Set & Stage Etiquette

Introduction

The people who get called back are not always the most skilled people on the crew. They are the ones who were there early, knew who to report to, answered the radio properly, stayed out of the shot, kept their phone in their pocket, said something when they saw a hazard, owned the mistake they made at four in the afternoon, and helped load the truck at midnight without being asked.

None of that is taught in a technical course, and all of it is noticed. Sets, stages and events are small worlds where everybody talks, and a reputation — good or bad — travels ahead of you to the next call. The good news is that every piece of it can be learned, and none of it depends on how long you have been in the industry.

What this book covers

Why conduct decides careers; the call sheet, arrival, credentials, dress and personal kit; reliability, attitude and downtime; radio and headset etiquette and the calls used on film sets, live events and stages; hierarchy, departments, unions and the unwritten rules of set and backstage; talent, clients, confidentiality and phones; safety as part of conduct; pressure, mistakes, conflict and respect; and the wrap, the paperwork and the follow-up that finish a job well.

It was measured against the set protocol taught in the standard crew handbooks for film lighting and grip, national film and television new-entrant training, the standard text on stage management, union stagehand orientation, and the event industry's safety guide, so that nothing a new crew member is taught elsewhere about conduct on set and stage is missing here.

Who this is for

Anybody starting out on film and television sets, live and corporate events, or theatre and touring stages, and anybody moving between those worlds, where the rules are mostly the same and the words are not.

How to Use This Book

Each chapter follows the same shape, and the shape matters more than it might look. You read the ideas, then you see them play out in a real situation, then you get the procedure, then you are shown what goes wrong and how to recognise it early. Reading only the parts that look new is the fastest way to arrive on a job holding half of something.

1. Read the chapter body first. This is the understanding layer, and it is written to be read straight through.
2. Read On the job. The same material as a real situation on a real set or stage, which is where it stops being abstract.
3. Work through How to do it. These are procedures you can follow on a job this week.
4. Study What goes wrong. Experienced crew are not people who never make mistakes; they are people who recognise mistakes early.
5. Do the exercise before reading the answer key. Recognition feels like learning and is not.
6. Take the checklist with you. Photograph it on your phone. Use it until you no longer need it.

Keep a notebook

One habit is worth starting today, before the first chapter: keep a small notebook and write the people and the words in it as you meet them. Etiquette runs on names and calls — who your lead is, who the stage manager and the first AD are, which radio channel is which, what this crew calls the bathroom break, when the half is called, where the crew parking is, the name of the person who helped you on your first day.

Write it by hand rather than typing it into your phone on set, which is itself an etiquette problem. Writing a name down is also how you remember it, and remembering people's names is most of being easy to work with.

Then use it twice. Read a few pages on the way to a job, which takes five minutes and turns things you half-know into things you know. And carry it on the job, because the name you cannot remember is always the one you need.

A note on the words

Every world has its own words for the same things. A film set's call sheet is a live event's production schedule and a theatre's daily call. The first AD on a set, the stage manager in a theatre and the show caller on a corporate event each run the room while it is working. Wrap on a set is strike on a stage and load-out at an event. Blacks are what you wear; a black is also a drape. Crews in different countries, and different crews in the same city, use different radio codes.

None of that is worth arguing about. On your first day, listen before you speak, and use the words the crew around you uses. Asking what a word means on this job is never embarrassing; guessing wrong on a radio channel is.

A note on safety

Sets and stages are workplaces full of hazards that the rules of conduct exist partly to control — moving scenery, rigging overhead, cables underfoot, stage edges in the dark, lifts and vehicles on loading docks, haze, lasers, pyrotechnics and weather. Much of what looks like etiquette, such as staying out of lanes, keeping quiet on a call and staying where you are expected, is really safety.

Nothing in this book overrides a safety instruction, and no etiquette rule ever outranks your safety or anybody else's. Anybody on a crew can stop work when they see danger, and the most professional thing a newcomer can do is say so.

Where this book sits

This book assumes no technical knowledge at all. It is for anybody about to start work on a film set, a live event or a stage, and for anybody moving between those worlds.

What pairs with this

• Safety Awareness & Rigging Basics — the safety side of the same first days on a crew

Where it leads

These are not steps in an order. Take whichever one fits.

• AV Fundamentals 101 — the equipment and vocabulary behind the job you now know how to conduct
• Film Set Fundamentals — if sets are where you are heading
• Touring Fundamentals — if the road is where you are heading

Before You Begin

Why Etiquette Decides Your Career

Two equally skilled techs; the one with better etiquette works far more. That is the whole lesson.

Skill gets you in; conduct keeps you there

In a relationship-driven industry, technical skill gets you the first opportunity, but how you conduct yourself determines whether you are invited back and recommended. Crews and clients constantly, often unconsciously, judge whether you are reliable, easy to work with, aware, and professional — and those judgments drive who gets hired again. Two technicians of equal skill will have very different careers if one is a pleasure to work with and the other is not. Etiquette is not a soft extra; it is a core career skill, arguably the one that most determines success once you are competent.

This is good news, because etiquette is entirely learnable and within your control. You may not be the most skilled person on a crew yet, but you can always be reliable, positive, aware, and professional — and that alone makes people want you back. Mastering set and stage etiquette is one of the highest-return things a newcomer can do, because it compounds into a reputation that brings steady work.

The three things people judge

What people really assess comes down to three things. Are you reliable — on time, prepared, doing what you said you would? Are you easy to work with — positive, low-drama, a good crew member rather than a difficult one? Are you aware — reading the room, staying safe, not getting in the way, picking up what is happening around you? A person who is reliable, easy to work with, and aware is someone every crew wants, regardless of their experience level. These three qualities are the foundation of set and stage etiquette and the rest of this book expands them.

Notice that none of these require advanced technical skill — they require attitude and attention. The newcomer who shows up early, has a good attitude, listens, stays out of the way, and follows through is already ahead of more skilled people who are unreliable or difficult. Internalizing that your conduct is being evaluated as much as your technical work — and that you control your conduct completely — is the mindset this book builds.

Three worlds, one set of manners

An AV technician can work a film shoot on Monday, a corporate conference on Wednesday and a theatre tour at the weekend, and the three are more alike than they sound.

On a film or television set, the work stops and starts around takes. Quiet is absolute while cameras roll, the first assistant director runs the floor, and dozens of departments share a small space around a camera.

At a live or corporate event, the show happens once, in front of an audience or a client, and cannot be redone. A stage manager or show caller runs it on headset, the client is often in the room, and the crew works to be invisible.

In a theatre or on a touring stage, the same show runs night after night, with a stage manager calling every cue, a house crew and a touring crew working side by side, and strict rules backstage while the audience is in.

The manners underneath all three are the same: be reliable, be easy to work with, be aware of what is happening around you, respect the people running the room, and never be the reason something is ruined or someone is hurt. What changes is the vocabulary, the hierarchy and the moments when silence and stillness are required. This book teaches the shared manners once, and the differences where they matter.

Film, events and theatre compared

On the job

A lighting technician who has worked conferences for two years takes her first day on a television drama. She knows the gear better than half the electric department.

In the first hour she makes three small mistakes. She walks behind the camera during a rehearsal, where the director of photography is lining up a shot. She answers a question on the radio with a long explanation while the first AD is waiting to call for rolling. And she is still talking to the dimmer operator after "rolling" is called on the next take.

None of it is technical. The gaffer takes her aside at lunch and explains the set: where to stand, how short radio calls are, and that "rolling" means silence and stillness until "cut". She writes it in her notebook, does all three right for the rest of the week, and is booked again for the next block of episodes.

Her technical skill got her the call. What she learned at lunch is what brought her back.

How to do it

1. Find out who runs the room — the first AD, stage manager or show caller — and who your own lead is.
2. Watch where experienced crew stand and move, especially during takes, rehearsals or the show.
3. Listen to the radio or headset for ten minutes before speaking on it.
4. Note the words and calls this crew uses.
5. Ask your lead one question at a quiet moment about anything you are unsure of.
6. Write what you learned in your notebook before the day ends.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Before the Call

A good day on a crew starts the night before. The call sheet has been read, the route and parking are known, the right clothes and tools are packed, and the badge or paperwork is ready. Arriving flustered, late, in the wrong clothes or without a way through security puts you behind before you have done anything.

This chapter covers everything between accepting a job and starting work: reading the call sheet, getting in, finding your lead on the first day, what to wear and what to carry.

Reading a call sheet

A call sheet is the day's plan for a film or television shoot, sent the evening before, and live events and tours have equivalents in the production schedule, the day sheet and the run of show. It tells you where to be, when, and what the day holds.

Read the whole thing, not just your call time. The top usually gives the date, the production, the location address, the crew parking and the nearest hospital. The general crew call is when most of the crew starts; your department may have a different call, earlier or later, and the call sheet says so. The schedule lists the scenes or sessions and when they are expected. Weather, sunrise and sunset matter on exterior days. Special notes flag stunts, special effects, animals, children, vehicles, closed sets or safety meetings.

Call time means ready to work at that time, not arriving at that time. A 7:00 call means parked, badged, changed, coffee in hand if you want it, and standing with your department at 7:00.

Call sheets change. A late script change, weather or a location problem can move the call, and a revised call sheet is sent. Check your messages the night before and the morning of, and confirm the latest version with your department if you are unsure.

On live events, the equivalent is the production schedule: load-in times, rehearsals, doors, show times and load-out, often with a separate crew call for each stage of the day. The rule is the same. Know your call, know the location, and read the whole document.

Getting in — parking, access, sign-in and credentials

Getting from your car to your work position can take longer than the drive. Plan for it.

Crew parking is often not near the entrance. Studios, stadiums and convention centres have crew lots, shuttle buses or loading dock entrances a long walk from where you work. The call sheet or advance notes say where.

Access is controlled. Film lots, venues and events use credentials — a badge, a wristband, a laminate — that show who you are and where you may go. Some are collected from a production office or an accreditation desk, with photo identification, and some are issued in advance. Wear it where it can be seen, keep it for the whole job, and never lend it. Areas are zoned: a credential for the loading dock and backstage may not allow you into the audience area or the green room.

Sign in. Many crews sign in at a production office, with a department head, or with a union steward, and sign out at the end of the day. On union calls it is how hours are recorded and paid, and on every call it is how the production knows who is on site in an emergency.

Arriving early absorbs all of this. Fifteen to thirty minutes before call is a common habit on crews, and on a first day, at an unfamiliar location, more.

The first day, and finding your lead

The first day on a new crew is the one where people form their opinion of you, and the one where you know least about how things work.

Before the day, find out the name of the person you report to, and their phone number. It may be a department head, a crew chief, a key or a best boy, a head of department or a production manager. If you do not know, ask whoever booked you.

On arrival, go to that person, introduce yourself briefly and ask where they want you. If they are busy, wait nearby where they can see you, or ask someone in the same department where to put your kit. Do not start doing things you have not been asked to do, and do not wander off to explore.

Learn names quickly, starting with your own department and the people running the room. Write them down.

And ask questions, at the right moments. Everybody expects a new person to ask. Nobody expects the question during a take, while the show caller is on a cue, or while your lead is in the middle of something difficult. A quiet moment and "when you have a second, can I check something?" is always welcome.

What to wear

Clothing on a crew is about safety, practicality and, when the show is on, invisibility.

Blacks — plain black clothing without logos or reflective print — are the standard for live events, theatre and anywhere crew may be seen by an audience or a camera. Long trousers, a black top with sleeves, black shoes. Some corporate clients ask for smart blacks, a collared shirt or a company shirt. The booking or the advance tells you.

Footwear is closed-toe, sturdy and with a good grip; steel or composite toe boots are required on many load-ins and film crews. No sandals, no canvas shoes on a loading dock.

Personal protective equipment is worn when the work or the site requires it: a hard hat under rigging and during load-in where required, high-visibility vests on loading docks, roads and in vehicle areas, gloves for cable and truss, hearing protection near loud systems, and eye protection where the work calls for it.

Leave out anything that makes noise, catches or shines: jangling keys, dangling jewellery, loose scarves, noisy jackets during takes or shows, and anything reflective that could show up on camera or catch stage light. Tie back long hair near moving equipment.

On film sets, dress for the weather and the location — layers, rain gear, sun protection — because a twelve-hour exterior day in the wrong clothes becomes a long lesson. On a closed or sensitive set there may be specific instructions, such as no bright colours near a green screen.

Personal kit and tools

Experienced crew arrive with a small personal kit, so that they are never waiting to borrow the basics.

Typical contents are a small torch or head torch, work gloves, a multi-tool or knife where permitted, a roll of gaffer tape or camera tape, a marker pen, a notebook and pen, a small adjustable wrench for lighting and grip work, ear plugs, a phone charger, water and some food, a layer for when the building gets cold at 2 a.m., and personal medication. Department-specific kits add more: a cable tester for audio and video, a meter, adaptors, a head torch for rigging, a lens cloth for camera.

Mark your tools with your name or a colour so they come home with you. Keep the kit small enough to carry, and keep it out of paths and off other departments' carts.

Check the rules before bringing anything with a blade or anything that might count as a weapon to a venue with security screening. Some venues, airports and events do not allow them, and a knife confiscated at a stadium gate is gone.

What a call sheet tells you

Dress for the call

• Blacks without logos where an audience or camera may see crew.
• Closed-toe, sturdy footwear; safety boots where required.
• Hard hat, hi-vis, gloves and hearing protection as the work requires.
• Nothing that jangles, catches or shines.
• Layers and weather gear on location.

A basic personal kit

• Torch or head torch, work gloves, gaffer tape, marker, notebook.
• Multi-tool or knife where permitted, small wrench for lighting and grip.
• Ear plugs, water, food, charger, a warm layer.
• Tools marked with your name or colour.

On the job

A three-day product launch in a convention centre. The production manager sends the crew schedule the week before: load-in call 6:00 a.m. at the loading dock on the north side, crew parking in lot C, blacks for show days, credentials collected at the production office in hall 2.

One stagehand, new to the company, reads "6:00 a.m." and "convention centre", parks at the main entrance at 5:55, and walks into a locked lobby. Security send him round the outside of the building to the north dock, a twelve-minute walk. At the dock, without a credential, he is sent to hall 2 and back. He reaches the crew chief at 6:40, in trainers.

Another new stagehand, who read the whole schedule the night before, parked in lot C at 5:20, collected her badge at 5:35, and was standing with her boots and gloves at the dock at 5:50. She was given the task of receiving the truck deliveries, which she did well, and was booked for the rest of the company's season.

They had the same schedule. One of them read it.

How to do it

1. Read the whole call sheet or schedule, not just your call time.
2. Note your department's call, the location, crew parking and the entrance to use.
3. Check how and where to collect credentials, and what identification you need.
4. Find your lead's name and phone number.
5. Plan the journey with time to park, walk, sign in and change, and add more for a first day.
6. Lay out the right clothes, footwear and PPE.
7. Pack your personal kit, water and food, and check it against the venue's security rules.
8. Check messages for a revised call sheet before you leave in the morning.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Reliability & Attitude

Show up, be prepared, follow through, and be someone people enjoy working with.

Reliability

Reliability is the bedrock of professional reputation. It means arriving on time — in this industry, on time often means early, ready to work when the call says, not arriving then getting ready. It means being prepared — having what you need, knowing the plan, ready to contribute. And it means following through — doing what you committed to, completely, so people never have to chase or double-check you. A reliable person is one a crew can depend on without worry, and that dependability is the single most valued trait. Unreliability — being late, unprepared, or not following through — is the fastest way to not be re-hired.

Reliability extends to the small things: answering communications promptly, confirming you'll be there, doing the unglamorous tasks well, and being someone whose word can be trusted. None of this is difficult; it is simply a discipline of dependability. The newcomer who is utterly reliable stands out immediately, because reliability is surprisingly rare and enormously valued.

Attitude

Beyond reliability, your attitude shapes how people experience working with you, and a good attitude makes you someone crews want around. That means being positive and low-drama (not complaining, not creating conflict), being willing (taking on tasks, including the unglamorous ones, without attitude), being humble (open to learning, not arrogant), and being respectful to everyone regardless of their role. Long days and pressure test attitude, and the person who stays positive and pleasant under stress is treasured, while the one who becomes negative or difficult is quietly dropped.

Attitude especially matters for newcomers. You are not expected to be the most skilled, but you are expected to be willing, humble, and easy to be around. Eagerness to learn, helping without being asked, and a genuine positive presence make experienced crew want to teach you and bring you back. A great attitude can carry a newcomer further than raw skill, because skill can be taught to someone people want to work with — but no one wants to teach someone difficult.

Hurry up and wait — downtime and staying findable

Productions alternate between bursts of intense activity and long stretches of waiting. A film crew may wait an hour while a scene is rehearsed and then have four minutes to relight. A show crew waits through a rehearsal for the moment their department is needed. Crews call it hurry up and wait, and handling the waiting is as much a part of the job as the hurrying.

Stay findable. When you are not needed, stay near your department's position, your cart or your staging area, where your lead can see you or reach you on the radio. If you need to leave — for the bathroom, to fetch something, to eat — tell your lead or say so on the radio in the crew's usual way, and say when you are back.

Stay ready. Keep your gloves on your belt, your tools with you and your attention on what is happening, so that when you are called you move immediately.

Use the time well. Tidy cable, prepare the next setup if your lead wants that, learn the equipment, watch how experienced people work. What you do not do is sit on the set furniture, fall asleep in a hidden corner, disappear to your car, or scroll on your phone in view of the client or the director.

And eat and drink when you can. The next meal on a long day may be many hours away, and a crew member who is dehydrated and hungry makes mistakes.

Asking questions, and learning on the job

Nobody expects a newcomer to know everything, and experienced crew generally like teaching somebody who is eager to learn. The skill is in when and how you ask.

Ask at the right moment: between setups, during a break, when the person is not concentrating or talking on comms. Never during a take, a cue sequence or a live moment.

Ask the right person: your own lead first, for anything about your job; not the director, the client or the head of another department.

Ask once, and remember the answer. Write it down, so you do not have to ask the same question twice.

And ask before you do something you are unsure of, rather than after. "I've not used this model before — can you show me the right way to open it?" costs thirty seconds. Breaking a piece of equipment by guessing costs a great deal more, and it is not the breakage people remember; it is that you did not ask.

Staying useful during downtime

On the job

A long day shooting a commercial in a warehouse. After lunch, the director spends an hour and a half rehearsing a complicated shot with the actors. The grip and electric crews have nothing to do but wait.

Two new crew members handle it differently. One goes out to his car to rest, turning his radio down so it will not wake him. The other stays by the lighting cart, re-coils the cable that was thrown down in the rush before lunch, labels the cases, and listens to the rehearsal.

When the director is ready, the gaffer calls on the radio for two people to fly in a large overhead frame. The second crew member is there in ten seconds. The first does not answer; somebody goes to find him.

Nobody says anything about it that day. The next week, the gaffer's call list includes one of them.

How to do it

1. Stay near your department's position and on the radio.
2. Tell your lead before you step away, and when you return.
3. Keep your gloves and tools on you.
4. Tidy, prepare or learn, as your lead allows.
5. Keep your phone away if the client, director or audience can see you.
6. Eat and drink when the chance comes.
7. Move immediately when called.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Communicating on Set & Stage

Productions have their own communication norms. Using them right marks you as a pro.

On-set communication norms

Sets and stages have specific communication norms, and following them shows you belong. Listen for your name and role on comms and respond clearly — a simple copy or got it acknowledges you heard and will act. Keep communication brief and clear, especially on headset, because comms channels are shared and chatter clogs them; say what is needed concisely and no more. Use the production's terms and calls correctly (the calls themselves are set out later in this chapter). And know when to be silent — when the director calls for quiet or rolling, you stop talking and moving immediately.

These norms are about being a clear, low-noise, dependable communicator who helps the production run smoothly. The newcomer who acknowledges instructions, keeps comms clean, and respects calls for quiet immediately marks themselves as professional; the one who chatters on headset, fails to confirm, or talks during a take stands out for the wrong reasons. Good on-set communication is the same clarity and discipline good communication needs anywhere, applied to the specific culture of set and stage.

Respect the calls and the moment

Productions run on calls and signals — quiet on set, rolling, standby, going hot — and respecting them instantly is non-negotiable. When quiet is called, you are silent and still; when rolling or a take or a live moment is happening, you do nothing that could disrupt it. Talking, moving noisily, or walking through a shot during these moments is one of the most serious etiquette breaches, because it can ruin a take or a live moment that cannot be redone. Learning the calls and obeying them immediately is essential professional conduct.

This also means reading the moment more broadly: knowing when the production is in a high-pressure or sensitive phase and adjusting your behavior accordingly, staying focused and out of the way when things are critical. The aware professional senses the rhythm of a production — when to move fast, when to be still, when to speak, when to stay silent — and fits into it smoothly. That awareness of the moment is a hallmark of someone who truly belongs on set.

Radio etiquette

Handheld radios, walkies, are how film sets, venues and events coordinate across a large space, and every radio channel is shared by many people who are listening for their own name. Clean radio habits are one of the first things experienced crew notice.

Know the channels. Productions assign channels by department or purpose: a production channel run by the assistant directors or production manager, department channels for electric, grip, audio, video or security, and often a spare channel for longer conversations. The call sheet, the radio check-out sheet or your lead tells you which is which.

Listen before you speak, and wait for a gap. Press the talk button, pause for a moment so the first word is not cut off, speak briefly, and release. Start with who you are calling, then who you are: "Dave, Maria". The reply is "Go for Dave" or simply "Go", and then you say what you need.

Keep it short. Anything that needs more than a sentence or two moves to a side channel ("Can you go to two?") or happens face to face. Acknowledge instructions with "copy", meaning heard and understood, and say when a task is done.

Crews use a few common phrases. "Flying in" means on my way, quickly. "What's your twenty?" asks where someone is. "Stand by" means wait, I will come back to you. Many crews use a code for a short personal break, such as "ten-one" for a bathroom break, but codes vary between crews and countries, so use whatever the crew around you uses.

And mind the volume. Use an earpiece where the production provides one, turn the radio down on a set or backstage, and never let a radio squawk during a take or a quiet moment on stage.

Headset and intercom etiquette

On live shows and in theatre, the crew who run the show are on headset intercom, and the headset channel is where the show is called. Its rules exist to protect the calls.

Keep your microphone off unless you are speaking. An open microphone broadcasts breathing, chewing, side conversations and the band into everybody's ears, and it can drown out a cue.

Say who you want and who you are, briefly. "Sound, stage manager" gets attention; a sentence of explanation before saying who you want wastes the channel.

Stay silent during cue sequences. When the caller is calling standbys and gos, nobody speaks on that channel unless there is an emergency. Answer a standby clearly when it is addressed to you — "standing by" — so the caller knows you are ready, and do not answer anything else.

Never talk about the show, the performers or the client on headset as if nobody else is listening. Somebody always is, sometimes including the client, the producer or a recording.

And take the headset off before walking away from your position. Leaving a headset hanging with its microphone on is an open microphone that nobody is attending.

The calls on a film set

A film or television set runs on a sequence of calls from the assistant directors and camera and sound departments, and each has a response every crew member makes instantly.

"Rehearsal" or "rehearsing": the scene is being run for camera and actors; keep quiet and out of the way.

"Last looks": hair, makeup and wardrobe make final checks on the actors before a take.

"Lock it up": everybody holds their positions and the set, and anybody controlling doors or traffic stops people entering.

"Roll camera" and "rolling": the take is starting. From this moment: silent and still. No talking, no moving, no radios, no phones, no walking behind the camera or through an eyeline. "Speed" or "sound speed" means sound is recording, and "marker" or "mark it" is the slate being clapped.

"Action": the performance has started.

"Cut": the take has ended. Normal quiet work can resume.

"Back to one": actors and moving crew go back to their first positions for another take.

"Reset": things are put back as they were at the start of the take.

"Moving on" or "new deal": the scene is finished and the crew moves to the next setup. "Turning around" means the camera will now look the other way, so gear behind the camera is about to be in shot.

Many sets also name the second-to-last shot of the day the "Abby Singer" and the last shot the "martini", and "that's a wrap" ends the day's shooting.

The calls on a live show and in theatre

Live events and theatre use a different set of calls, many of them from the stage manager or show caller, some over the paging system to dressing rooms and backstage.

Before the show, time calls count down: in North American theatre, "half hour" is called thirty minutes before curtain, followed by "fifteen minutes", "five minutes" and "places". In British theatre, "the half" is called thirty-five minutes before curtain, so that it is thirty minutes before beginners are called. From the half, the backstage area belongs to the show: work on stage stops, and crew are in their positions for the preset.

"House is open" or "doors": the audience is coming in. The stage is set and nothing is worked on in view of the audience.

"Places" in North America, and "beginners" in British theatre, sends performers and crew to their starting positions for the show or an act.

"Standby" warns an operator that a cue is coming; the answer is "standing by". "Go" executes it, and it is executed on the word. Some stage managers give a "warning" before the standby.

"Hold" stops the show or the countdown until further notice.

"Clear the stage" means get off the stage now, because scenery, lighting or a performer is about to move.

And "heads" or "heads up", shouted, means something is falling from above. Protect your head and move away from the stage area above you; do not look up.

Stage directions and where things are

On a stage, directions are given from the performer's point of view, standing on stage facing the audience.

Stage left is the performer's left, which is the audience's right. Stage right is the performer's right, the audience's left. Upstage is away from the audience, towards the back wall; downstage is towards the audience. Centre stage is the middle. So "down right" is the corner closest to the audience on the performer's right.

The audience area uses its own directions from the audience's point of view: house left and house right. To avoid confusion, many crews say "stage left" and "house left" in full.

On film sets, directions are usually given relative to camera: camera left and camera right are as the camera sees them. "Behind camera" is the space the lens is not looking at, which is where crew, equipment and video village normally are — until the camera turns around.

Learning to hear "upstage left" and immediately know where to go is one of the quickest ways to become useful on a stage.

Radio words

Film set calls

Live show and theatre calls

Stage directions

• Stage left and right — the performer's left and right, facing the audience.
• Upstage — away from the audience; downstage — towards it.
• House left and right — from the audience's point of view.
• Camera left and right — as the camera sees it.

On the job

A corporate awards show in a hotel ballroom. The show caller is on headset calling a complicated sequence: a video roll-in, a lighting change, a walk-on and a microphone unmute for the presenter.

A video technician at the back of the room notices the confidence monitor for the presenter is showing the wrong page of the script. He presses talk on his headset and starts explaining the problem in detail, right in the middle of "Standby video two, standby lights forty, standby mic three".

The caller misses the audio operator's "standing by". She has to call the standbys again, and the walk-on happens a few seconds late.

The next time, the technician waits until the sequence is done, then says "Video, caller" and, when she answers, "Confidence monitor has the wrong script page; I can fix it before the next speaker." She says "Copy, go ahead", and it is fixed with a minute to spare. After the show she thanks him for the second call.

How to do it

1. Listen for a gap, and never speak during a cue sequence or a take.
2. Press talk and pause briefly before speaking.
3. Name who you want, then who you are.
4. Wait for "go".
5. Say what you need in a sentence, then release.
6. Move longer conversations to a side channel or face to face.
7. Acknowledge instructions with "copy", and report when a task is done.
8. Turn microphones off and volumes down when not speaking.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Hierarchy & Unwritten Rules

Know your place in the chain, stay in your lane, and follow the rules nobody writes down.

Hierarchy and your place

Productions have a clear hierarchy (directors, department heads, leads, crew — set out department by department later in this chapter), and understanding it tells you who to take direction from, who to go to with questions, and where you fit. As a newcomer or crew member, you take direction from your lead or department head, follow the chain of command, and do not go over people's heads or freelance your own decisions on things that are not yours to decide. Respecting the hierarchy keeps a production coordinated and shows you understand how a crew works.

This is not about servility — it is about coordination. A production with dozens or hundreds of people works only because everyone knows their role and the chain of command. Knowing your place, taking direction gracefully, escalating appropriately, and respecting those above and beside you in the structure is professional conduct. As you grow, you move up the hierarchy, but you start by understanding and respecting it from where you are.

The unwritten rules

Every set and stage has unwritten rules that experienced people follow automatically and newcomers must learn. Stay in your lane — do not touch or adjust gear that is not yours or your responsibility without asking, because you may disrupt someone's careful setup or create a safety issue. Hurry up and wait — productions alternate between intense rushes and long waits, and the professional is ready to move instantly when needed and patient when waiting, without complaint. Keep the space clean and safe — manage your cables and gear, do not leave hazards or mess. Don't sit in the wrong chair or use talent's things. Leave it better than you found it.

Other durable unwritten rules: never be the reason a take or show is delayed; don't use your phone when you should be attentive; eat and rest when you can because you may not get another chance; and always be findable and ready. These rules are about being a considerate, aware, low-friction member of a complex operation. Learning and following them — by observing experienced crew and asking when unsure — is how a newcomer earns acceptance. Watch how the pros behave and mirror it.

Who runs what on a film set

A film or television crew is organised in departments, each with a head and a chain of command beneath them.

The director is responsible for the creative result. The first assistant director runs the set: the schedule, the order of work, safety on set and the calls. The second assistant director prepares the call sheet and looks after cast movement, with further assistants and production assistants supporting them.

The director of photography heads the camera, lighting and grip work. The camera department is led by the camera operator and assistants. The electric department, which handles lighting and power, is led by the gaffer, with the best boy electric running the crew and equipment. The grip department, which rigs camera support, dollies, cranes and the flags and frames that shape light, is led by the key grip, with the best boy grip.

The production sound mixer leads sound, with a boom operator. The production designer leads the art department, including set decoration and props. Hair, makeup and wardrobe are departments of their own. And video village, where the director watches monitors, is often run by a video assist or playback technician and, on digital shoots, a DIT managing the camera data — which is where many AV technicians work on a set.

You take direction from your own department's head and their deputy. The first AD's calls apply to everyone.

Who runs what at an event and in a theatre

At a live or corporate event, the client or producer decides what the event is. A production manager or technical director runs the production side: the schedule, the crew and the budget. A stage manager or show caller runs the show itself, calling cues on headset. Each department has a head — often called by their position, such as the A1 for audio, the V1 for video, the L1 or lighting director, and the head rigger — with crew chiefs and technicians under them. Local stagehands hired through the venue or a labour company work alongside the production's own crew.

In a theatre, the production stage manager or stage manager runs the show once it is open, and is the final authority backstage during a performance. A technical director or production manager runs the building work. Heads of department — head carpenter, head electrician, head of sound, head of props, head of wardrobe — lead the house crew, and on a tour, the touring heads of department lead the production's own crew, working with the house heads.

The principle is the same everywhere. Take direction from your own head of department. Take calls from the person running the show. Bring problems to your own lead first, and do not go over their head.

Unions, jurisdiction, local and touring crew

Much of the entertainment industry is unionised. In North America, IATSE locals represent stagehands, film technicians and many other crafts, and other unions and guilds represent other workers. Many other countries have their own unions and collective agreements.

In a union venue or on a union production, the agreement often decides who may do which work. This is jurisdiction. Local stagehands in a particular department may be the only people permitted to handle that department's equipment, and a touring technician may be allowed to direct and supervise the work but not to do it with their own hands. Moving a road case, focusing a light or plugging in a cable that is another department's work can cause a formal complaint, stop the work or cost the production money.

A steward or union representative on the call looks after the agreement and is the person to ask. A crew member who is unsure whether a task is theirs asks before doing it.

Union agreements also set breaks and meal periods. A contract may require a meal break within a certain number of hours of the call, and a meal penalty is paid when the production works past it. That is why meal breaks are called at particular times, why they are taken, and why a technician does not keep working through a called meal because they feel like finishing something.

Touring crews and local crews are different teams doing one show. The touring crew knows the show; the local crew knows the building. The best days happen when each respects the other's knowledge, and the touring crew who treats the locals as helpers rather than colleagues has a long, slow load-in.

Eyelines, the shot, and where to stand on set

On a film set, the most important space is the one the camera can see, and the second most important is where the actors are looking.

The shot is everything within the frame. During rehearsals and takes, crew stay out of it, which means knowing where the camera is pointing, what lens it has and how wide the shot is. If you are unsure, ask the camera department, or look at the monitors in video village.

An eyeline is where an actor is looking during a scene, often at another actor off camera or at a mark. A crew member standing in that line, moving in it or making eye contact with the actor pulls their focus and can ruin the performance. Stay out of eyelines, and if an actor is looking in your direction during a take, look down or away.

Other habits follow. Do not stand directly behind the camera operator or the director unless your job requires it. Keep reflective items and lights out of the scene. Do not step on marks taped on the floor for actors or camera. Keep carts and gear in the staging area the grips and electrics have set up, and keep the paths to set clear. And when the call is "turning around", everything behind the camera is about to be in front of it, so move your gear before you are asked.

Backstage while the show is on

Backstage during a performance has its own rules, and they apply to everybody from the half until the end of the show.

Silence and stillness in the wings. The wings are close to the stage and the audience, and sound carries. Talk only when necessary and in a whisper, move slowly and quietly, and never let a door slam.

Stay out of sightlines. A sightline is the line from an audience seat to a point on stage. Anything standing where some seats can see it — in the wings, behind a gap in the masking, in a doorway — is visible to part of the audience. Stand behind the sightline marks the stage manager or carpenters have set.

Cross behind. To get from one side of the stage to the other, use the crossover behind the set or the corridor, never across the back of the stage behind a gauze or a backlit cyclorama, where your silhouette is visible.

Use the light that is there. Backstage running lights are dim and often blue, so they do not spill onto the stage. Glow tape marks edges, steps and spike marks. Torches are covered or pointed down and never shone towards the stage.

Mind the edges. Stage edges, orchestra pits, trap doors and the edges of platforms are hard to see in show light, and falls from them are among the most serious backstage injuries. Know where they are before the lights go down.

And keep clear of the performers' paths, quick-change areas, the fly rail and the prop tables, which belong to the people who use them during the show.

Carts, staging areas and keeping paths clear

A set or backstage area is a crowded workplace with fixed routes, and every department needs them clear.

Staging areas are the places set aside for each department's carts, cases and equipment near the set or stage. Put your department's gear there and nowhere else. Do not borrow another department's cart, stand, sandbag or apple box without asking; it is probably holding something, and they will need it in a minute.

Paths to the set, fire exits, emergency equipment, electrical distribution and the routes performers and cast use are kept clear at all times. A case left in a corridor at the wrong moment trips somebody carrying a light, blocks a quick change, or blocks an exit in an emergency.

Cable is run along the edges of paths, taped or covered where it crosses one, and coiled away when it is no longer needed. And whenever you set something down, ask whether anybody will need to walk there in the next hour.

Who you take direction from

Backstage during the show

• Silent and slow in the wings.
• Behind the sightline marks.
• Cross behind the set, never behind a lit backdrop.
• Covered torches, pointed down.
• Know every edge before the lights go down.

On set during takes

• Out of the shot and out of eyelines.
• Not behind the operator or director without a reason.
• Off the actors' and camera's marks.
• Gear moved before "turning around".

On the job

A touring musical loads into a union theatre. The tour's lighting technician, keen to get ahead, starts plugging the tour's moving lights into the house's distribution while the house electricians are on their meal break.

The house head electrician returns to find it done. He calls the steward. Plugging in lighting in this house is the house electricians' work under the agreement, and the tour is told so. Work on lighting stops while the tour's production manager and the steward talk it through. The load-in, which was running early, now runs forty minutes late.

Nobody questions that the technician knew how to plug in a light. What he did not know was whose work it was.

The next morning the technician introduces himself to the head electrician, walks the rig with him, and tells the house crew where each fixture goes and how the tour likes the cable dressed. The house crew does the work quickly and well. By the end of the week the head electrician is suggesting improvements to the tour's cable plan, and the technician is taking them.

How to do it

1. Find out whether the venue or production is union, and who the steward is.
2. Meet the heads of department you will work with.
3. Ask what work the house crew does and what the touring or production crew may do.
4. Direct and explain rather than doing work that belongs to another crew.
5. Take the meal break when it is called.
6. Ask before touching another department's gear, anywhere.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Talent, Clients and Confidentiality

Crews work around famous people, powerful clients, unreleased products and private information every day, and how a crew member behaves around each is watched closely. The person who is professional, discreet and unimpressed is welcome anywhere. The person who asks for a selfie, posts a photo from set or chats to a keynote speaker before she goes on stage is remembered for the wrong reason.

This chapter covers performers and talent, clients and their guests at corporate events, confidentiality agreements and social media, and the phone in your pocket.

Talent and performers

Talent means the people the audience or the camera is there to see: actors, presenters, musicians, keynote speakers, athletes, hosts. Whether they are famous or not, on the job they are colleagues doing difficult, exposed work, and crew conduct around them follows a few simple rules.

Let them approach you. Do not start conversations with talent, especially before they perform or between takes, when they are concentrating. If they speak to you, be friendly and brief. The assistant directors, stage managers and talent handlers are the people who communicate with them about the work.

No photos, no autographs, no selfies. Not on the set, not backstage, not at the hotel, not when they seem happy to. It is almost always against the production's rules, and it treats a colleague as a fan attraction.

Respect their spaces. Dressing rooms, green rooms, trailers, holding areas and hospitality are for talent and the people looking after them. Do not enter unless your work takes you there, knock and wait when it does, and do not help yourself to their food or drink.

Microphones and costumes are personal. A crew member fitting a radio microphone or adjusting a costume asks permission, explains what they are doing and where they will touch, works quickly and respectfully, and has a colleague present or works in view where the production requires it.

And never discuss talent — how they behaved, what they said, what they looked like without makeup — with anybody outside the job. It is confidential, and it gets around.

Clients and guests at corporate events

A corporate event has a client in the room: the company paying for the event, their event planners, their executives and their guests. The crew's aim is to deliver a flawless event while being as close to invisible as possible.

Be courteous and brief. Greet clients and guests politely if they approach, answer their questions or find the person who can, and do not start long conversations. The client's point of contact is usually the production manager or the account manager, and requests from the client go to them rather than being agreed on the spot by a technician.

Stay out of sight when you can. Work quietly during sessions, move around the edges of the room, do not stand in the audience's view of the stage or screens, and do not sit in the audience's seats.

You are not a guest. Do not eat from the attendees' buffet or take the event's giveaways unless the client has explicitly offered, which is what crew meals are for. Do not drink alcohol at the event, however informal the evening becomes.

Keep opinions to yourself. Do not comment on the content of presentations, the company's products, its people or its politics, in the room or on comms.

And dress for the client. Many corporate clients expect smart blacks or the production company's shirt, and a crew member who looks professional is treated as one.

Confidentiality, NDAs and social media

Crews see things before the world does: unreleased products, company results before they are announced, a series' plot, a celebrity's appearance, a secret guest. Much of it is protected by non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, which crew members are asked to sign, and the rest is protected by basic professional discretion.

Treat everything you see and hear on a job as confidential unless it has been made public. That includes slides at a corporate rehearsal, scripts, set designs, who is on the guest list, and anything about talent.

Social media is where careers end. Do not post photos or videos from a set, a stage, a rehearsal or backstage, do not post the location of a shoot or a celebrity, and do not hint at what you are working on, unless the production has explicitly allowed it — and even then, only what it allowed and when. Many productions search for leaks, and the source is easy to find. A single post can breach an NDA, cost the production money and remove a crew member from every future job with that company.

When the job is over and public, it is often fine to say you worked on it. When in doubt, ask the production before posting anything.

The phone in your pocket

The phone is the commonest etiquette breach on sets and stages today, and the easiest to avoid.

Silent, always. Not vibrate near microphones, which pick it up, and not on during takes or shows.

Away when you are working. Crew scrolling phones look disengaged to the people paying them, even when they are waiting. Use it out of sight, on breaks, or for work.

No photos or recordings of the set, stage, talent, content or client, without permission.

Not in the dark. A phone screen backstage during a show, or in a dark venue during a session, is a bright light the audience and performers can see.

And sometimes the phone is a work tool — the schedule, a digital call sheet, a control app, a manual. Use it that way openly and briefly, and put it away again.

Around talent

At a corporate event

Never post

• Photos or video from set, stage, rehearsal or backstage.
• Shoot locations or who is there.
• Anything about unreleased products, scripts or content.
• Anything the production has not explicitly allowed.

On the job

A technology company's product launch. The stage crew has been rehearsing with the new product for two days, under an NDA every crew member signed. On the second evening a young technician, excited to be part of it, posts a short video to his private social media account: the empty stage, the lighting looking beautiful, and, for two seconds, the product on its plinth.

A friend of a friend shares it. The next morning the client's security team finds it, the production company's account manager is called into a meeting with the client, and the product's appearance is reported by a technology website a day before the launch.

The technician is removed from the job that morning and is not booked by the production company again. The production company's contract with the client is reviewed. The video had been online for eleven hours.

What he wanted to share was that he was proud of the work. After the launch, with the production's permission, a photo of the lit stage would have said the same thing and harmed nobody.

How to do it

1. Read and understand any NDA before signing it, and ask what it covers.
2. Put your phone on silent and away before entering the set, stage or event space.
3. Let talent and clients start conversations; keep them brief.
4. Send client requests to the production manager or account manager.
5. Stay out of dressing rooms, green rooms and hospitality unless your work takes you there.
6. Ask permission and explain before fitting microphones or touching costumes.
7. Post nothing about the job unless the production has explicitly allowed it.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Safety Is Etiquette Too

Much of what looks like etiquette on a set or stage is really safety: staying out of lanes, keeping paths clear, answering "heads", keeping quiet during a stunt. And the most important piece of professional conduct of all is saying something when you see something dangerous — even as the newest person on the crew, even when it slows the day down.

This chapter covers stop work authority, reporting hazards and near misses, safety meetings and special effects, weather and evacuation, and fatigue. The detailed safety of each discipline is taught in its own book; this is the conduct that goes with it.

Anybody can stop work

On professional productions, anybody who sees an imminent danger to a person may stop the work, whatever their role or experience. The event safety industry calls this stop work authority, and film and theatre productions work the same way.

It exists because the person who notices a problem is often the most junior person in the area — the one walking past the truss, holding the rope, standing under the scenery — and because a few seconds' delay is always cheaper than an injury.

Using it well is part of being professional. Call "stop" clearly and loudly enough to be heard, say what you saw in plain words, and tell the person in charge of the work. You do not need to be sure; you need to have seen something that looks dangerous. Nobody competent will criticise a crew member for stopping work over a real concern, and anybody who does is telling you something about the production.

The opposite behaviour — seeing something wrong and assuming somebody more senior must already know — is how most avoidable incidents happen.

Reporting hazards, incidents and near misses

Not every hazard needs work stopped. Most need somebody told: a frayed cable, a missing handrail, a wet floor near a distro, a blocked fire exit, a stage edge without glow tape, a loose step on a platform.

Report it to your lead or to the person responsible for the area, and, if you can make it safe without putting yourself at risk and it is yours to touch, do: tape a trip hazard, mop a spill, put a case back in the staging area.

A near miss is an event that could have hurt somebody and did not: a dropped wrench that landed a metre from a colleague, a scenery piece that moved when it should not have, a person who nearly fell from a stage edge. Near misses are reported just like injuries, because the next one may not miss. Good productions treat near miss reports as valuable, and never as an admission of blame.

And if somebody is hurt, get help first — call for the set medic, first aider or emergency services as the production's procedure says — and report it straight away afterwards.

Safety meetings, briefings and special effects

Before anything unusually hazardous — a stunt, pyrotechnics, firearms or weapons on set, lasers, flying performers, haze and smoke, vehicles, animals, water or a crane — productions hold a safety meeting or briefing for everybody who will be in the area.

Attend it, even if you think it does not concern you, and listen. It tells you where the danger zones are, who is in charge of the effect, what the calls will be, where you may and may not stand, and what to do if something goes wrong.

During the effect, follow the calls of the person responsible — the stunt coordinator, the special effects supervisor, the pyrotechnician, the armourer, the laser safety officer — without argument. Stay out of any exclusion zone, never touch effects equipment, and keep your attention on what is happening rather than on filming it with your phone.

The same goes for performer flying, automation and moving scenery on stage: when the call is to clear an area, it is cleared, and nobody walks through a moving scenery path because they are in a hurry.

Weather holds and evacuation

Outdoor productions and events depend on the weather, and every professional one has a weather plan that says when work stops and who decides.

Lightning is the most common reason. When lightning is detected within a set distance, work at height stops, crews leave stages, truss and other metal structures, and audiences may be moved to shelter. Work resumes only when the responsible person says so, usually after a set time with no further lightning. High wind stops work at height, can require video walls and banners to be lowered, and can close a stage.

Every venue and site also has an evacuation plan: the alarm, the exits, the assembly point and who counts people. On arrival at a new venue, find the nearest exits from where you will be working and the assembly point. When the alarm sounds or evacuation is called, stop, make your work safe only if it takes seconds, and leave by the nearest exit to the assembly point. Do not go back for your kit, and tell the person counting that you are out.

A crew member who knows the plan helps an audience leave calmly. A crew member who does not becomes somebody else's problem.

Fatigue and turnaround

Long days are normal in this industry: fourteen-hour shoot days, overnight load-outs, a load-in after a travel day. Fatigue is a real safety hazard, and managing it is part of professional conduct.

Turnaround is the rest time between the end of one day's work and the start of the next. Union agreements and many productions set a minimum, because tired crews make mistakes, drop things from height and fall asleep driving home. When a turnaround is short, protect it: go home, sleep, eat properly.

On the job, drink water, eat when you can, take the breaks you are given, and tell your lead if you are too tired to do a task safely, especially at height, on a lift or with heavy loads. It is a responsible thing to say, not a weakness.

And be honest about driving. Many serious injuries to film and event crew happen on the drive home after a very long day. If you are too tired to drive safely, say so; productions arrange rest, a lift or a hotel room far more often than people expect.

Speak up

On arrival at any venue

• Nearest exits from your work position.
• Assembly point.
• Where the first aider or medic is.
• The weather plan on outdoor sites.

Around effects and stunts

• Attend the safety meeting.
• Follow the responsible person's calls.
• Stay out of exclusion zones.
• Never touch effects equipment.
• Watch, don't film.

On the job

A festival load-in. A crane is lifting an LED wall section onto a stage roof while a team of stagehands prepares cables underneath. The new stagehand at the back of the team notices the crane's tag line has been dropped and the section is starting to turn slowly in the wind, towards the scaffold tower where two riggers are working.

Nobody else seems to have seen it. Everybody senior is looking at their own work. She hesitates for a second, because she is the newest person there, and then shouts "Stop! The load's turning!" and points.

The crane operator stops the lift. The riggers step back, a stagehand recovers the tag line, and the section is steadied and landed. The head rigger walks over afterwards and thanks her in front of the team, and the incident goes into the day's report as a near miss, with a note to put a second person on tag lines when the wind is up.

She had been worried that shouting "stop" would look like panic. It looked like exactly what the crew needed.

How to do it

1. If a person is in immediate danger, call "stop" clearly and point to the hazard.
2. Tell the person in charge of the work what you saw, in plain words.
3. If it is not immediate, report it to your lead or area supervisor.
4. Make it safe yourself only if it is within your job and does not put you at risk.
5. Report near misses as you would an injury.
6. If someone is hurt, get help first, then report.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Pressure, Mistakes & Reputation

How you handle the hard moments — and own your mistakes — builds the reputation that defines you.

Handling pressure and mistakes

Productions get stressful — tight schedules, problems, long hours — and how you conduct yourself under pressure reveals your professionalism. The standard is to stay calm, stay positive, and keep doing your job well even when things are hard, rather than becoming flustered, negative, or part of the problem. Calm professionalism under pressure is deeply valued because it is when it is hardest and matters most. The person who holds steady when a show is going sideways is the person crews trust and remember.

Mistakes will happen, and how you handle them matters enormously. The professional response is to own it honestly and immediately, focus on fixing it, and learn from it — not to hide it, blame others, or make excuses. Owning a mistake takes courage and builds trust; hiding one destroys it, especially when it surfaces later. A newcomer who makes an honest mistake, owns it, and fixes it earns more respect than one who is never quite at fault. Accountability is a hallmark of a true professional.

Building your reputation

Everything in this book compounds into your reputation — the single most valuable asset in a relationship-driven industry, for freelancers and employees alike. Your reputation is built on every job through your reliability, attitude, communication, respect for the hierarchy and unwritten rules, and conduct under pressure. In a connected industry, word travels fast: being known as reliable, professional, and great to work with brings a steady stream of work and opportunity, while a reputation for being unreliable or difficult quietly closes doors. You build that reputation one job at a time, and every job is an audition for the next.

The encouraging truth is that excellent etiquette is achievable by anyone willing to be reliable, positive, aware, and professional — it does not require talent, only choice and discipline. The newcomer who masters set and stage etiquette, even before mastering the deepest technical skills, will be welcomed, taught, and re-hired, and will build the reputation that carries a whole career. Conduct yourself as the professional you want to be known as, on every job, and the reputation — and the work — will follow.

Practical sign-off

Etiquette is proven on the job. The learner consistently demonstrates reliability, a good attitude, correct on-set communication, respect for hierarchy and unwritten rules, and professional handling of pressure and mistakes. A mentor signs off when the learner conducts themselves as a trusted professional on a crew.

• Was reliable: on time, prepared, and followed through
• Communicated correctly on set and respected the calls
• Respected the hierarchy and the unwritten rules
• Handled pressure calmly and owned a mistake professionally

Raising problems and handling conflict

Problems happen on every job: a piece of gear is missing, another department is in the way, a lead gives an instruction that seems wrong, a colleague is not pulling their weight. How a problem is raised decides whether it gets solved or becomes an incident.

Raise it early, with the right person, in the right place. Your own lead is the first person for almost everything. Choose a moment when they can listen, and say what you have noticed and what you think would help, briefly.

Raise it privately. Never argue in front of a client, talent or an audience, never on an open radio or headset channel, and never with a head of another department over your own lead's head. A disagreement handled quietly is forgotten by lunch; one handled publicly is remembered by everybody who saw it.

Disagree respectfully, then follow the decision. You can say "I think the cable run will be a trip hazard there — could we go round the edge?" If your lead has heard you and still decides otherwise, and it is not a safety issue, do it their way. If it is a safety issue, it is not a disagreement; it is a stop work.

And leave conflicts with colleagues at the job. The industry is small, and today's frustrating colleague is next month's crew chief.

Respect, harassment and how to report it

Everybody on a crew has the right to work without harassment, bullying or discrimination, whatever their role, gender, race, age, background or experience. Most productions now have written policies, and in many countries they are required by law.

Harassment includes unwanted comments about someone's body or appearance, sexual remarks and jokes, unwanted touching, persistent unwanted attention, and insults or exclusion based on who someone is. Bullying includes shouting, humiliation and deliberately making someone's work impossible. The long hours, the pressure and the old habits of some crews do not make any of it acceptable.

If it happens to you, you can tell the person to stop if you feel safe doing so, and you can report it: to your lead, to the production manager or stage manager, to the production's human resources or welfare contact, to your union representative, or through any reporting line the production provides. Many productions have confidential or anonymous reporting. Write down what happened, when, and who saw it.

If you see it happen to somebody else, you can help: interrupt it, check on the person afterwards, and report what you saw or support them in reporting it. Crews change when bystanders stop treating it as normal.

And hold yourself to the same standard. A joke that lands well with your friends can humiliate a new colleague, and being a pleasure to work with means being a pleasure to work with for everybody.

Raising a problem

If you experience or see harassment

• Tell the person to stop, if you feel safe doing so.
• Write down what happened, when and who saw it.
• Report it to your lead, production or stage manager, HR or welfare contact, or union representative.
• Use the production's confidential reporting line where there is one.
• Check on a colleague it happened to, and support them.

On the job

A television studio show. During a long rehearsal day, an experienced camera operator makes repeated comments about a new camera assistant's appearance over the talkback and during breaks. Others laugh, and she laughs along to avoid trouble.

A lighting technician notices she has stopped eating with the crew. At the next break he quietly asks if she is all right. She tells him it has been going on since the start of the week and she does not want to make a fuss in her first month.

He tells her he saw some of it and will back her up, and that the production's welfare contact and the floor manager are both there for exactly this. She decides to report it, with him as a witness. The production speaks to the camera operator that afternoon, the comments stop, and the camera assistant is back on the crew the following season.

Nothing about it was technical, and it was one of the most professional things anyone did on that job.

How to do it

1. Decide whether it is a safety issue; if it is, stop work and say so.
2. Choose your own lead, at a moment they can listen, away from clients and talent.
3. Say briefly what you have noticed and what you suggest.
4. Listen to the answer.
5. Follow the decision unless it is unsafe.
6. For harassment or bullying, report it through the production's channels, and write down what happened.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Wrap, Strike and After the Job

The end of the day is when people are tired, the pressure is off and things go wrong: cases are packed wrong, cables are thrown into bins, equipment is left behind, somebody leaves early and the rest of the crew notices. It is also the last impression you leave, and the paperwork and follow-up afterwards are the last things the production sees of you.

This chapter covers wrap and strike, leaving the space, and what happens after the job: timesheets, invoices, thanks and staying in touch.

Wrap and strike

When shooting wraps or the show ends, a second job starts: taking everything down and packing it away. On a film set it is the wrap; on a stage and at an event, the strike or load-out.

Stay until your lead releases you. Leaving early from a strike, even when your own department's work seems done, leaves the rest of the crew with more to do, and it is noticed. Ask your lead what else needs doing.

Take things down in the right order. Strike has an order for safety — often power off and cable out before equipment is moved, rigging brought down under the riggers' control, and the stage cleared of people before scenery and flown items move. Follow your head of department's plan, and keep out of the load hazard zone of anything coming down.

Pack it the way it came. Equipment goes back in its own case, in its own place, cables coiled properly and the correct way for that department, and nothing forced. Count items back into their cases against the packing list, and report anything missing or damaged immediately, labelled, rather than packing it away for someone else to discover.

Respect the truck pack. Trucks are packed in a planned order so they unload in the right order at the next venue and travel safely. The truck packer decides where each case goes; bring cases to the dock in the order they ask for.

And look after yourself and others: lift with help, use the carts and lifts provided, and keep your gloves and boots on until the truck doors close.

Leaving the space better than you found it

The venue, location or studio you work in belongs to someone else, and how you leave it decides whether the production is welcome back.

Remove everything that came in: equipment, cable, tape on floors and walls, cable ties, rubbish and food. Gaffer tape left on a painted floor, a hotel ballroom carpet or a historic building's wall causes damage and complaints. Take down tape carefully.

Put back anything that was moved: furniture, rugs, the client's lectern, the venue's chairs. Many locations are photographed before a shoot so they can be restored exactly.

Check for personal items and lost property: your own kit, other people's jackets and phones, and anything left under the stage, in the green room or on a truss.

And sign out, at the production office, with the steward or with your lead, so the production knows who has left the site.

Timesheets, invoices and paperwork

Being easy to work with includes being easy to pay.

Before the first day, return whatever the production or company asks for: start paperwork, tax forms, contracts, deal memos or supplier details, on time and complete. Crew who start work without paperwork can delay payroll for everybody.

Timesheets record your hours, meal breaks and any overtime. Fill them in accurately and honestly each day or at the end of the job as the production requires, get them signed by your head of department, and hand them in on time.

If you are a freelancer invoicing the company, send the invoice promptly after the job, with the dates, the rate, what was agreed, any expenses with receipts, and your payment details, exactly as the company asks. Chase late payments politely.

Keep copies of everything — timesheets, invoices, call sheets, agreements — because they are also the record of your experience.

Thanks, feedback and staying in touch

Before leaving, thank the people you worked with: your head of department, the person who taught you something, the local crew, the production coordinator who sorted your parking. It takes a minute and people remember it.

Afterwards, a short message to the person who booked you — thanking them for the work and saying you would be glad to work with them again — keeps you in mind for the next job. Keep it brief and professional.

If you were given feedback during the job, take it seriously, and if you made a mistake, you can say briefly that you have learned from it. Ask your lead, when they have time, what you could do better next time.

Keep a record of every job: the production, dates, venue, your role, who you worked for and what you learned. It is your résumé, your union or certification experience log, and your list of contacts.

And keep your availability current. The crew member who answers quickly and honestly about whether they are free is the one whose phone keeps ringing.

At wrap and strike

After the job

• Timesheet accurate, signed and handed in.
• Invoice sent promptly with the details requested.
• Thanks said in person and by a short message.
• Job recorded in your experience log.
• Availability kept current.

On the job

The last night of a three-day conference in a hotel ballroom. The show ends at 10 p.m. and the load-out is due to finish by 2 a.m., when the hotel needs the room back.

By midnight, the audio cases are packed and the audio technician says goodnight and leaves. The video and lighting crews are still taking down the screen and the truss. The crew chief notices, and so does everyone carrying truss at 1 a.m.

The other audio technician stays, asks the crew chief what else she can do, and spends the next two hours carrying truss sections, counting cable into cases and peeling gaffer tape off the ballroom's carpet. When the truck doors close at 1:55, she thanks the hotel's banquet captain for the room, sends the production manager a short note from the car park thanking him for the job, and the next morning submits her invoice with the timesheet the crew chief signed.

Both audio technicians were equally good at audio. The production manager's next booking message goes to one of them.

How to do it

1. Ask your lead what is needed for the strike, and stay until you are released.
2. Follow the strike order and keep out of load hazard zones.
3. Pack every item in its place, counted against the list, damage labelled and reported.
4. Bring cases to the truck in the packer's order.
5. Remove tape and rubbish, restore anything moved, and check for lost property.
6. Sign out, thank the people you worked with, and hand in your signed timesheet.
7. Send your invoice promptly and a short thank-you message to whoever booked you.
8. Record the job in your experience log.

What goes wrong

Practice it

Answer before checking.

Glossary

What the gear actually looks like

Every device named in this book, in one place. Recognition is the whole point of Chapter 4 — use this page to attach a picture to each name before you meet it on a dock at six in the morning.

Audio

Dynamic microphone

Condenser microphone

Wireless handheld

Radio rack

Mixing console

Stage box / snake

Power amplifier

Main loudspeaker

Subwoofer

Stage monitor wedge

In-ear monitors

DI box

Video

Camera

Video switcher

Scaler / processor

Projector

LED wall panel

Confidence monitor

Lighting & control

Conventional fixture

Moving-head fixture

Lighting console

Dimmer

Show controller

Media server

Networking & infrastructure

Network switch

Patch bay

Equipment rack

Power distribution

Cable tester

A properly coiled cable

Connectors, close up

XLR

TRS / TS ¼-inch

SDI on BNC

HDMI

Cat5e / Cat6 (RJ45)

Fiber optic

DMX (5-pin XLR)

AC power — not signal