors generally care a lot about their diet, especially since it affects their all-important looks : ) High sugar, high carb/starchy foods are not going to be well appreciated as a result. A few days of chowing on pasta and coke could get you some pretty unhappy campers.

On set in general, I'd recommend having an ample supply of healthy stuff - fresh fruits, raw carrots, broccoli, and other munchable veggies, perhaps a big salad bowl, baked or broiled (definitely NOT fried) chicken, some tuna salad and bread, bottled water, fruit drinks, and so on.

For your limited time frame shoot the formula would still work. Instead of cookies, chips, doughnuts and other dubious items, try raw veggies, water and fruit drinks, low-calorie crackers and so on. You won't need much of these to make people happy, and they'll appreciate you for not going the junk-food route.

If the crew prefers the sugary stuff then throw in some of that too. An actor or two might have a cookie here and there as well.

Main thing is, don't let the *only* choice be the less healthy ones.

My $.02
 
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The thing you're suggesting just aren't practical for this production. It's a short film which I produce basically by myself. I'm shooting in a green area in the middle of the city without a permit and want to attract as less attention as possible. I don't have the manpower for setting up generators and tables. it's basically guerilla filmmaking, only with some beefed up equipment. I DO care about me crew or else I wouldn't have asked advice in this matter. I try to do the best I can within my technical and budgetry limitations.

If it was an interior shoot in a comfortable location everyone would've been well taken care off.

Thanks for your reply :-)
 
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