An on-location shoot lives or dies in pre-production. What's improvised on set is expensive; what's planned ahead is invisible to the client, which is exactly how it should be. When the production shows on screen, it's almost always because something was solved against the clock.
Scouting at the real day and time to validate the light, not reference photos taken at two in the afternoon. Permits requested with the legal lead time, backed by alternatives if the administration is delayed. A documented weather plan B, not one assumed in a hallway conversation. Catering and toilet logistics calculated for the real crew, including extras and drivers, not just the ideal team.
The crew on a list, not in someone's head
A good call sheet removes ambiguity. Every crew member knows where to be, at what time, what's expected of them and who to turn to if something deviates from the plan. The sheet is distributed 24 hours ahead, not the morning of the shoot. Changes are versioned. Anything else is avoidable noise and conversations that don't scale when the set grows.
Scouting: what doesn't show in the photos
Real scouting isn't seeing the location. It's seeing the location at the planned day and time of the shoot, checking the ambient noise, the light coming in and out of the windows if we're shooting interiors, the access for trucks and the generator, mobile coverage, the toilets available for the crew, the time restrictions imposed by neighbours or local regulations. All of it is documented with photos, reference video and camera notes.
The client should only notice the production when something goes wrong. If our work is done well, they don't see us.
Permits and the conversation with the administration
Some locations require a municipal permit, others a regional one, others a national one if there's a traffic closure, sensitive public space or heritage protection. We process each one with its real timeline, not the one shown on the official website. And always with an alternative plan if the permit doesn't arrive, because administrations sometimes delay it without warning.
Plan B is not a slogan
Weather plan B, location plan B, talent plan B if someone falls ill, technical-crew plan B if a camera fails first thing. Every plan B is mentally rehearsed the week before the shoot. When the day comes, we don't improvise: we execute the option that was already documented.
Catering, toilets, base camp
It sounds prosaic, but the crew's wellbeing is directly proportional to the quality of the shoot. A well-fed crew, with shade in the sun and warmth when it gets cold, performs better and makes fewer mistakes. Human logistics is production, not an annex.
What we always keep fixed
The creative briefing, the signed call sheet, the schedule with plan B, daily communication with the client from the first day of pre-production. Everything else can change; these can't.
