About
A Once-A-Day Encyclopedia of filmmaking terminology, set phrases, set photos, and other odds and ends from the most bizarre industry on the planet - the film industry.
What a name for one of the most boring (yet important) film industry document. The Day Out of Days (also known as Day of Days) sounds like it should be the name of some over the top post-apocalyptic survival story with the plague and nuclear weapons and some old woman everyone sees in their dreams in Nebraska. If only it was.
It’s actually a chart that lays out the amount of paid work, travel, & rehearsal days an actor has. It also denotes the actor’s start paid day and last paid day. Assistant Directors typically make these charts once the schedule’s been approved, but line producers and unit production managers also like to compose them. Its insufferably boring to look at, but incredibly necessary in the long run.
Movie Magic has a template that automatically generates a Day Out of Days from a schedule made in the program. If you’re not lucky enough to own Movie Magic, the chart is easily compiled through Excel or other spreadsheet programs and you can also find several templates online. If your project’s longer than a week, it’s pretty much necessary to have one of these. Try it sometime.
The Martini -
The most joyous words uttered on a film set. The “Martini” shot is the last shot of the day, or, even more joyous… the last shot of the entire production. The martini gets its name from the fact being that the next shot the production does will be out of a glass. Post-wrap drinks are a time honored tradition.
However, this is not to be confused with the last “take”. There can be many many many takes on the last shot of the night with some directors taking a perverse joy in keeping the crew on their toes waiting for the Assistant Director to announce “alright, we got it… that’s a wrap!”
