What happens on a shoot, hour by hour?
From the location scout to the last shot of the day, here is how a typical shooting day actually runs, hour by hour, so that nothing about it is unfamiliar when the day comes.
A shoot always follows the same logic, whatever its size: preparation, set-up, shooting take by take, then wrap. On a standard production, a shooting day usually runs eight to ten hours, split roughly as follows.
What happens before the day itself?
On a complex shoot the crew scouts the location several days ahead, and sometimes moves in the evening before to prepare the set and the heavy kit. On a simpler video the scout can happen the same morning, right before set-up.
The start of the day (usually two to three hours)
The crew arrives, unloads, sets up cameras, lights and sound, and dresses the set. In parallel, if the shoot involves people on camera, make-up and the director's briefing take place: explaining how the day will run, what the intent is, and putting at ease someone who has never been filmed. That preparation usually takes two to three hours before the first take.
The shoot itself
Then comes the shoot, take by take. A single shot can need several takes, the same scene played two, five or ten times until the right version is in the can. A lunch break usually falls in the middle of the day, particularly beyond six hours of continuous shooting.
The end of the day: wrap, and what comes next
Once the last shot is approved, the crew packs the kit away, which usually takes an hour. The project then moves into post-production: editing, grading, sound mixing, and motion design where the quote provides for it.