Best Practices On Set

On a set, there are various things that are said before the director calls cut. These different sayings vary from set to set, but they all share the same purpose. First, the Assistant Director will call something along the lines of "Pictures Up." This means that the camera is on and being setup. The AD will then call "Roll Sound" and the sound supervisor prepares for recording the sound. When the sound is ready, the sound supervisor calls "Sound Speeds." The AD also asks to "Roll Camera" where the camera operator responds "Camera Speeds." The camera operator only says this when the camera is fully ready to start filming. The 2nd Assistant Camera Operator then calls the slate with a clapper, which gives the editors what take and scene is being filmed. Only when the Camera Operator calls "Set," meaning the camera is set and ready, only then does the director call action. All of these different sayings are important because it lets the whole crew know when everything is ready, or when something is wrong. If things are miss called, the whole shoot could fail.