Sometimes you need the help of the other stand-ins in order to do your job.  Likewise, sometimes they need your help in order to do their jobs.  Here are some ways you can help out your fellow stand-ins and ultimately live and work more harmoniously as “a family.”

Set Up a Chair

When you’re the first stand-in to arrive to set, if you have the opportunity to grab a chair for yourself, also see if you can grab a chair for your fellow stand-in.  Setting up chairs for you and your fellow stand-ins helps to set aside an area for stand-ins to set their belongings as well as develop a positive work relationship.

Point Out Important People on Set

If you’re working with a stand-in new to your set, help your fellow stand-in know who the ADs are, the background PA, as well as the DP and director.  This will help the stand-in know to whom to pay attention and from whom to expect instruction.  Pointing out the camera operator(s) may also be of help to your fellow stand-in.

Note When Someone’s Looking

When you’re standing in, sometimes a DP or director will be looking at the scene but one stand-in’s back may be to the onlooker.  When you see someone looking at your scene, let your fellow stand-in know.  This will help the stand-in know to be extra focused in the moment and quiet stray movement and idle chitchat.

Note When There Is a Safety Hazard Behind

With grips, electrics, and set dressers moving in lights, equipment, and furniture, stand-ins are often in their path.  Alert your fellow stand-in when a safety hazard is coming in from behind.  If danger is imminent, move your fellow stand-in away from the danger.

Also, as the dolly holding the camera tracks forward, your fellow stand-in may be in its path but not know it.  Watch in case your fellow stand-in is going to be hit by the camera or dolly, and alert the stand-in that the camera is tracking in.

Note When There Is a Safety Hazard Above

Hazards aren’t just from behind; sometimes the hazards are overhead!  Alert your fellow stand-in when a safety hazard is above.  Crew members working on ladders and dropping in cable are overhead dangers that your fellow stand-in should not be under.  Advise your fellow stand-in to move out of the way if something above looks even slightly precarious.

Relay an Instruction That Goes Unheard

If your fellow stand-in’s back is to a person giving instructions, it becomes hard to discern instructions.  If the camera crew is trying to communicate with your fellow stand-in but the stand-in isn’t hearing, relay the instruction to the stand-in.  It may be difficult for your fellow stand-in to hear given the surrounding noise, or your vantage point may make it easier for you to read lips and discern instructions.

Relay to a PA or AD When a Fellow Stand-In Is “10-1″

A stand-in may make a decided effort to communicate to an AD or the background PA the need to step off set for a quick bathroom break, but there may be no AD or PA in sight.  In such a case, it may help if you accept the task of relaying to an AD or the background PA when your fellow stand-in sets off set for the bathroom.

Ultimately, it’s your fellow stand-in’s responsibility to convey the need to head to the bathroom (“10-1″ is the codeword for “in the bathroom”), but you can help relay the message when there’s no one around to tell.

Offer to Cover for When Your Fellow Stand-In Is Absentee

Occasionally your fellow stand-in will be away from set when requested.  When your fellow stand-in is needed but can’t be found, offer to the crew to stand in for the stand-in until the stand-in arrives.  Sometimes the crew will oblige your request, other times not.

Watch Your Fellow Stand-In’s Actor during Marking Rehearsal

If your fellow stand-in can’t watch marking rehearsal, keep track of the stand-in’s actor during marking rehearsal and note the actor’s blocking.  Share that information with your fellow stand-in so that you can both function better during the setup of the shot.

Make a Plate

When your fellow stand-in is standing in and you’re not standing in in the current scene, it just might so happen that “Sandwich O’Clock” happens.  That is, pre-lunch or post-lunch food might be served by craft services.

The crew might partake in the food but your fellow stand-in may not get to step off.  Asking if your fellow stand-in would like some food is most considerate, and making a plate for your fellow stand-in is even better.

Got an idea how you can help your fellow stand-ins?  Is there something you wish other stand-ins would do for you?  If so, share below!

If the mark is in the shape of the letter T, your feet should go on opposite sides of the stem of the T, and your toes should touch the underside of the top of the T.  Marks usually designate a very specific location determined first by the actor in the rehearsal of a scene, then adjusted by the camera department as they set up the shot.

When you are standing in on your mark, often you will be adjusted by the camera operator.  This movement almost always implies that you will need to be “remarked.”  The responsibility of remarking you is that of the camera assistant. This is usually the crew member who originally laid down the marks during marking rehearsal, but more generally it is the responsibility of the camera department.  Remarking is not the responsibility of the stand-in.

From time to time, you will be moved from your original mark and need to be remarked.  Here are some tips on how to address getting marked or remarked when you’re standing in.

Wait to Be Remarked

The most common scenario you will find yourself in is that you will be repositioned from your original mark.  This will mean that you will need to be remarked.  Often, the camera assistant is paying close attention to whether you’ve been moved during the setup of a shot, and the camera assistant will take care of remarking you without needing to be asked.  However, sometimes the camera assistant will be busy doing other tasks, meaning the camera assistant will miss that you’ve been remarked.

In general, do nothing if you’ve moved but not remarked.  Instead, wait for the camera department to call for you to be remarked.  In most cases this will happen within a few minutes of your being repositioned.

Ben’s Tips!
#1 – When you’ve being remarked, pay attention to where your feet are.  Sometimes in your new position you will be standing on the tape for your old mark.  In making your new mark, the camera assistant may simply move the old tape.  So, make sure you give the camera assistant room to move your mark … but also stay on your new mark!
#2 – All the while, try to keep your attention up and where it should be while you’re getting remarked.  While you’re being remarked, the DP might be looking at you to see how the light falls on you.  Staying focused on the ground can take away precious time from the DP as the shot is being set up.

Ask to Be Remarked

If you are asked to move to a second position (that is, from your first mark to your next mark in a scene), it is usually critical that you are first remarked before you move to the second position.

If you’re being asked to move to your second mark before being remarked, politely let the camera department know that you need to be remarked.  You can tell either the camera assistant or the camera operator.  (If for some reason neither is available, let an A.D. know that you need to be remarked.)

Generally, do not move to your second mark until your new first mark has been remarked.  Doing so will preserve the work already done in setting up the shot.

Ask for a Mark

Sometimes a mark will not be laid down during the marking rehearsal at a place where your actor stops or stands.  Other times an additional position will be added to a scene after the marking rehearsal.  If you’ve been positioned in a place without a clear mark, and you feel the actor will need that mark in performing the scene, you might ask for a mark.

In such a case, again, politely ask the camera assistant or camera operator for a mark.  A mark may or may not be important to the camera department in such a case, but it can’t hurt to ask if you feel a mark would be helpful.

Ask Before Moving Your Mark

If things are a bit crazy on set, and if the camera assistant is nowhere to be found, it might be easier for you to remark yourself than to have someone else remark you.  In general, though, do not remark yourself without asking.

If it looks that it might be optimal for you to remark yourself, first ask permission from the camera operator if it’s okay to remark yourself.  In so doing, the camera operator may immediately call for the camera assistant to remark you, or the camera operator may even remark you.  At other times, the camera operator may say it’s okay to remark yourself.

However, very rarely would you remark yourself.  Marking and remarking yourself is not your responsibility.  If you marked and remarked yourself without asking, you potentially would interfere with the camera assistant’s responsibilities and potentially cause conflict.  In general, always ask permission before moving your mark.

Do you have any tips on getting marked or remarked as a stand-in?  Have you had any interesting experiences in terms of getting marked or remarked?  If so, please share below!

So when setting up the shot, should you hit your mark, or should you stray from your mark so that you’re seen by the camera?

The answer isn’t absolute.  The answer generally depends on the interests of the DP and camera crew in that particular take.  However, a decent guideline for managing such a conflict is to hit your mark first, and adjust as requested, keeping aware of where the lens is should you be asked to “find the lens.”

What Does It Mean to “Find the Lens”?

“Finding the lens” means to position yourself in the shot so that you can see the lens from where you are.  If you have a clear view of lens and you appear to be within its scope, then you probably have found the lens.

If you’re blocked by another actor or set piece from seeing the lens, likely you haven’t found the lens.  To find the lens, slowly adjust your position until you can see the lens and the camera crew says to stop–presumably because it can now see you.

The resulting blocking means you will probably be remarked, and your new position is a “cheat” from the prior position in order to make a better shot.

Do you always find the lens rather than take your mark when you’re stacked up?  Do you have any pointers for finding the lens?  If so, comment below!

Here’s a quick tip I employ for remembering blocking during marking rehearsal.

Backstory

I coach long-form improv.  In long-form improv, actors solicit audience suggestions.  Then they use those audience suggestions later in their improvisations.

The trouble some actors have is that they forget the audience suggestions later in their improv.  It’s interesting to me that this is less likely to happen if the actors repeat the audience suggestions outloud after hearing them.

How I explain it, repeating an audience suggestion “gets the suggestion more in-the-nervous-system” than simply hearing it does.  Essentially, in repeating the audience suggestion, the actor uses more of her body and has a larger sensory experience of the audience suggestion than if she simply heard the suggestion.  As a result of having a larger sensory experience, she has a better likelihood of remembering the audience suggestion because the experience of the audience suggestion is more vivid.

Self-Narration

Relating this lesson to standing in, I sometimes narrate to myself what I’m seeing going on with my first-team actor as I’m watching a marking rehearsal.  That way the experience of the marking rehearsal becomes more vivid to me than simply a visual experience or an aural experience.  Also, self-narrating helps me remember the timing of blocking in a scene better than my quick notes on blocking jotted on my sides might help me.

Self-narration might go something like this (below).  Of course, I’m not saying this so that anyone can hear me.  I’m just actively phrasing what I’m seeing rather than simply observing or jotting down observations.

He knocks.  He comes in.  He closes the door with his right hand, takes a step in.  She counters.  He then takes another step in.  After she’s done talking, he crosses to the gurney end and turns slightly to her.  He says his line about being a loser.  She leaves and he takes step toward her.  He bends down with feet slightly apart and picks up the magazine card with his left hand.  Stands.  Looks at it, then at the door.  He exits.

The implication here is that there is so much activity in the scene in a short amount of time that it would be very hard to jot it down on my sides in a way helpful for me.  Self-narration helps me to remember a bit better what I saw.

Using Self-Narration

After the marking rehearsal, I might then jot down in more detail what I saw in order to better crystalize my memory of the scene.  It usually is easier for me to remember things like what hand an actor used when I self-narrated a marking rehearsal.

Give it a try!  Read the passage outloud and then ask yourself some questions about the blocking.  You might find that you remembered it better than when you simply read the passage!

Have you given self-narration a try?  If so, share your results below!

Even the shortest scene with a cross or two can amount to a number of blocking notes you may need to take.  To give you a sense of the number of things you may have to recall from a marking rehearsal, below is a list of some of the things I’m watching.  You aren’t just watching the blocking from point to point; there are a number of other things you’re watching, too!

• Number One: Watch where your actor walks.  A camera assistant will place marks, but it’s important for you to note what path your actor took to get to those marks.
• Watch where your actor stands relative to the other actors.  Again, marks may determine this orientation, but when your actor is walking, those positions may be less obvious.  Was your actor following the other actor? leading?  Were the actors staggered or walking in a straight line?
• Listen for the timing of the blocking with the lines.  That is, know on what lines your actor enters, moves, gestures, leaves, etc.  This can be especially important if you’re on a set that has you do the lines.
• Note what hand your actor uses for handling props, opening and closing doors, etc.  I write in my notes “rh” or “lh” to designate whether to hold a prop in my right hand or left hand.  And don’t forget: Sometimes props can change hands!
• Similarly, note which doors your actor uses when entering and exiting.  Sometimes your actor is walking through double doors and favors one door over another.
• Note the speed your actor does the blocking.  Relative speed may be more important than actual speed.  That is, it may be more important to know that your actor walked faster than the other actor in the scene, as opposed to knowing the actual speed your actor walked.
• Watch your actor’s posture.  Your actor may sit slouched or posture-perfect, with leg crossed or arms folded.  Note these things.  If you’re lying in for an actor in a bed, it may be helpful to note where your actor’s head hits the pillow so that you can best match the actor’s actual position.
• Similarly, note your actor’s height.  Sometimes the camera department will want to know how close in height you are to your actor.    (I often try to figure out my actor’s height before marking rehearsal.  Sometimes I ask other stand-ins for what they can tell about any height differences.) 
• Watch how high, low, wide, etc., your actor gestures.  Sometimes these things will be important.
• When your actor hugs another actor, pay attention to where your actor’s head goes.  Does it go to the right or to the left of the other actor’s head?

Sometimes I’ll pay attention to color cover, noting what buttons may be buttoned or unbuttoned on a piece of clothing.  I also might make note of when my actor drinks, how he pours a drink, and other tiny business.  Usually I refine my understanding of these tinier details after the setup is complete and my actor is in first-team rehearsal.

In takes, blocking often changes and evolves, so I watch the monitors and take notes as to what is now going on so that when I step back on set, the other crew don’t have to tell me what is new or different.

Lots of things to watch!  Is there anything you watch in marking rehearsal as a stand-in?  How do you take it all in?  Feel free to share in the comments below.