This is the second part of this blog series detailing the day of working Crowd 2nd AD.
Read the first part HERE
Last week we covered the production’s prep period, the artiste selection process and how fittings are run.
This week, we turn our attention to what the Crowd 2nd does during the actual filming days and beyond.
Call Times and Arriving
To the SA, it may feel like they are sent their call time late, often not until the evening before the shoot.
This is because the running order of the shoot day isn’t fully finalised until the end of the previous day. Even crew aren’t issued tomorrow’s call sheet until about an hour after today’s shoot day has finished.
Call times can be affected by the previous day’s success. For instance, if a scene isn’t completed, we may need to add it to the next day and adjust how the next shoot will run.
I do try to send draft times earlier in the day (especially if it’s going to be an early start), however these are subject to change.
Speaking of early starts, a production can have hundreds of people in for one scene. To get everyone ready in time to start shooting, the Crowd team starts VERY early in the morning, and sometimes, like SAs, we’re over an hour away from tomorrow’s location.
Below are some points that are helpful for both SAs and ADs when arriving for a shoot day:
BE ON TIME!
As with fittings, the timings are there for a reason. If you’re late, this could have a knock on effect for the shoot day.
We have to spend time in the morning calling round to see where people are if they don’t arrive promptly.
If you are running late, send the onset contact a text to let them know. This goes a long way to put the team at ease. Include your name and an ETA.
Check the onset contact number each day.
The onset contact may change each day depending on call times and turnarounds. Check you are calling the right person in the early hours of the morning. I have been woken up numerous times by someone who is lost and called me rather than the onset contact.
If you need to get in touch with the onset contact, I personally prefer to receive a text rather than a call. I could be driving to the location and not have answers to hand, I may be in the middle of getting a previous wave of crowd through the works, or there may be a larger issue I am trying to solve and don’t have time to take a call at that point.
Turn up ready to work and be professional.
It’s early for everyone, so having to corral people who don’t want to be there can quickly get tiresome. Please try to turn up with a good attitude (I know this is hard sometimes). It really goes a long way.
There will be issues.
Setting up (especially on the first day in a new location) often presents difficulties. For instance, no heating, no hot water or tea table. Rest assured, we’re already aware of these issues and are trying to solve them at a time when the rest of the crew aren’t at work yet.
Wait to be told to get breakfast.
Sometimes you eat straight away. Other times, we’ll need you to finish going through the works before eating, depending on several factors. Either way, please wait to be instructed to grab breakfast.
We may even need to interrupt your breakfast (we hate doing it, but it can be necessary).
I will always get a member of my team to check if everyone who wants breakfast has had breakfast.
Don't be a no-show!
One of the worst things you can do is not turn up without warning. This not only leaves us short for the day and having to find difficult last-minute replacements, it also really doesn’t help with the overall trust between SAs and crew. If you don’t plan on coming, at least let us know as soon as possible.
You saw in last week’s blog how much work goes into each booking. This is why No-shows and Drop-outs are so infuriating. Often we don’t have enough time to replace drop-outs, which means every drop-out robs another Supporting Artiste of the chance to work that day.
With all of the above, believe it or not, we do care about you guys and your well being.
It is one of my top priorities on a shoot day to ensure that you guys are looked after.
(Be patient - it does take a little time for the urn to heat up for coffee!)
We may get stressed, annoyed or sound dismissive, but we are human just like you and appreciation of that from both sides goes a long way.
Crowd Base is often a big white marquee - but I’m sure many of you have experienced some wierd and wonderful holding areas, especially on location shoots!
Dressed and Ready to Shoot
When the Crowd team has got you all through the works, it can go one of two ways:
You’re straight off to set.
There ends up being some down time.
If you have to wait around, you may question why you were in SO early (as do we in the crowd team sometimes). This is usually because of an unknown issue or a different scene is being prioritised first. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Enjoy the down time.
As a Crowd 2nd, I will brief you on the scene and then leave you in the capable hands of the crowd team. Bear in mind that on big days, we hire additional crowd ADs to help us (known as Dailies) so not every team member can answer every question you may have - but they will of course endeavour to answer whatever they can!
While you’re on set, I will be monitoring the shoot from the production trailer, whilst simultaneously setting up for the next day and looking ahead, casting roles for future days.
The next time you will see me is when you’re wrapped (unless there is a major issue I need to deal with)!
Lunch
Lunch is a contentious situation sometimes (especially on large crowd days). Generally, we as ADs are aware if you are due late or broken meal payments, and will add them to your chit as they occur. Sometimes this is missed (always by accident, we’re not twiddling our mustaches and scheming to underpay you!) - if a query occurs, politely discuss it with us directly or with the agency.
Prior to the shoot day, I will give Catering the number of people we have booked and discuss with both them and the Location Department various logistics such as where Crowd will eat, if there is a separate serving station for SAs or if we need to pre-order the meals and get hot boxes across to you near set.
Points to note for lunch:
The food is touch and go sometimes. As a crowd AD, I will try to ensure everyone is fed and has time to eat. Problems sometimes arise. We will do our best to solve them.
Your lunch break is also the ADs lunch break. We often lose a lot of our breaks to help get you guys through lunch, please bear that in mind.
Your lunch break may be cut short or late based on the shoot. We know this is not ideal, however the Crowd team will pass that information back to me so you can be compensated for it.
Again, one of my top priorities at this point in the day is ensuring everyone gets to have some lunch.
End of the Day
As the shoot day draws to a close, I will make my way back to the crowd holding ready to be there for when the SAs are wrapped. I’ll instruct the crowd team how I would like sign-out to go.
While I wait, I’ll be working on tomorrow’s details and solving any issues that may have arisen.
As SAs arrive back, we’ll direct you where to go. Our main priority is for SAs to be calm and not rush. We know it will have been a long day and EVERYONE wants to go home.
I’ll be sitting with a computer ready to sign people out. This is the perfect time to ask any questions about your day and whether you’re due supplementary fees as I can discuss with the 3rd AD about what you’re due.
Once everyone is signed out, I’ll head back to the production truck to make sure everything is set up for the next shoot day.
Payment
Part of the Crowd 2nd’s responsibility is handling the payments for SAs.
I’ll check all the figures, go through any supplementary fees to be added (usually passed on to me by the 3rd AD) and let the agency know that the day is complete and ready to be submitted.
If any SAs queries their Job Review the next day, I will discuss those and make amendments as needed, then submit a cost report for the day to production’s Accounts.
Finally, I’ll enter the figure for the day into my running costs to keep track on whether I’m going over budget or not!
It’s full on.
Overall the life of a working Crowd 2nd AD is extremely busy, with lots of moving parts and long hours.
But as the seasoned SAs can attest, you get to work on some incredible productions with extraordinary scenes, all while meeting people from all walks of life.
Every day is different, and nothing is more rewarding than completing a long day with everything going to plan.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed these two blogs and managed to learn something new about how Crowd 2nds work. I look forward to seeing some of you on the next job!
The email address to use for any profile-related issue is epcommunity@extra-people.com
If you have any pay queries please contact ukartistsupport@ep.com
If you have any booking enquiries please reply to the last email concerning that project. Your email will go to a dedicated email for that production.
If you have general enquiries that are not pay or booking related, please contact team@extra-people.com