Terminology a Stand-In Will Hear on Set

1: your start mark (“go to your 1” or “on your 1”); also known as first position

10-1 or 10-100: a code referring to a quick bathroom break (“I’m 10-1”); in theory, 10-2 or 10-200 means a longer bathroom break but you rarely hear it or say it (except maybe jokingly)

Abby: the second to last shot of the day, named after assistant director Abby Singer

AD: an assistant director, of which there are several: the assistant director, the second assistant director (“2nd AD“), the second second assistant director (“2nd 2nd“)

background PA: a production assistant responsible for the background actors; this is the production assistant with whom you usually have the most contact, so if you need to step away, you would typically tell the background PA

banana: a verb meaning to travel in an arc rather than straight line (“banana over to the table”)

blocking: the sequence of positions through which an actor moves in a particular scene (e.g., an actor goes to a door, opens it, leaves, comes back, then sits on the couch), usually designated by marks on the ground

callsheet: a dense sheet of information about the shooting day, usually affixed to the front of the day’s sides; of note to the stand-in, it details the shooting schedule, your character number, as well as shooting location and oftentimes the advance schedule

camera-left or camera-right: if the camera were a person and the lens was the face, these would be the respective sides of the camera’s body (“look camera-left” or “cross camera-right”)

clock or counterclock (anticlock): means “turn your body in the direction (or opposite direction) of a clock’s hands”

color cover: costuming provided to you by wardrobe to wear that typically matches the color and/or style of costuming worn for that scene by the principal actor; typically you give your voucher to wardrobe in order to receive your color cover

DP: short for “director of photography,” an important person to listen to as the lights and camera are being set up

first team: the principal actor(s) involved in a scene; see also second team

half-speed: means “do your blocking at about half the speed of the actual speed,” usually so that the camera department can coordinate a shot better and safely

hot set: a set where the set dressing is arranged intentionally and should not be touched (often a sign will explain “hot set” especially when the set doesn’t look as if it is intentionally arranged)

mark: where you stand in a particular shot, usually denoted by tape or some other landmark

martini: the last shot of the day; sometimes called the martini sequence when it is unclear if the last shot is actually going to be the last shot

PA: a production assistant; you mostly interact with the background PA or the 2nd 2nd AD when you have a question or concern

second team: the stand-in(s) for the principal actor(s) involved in a scene; see also first team

sides: miniaturized pages from the script for the scenes being shot on the day

stand down: a command meaning that you don’t need to stand in right now

voucher: your contract and timesheet, usually traded in to the wardrobe department while you have color cover from them

wrap: the official term for the end of the day

For a complete overview of the job of the stand-in and callsheet terminology,
download The Stand-In Handbook and The Callsheet Cheatsheet.