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In the film & TV industry shooting days are generally 12 hours, and it’s very common for days to go much longer. I’m sure there is a rich accounting somewhere of why this has come to be the standard, so I won’t go into that here.
What I will do is explain how it’s possible and better to design a 10 hour shooting day. And I speak from experience...
I’ve been in the industry for over 25 years and have done projects from the lowest of low-budget to multi-million dollar features. Sometimes as producer, most times as assistant director.
No matter the project, the process and assumptions are the same. For the vast bulk of the shows we schedule a 12-hour shooting day, and everyone knows we will go longer when we need to.
Budgets (& # of shoot days scheduled) are made with 12-hour days in mind, most have expected overtime built in. Schedules are designed to deal with the fact that some days might go long. And this ultimately creates a culture (honestly) of taking advantage of the system and crew.
A 12-hour shooting day means there is very little time for anything else, not family, not friends, not relaxation, or even enough sleep. Many crew members must work before call & after wrap, so a 12-hour day really means a 14-hour day.
On a long show like a TV season the ill effects creep in over the days and weeks and burnout is common. With burnout and tiredness dangerous situations arise both on-set and on commutes.
(Here, read this article by Gavin Palone): vulture.com/2012/05/how-lo…
So, the 12+ hour day, that’s one way to do it. But I think the tendency in the industry is to continue this tradition because…it's tradition?
Imagine if we go into pre-pro with a designed & budgeted 10 hour shoot day, no overtime. It’s a different mindset, but that’s all it is. Some would/will argue that this would undercut the art...
...the opportunity for the creators to bring their project to fruition to the best of their ability (I know this argument because I’ve heard it). But in reality I think the 10 hour structure is simply a different parameter to get used to. And it has many benefits.
On any production we have X number of pages to shoot divided by number of days budgeted. A 45-page TV show with 8 days to shoot means you have to average just over 5 1/2 pages a day. If the tradition is to have 8 12-hour days, that is 96 hours per episode.
If, for example, we instead add a shoot day and make the days 10 hours, it means 90 hours total and 5 pages per day.
(In my experience) the later hours of a shoot day are somewhat diminishing returns...people are less sharp, more tired, and actually slower at their jobs. Maybe even less creative? A more reasonable day makes for a better creative environment.
Which maybe means it’s better to do 5 pages in 10 hours than 5 5/8 pages in 12 hours.
We’ve all been on shows that an odd day here or there is shorter than 12 hours. Maybe because it’s a lightly scheduled day, but sometimes it’s because (for example) we’re shooting at a location with restrictions...
...when you only get the museum for one day between the hours of 10pm and 8am, believe me the work gets done in 10 hours. So what changes? Knowing time is limited speed and efficiency is increased.
And importantly, the creative process itself changes, steps up, rises to the occasion. Faced with the possibility of having incomplete scenes, the work is designed to be completed within the time allotted.
Let me say that again…(imagine the italics): the work is designed to be completed within the time allotted. Knowing that there is no possibility of simply adding hours to the day to complete the work, the work gets done on time.
There is a lot to be said for going into a project with this time constriction as part of the plan. The creative process changes, steps up, rises to the occasion.
Days like these are very often the most creatively fulfilling. Every filmmaker I know has stories about that time they were totally under the gun and came through with their best work. This is not an accident.
Like David Fincher said, “…you don’t know what directing is until the sun is setting and you’ve got to get five shots and you’re only going to get two.” Not that you want to be in a constant state like that, but…
There’s a saying, “‘Gone With The Wind’ in the morning, ‘Dukes Of Hazzard’ in the afternoon”. This observation exists because it’s typical for a company to take more time on the morning scenes than the afternoon scenes.
Sometimes it’s by design, putting the meatier and more important scenes first (remember my point about diminishing returns later in the day?) but it can also be a function of poor time management.
On a 12-hour schedule the day seems long & a director might be prone to do that one extra setup, just in case. In the afternoon knowing that there’s too much to do, the work becomes lean & mean. A 10-hour day makes a company lean & mean the entire day, not just the afternoon.
This last year I had the opportunity to help make the 10-hour shoot day model work on a television show for a cable network. The overall plan was designed by my very talented producer. As crew & cast was hired the 10-hour shooting day was discussed and was simply ”the way it is”
When shooting it didn’t take long for everyone to realize that the structure was virtually unbreakable. We did not go over by more than 15 minutes on any given day. Sometimes it was very tough, no doubt.
If you can’t finish the work it has to find a place elsewhere in the schedule, but that is always true even on longer days.
This show also did “French hours” (no breaking for lunch - food is available most of the day & people sneak away when they can) which could be it’s own thread.
For now let’s just say it’s not for everyone or every show but in this case it did mean the company was shooting a full 10 hours, which was helpful.
The season went well. For the time I was there (alternating 1st ADs, I did half the episodes) we did add one shooting day when a combination of bad weather & being behind made it necessary. As for the finished show, it’s beautiful and engaging, and I’m very proud of it...
It’s called “David Makes Man” & it airs on OWN.
Was it risky, creatively, to do this show in a 10-hour day structure? Maybe, depending on who is answering. IMO it didn’t hurt the final product and probably enhanced it. Everyone from showrunner to actor to set PA had a better life during the months-long production.
Spouses were seen, kids were tucked in, beers were enjoyed, sleep was had. All that contributed to a good show, I have no doubt.
There are many “lines in the sand” one could make in planning a production. Maybe it’s trying french hours. Maybe it’s having an 11 or 12 hour day but never going over. All I know is it’s worth it to explore the possibility of not having 12-hour plus days. It works. I’ve seen it.
[end too-long thread!]
