Industry jargon not your thing? Our glossary will enlighten you!
A set is a backdrop in which the scenes of a movie are shot. A film set is therefore similar to the stage set in a theater. Depending on the length of the film, however, there may be more sets than in a theater. Most sets appear several times in a film, such as the police station in a crime thriller or the living room in many sitcoms.
To avoid having to build the same set several times, all the scenes that take place there are shot at once. Once all the scenes are in the can, the individual shots from the set are then put together. This saves a lot of time and effort for the directing teams.
A room can be used as a set, a place on the street or any other outdoor location. This location must be set up accordingly, which means that the production designer and location scout as well as the props department create the necessary furniture and accessories for an indoor shoot or equipment for an outdoor shoot for the corresponding location and equip the set to suit the scene being shot.
Before the shoot, the technical requirements and lighting conditions should also be suitable, which means that an appropriate number of power cables must be available or charged batteries must be available for an outdoor shoot.
Filming permits are often required for public locations. Depending on the city or location, these are issued by various institutions. In most cases, the responsible employees of the city or municipal administrations issue a filming permit on request.
Catering is usually provided on the film set. In addition to hot and cold drinks, there is usually a hot lunch for the crew and, depending on the length of the day's shoot, fruit, various cakes and pastries as well as a delicious dinner.