Let’s face it: Sometimes the job of the stand-in on a TV and film set can get a bit monotonous. You might get so good at your job that you find it lacks any real challenge. What to do?

Well, how about a challenge?!

We’ve invented a series at Stand-In Central called Stand-In Challenges. Stand-In Challenges are games you can test yourself in as you work as a stand-in, in order to help develop your skills and become an even better stand-in.

If you like them or have an interesting experience trying them out, please let us know about your adventures by chiming in in the Comments section of the challenge. Below is our second Stand-In Challenge: The Multiset Stand-In Contest!!

– The Editor

Stand-In Challenge #2: The Multiset Stand-In Contest!

Want to put some zest into your stand-in life?  See how many different sets you can stand in on in one month!

The Rules

You can play this contest with yourself or with a group of stand-ins.

First, lay out a month in which the contest takes place, especially the last day of the contest.  For example, lay out that the contest begins with work that begins on August 1st and ends with work that begins on August 31st.  (Work that begins on July 31st but ends early in the morning on August 1st does not count as stand-in work in the contest period.)

Second, lay out any projects that do and don’t qualify.  (Do only TV and film projects count?  Does standing in on photo shoots count?  What about on game shows?  If you stand in for yourself on a student film, does it count?) A bit of advice in setting this standard is that for a project to count, you have to be booked explicitly as a stand-in, or you have to be upgraded to stand in from a lower position on set.  That is, if you’re a principal actor in a student film and have to stand in for yourself, this is not countable standing in because you’re not upgraded to that position, but if you’re a background actor who is upgraded to also stand in, then that may count as a stand-in gig.

One cool rule: If you’re booked as a stand-in but aren’t used on a set, that still counts as standing in on that set!

Next, with the standards in place, try to book stand-in work on as many different sets as possible in the month.  You get one point for every different set you stand in on in the period. So, if there are twelve productions in your town in the contest period and you stand in on five of them, you end up with 5 points.

You get 1 bonus point  if you happen to score two different stand-in projects that begin on the same day.  If you score three or more different stand-in projects that begin on the same day, you get 1 bonus point for the second gig, and 2 bonus points for every additional gig that day.  (So, if you somehow book four different stand-in gigs in one day, you get 1 point for each of the gigs, plus 1 bonus point for the second gig, plus 2 bonus points for the third gig and 2 bonus points for the fourth gig.  That’s a grand total of 9 points for the day.)

You are not awarded points if you stand in on the same project more than once.  In fact, if you stand in on the same project for three days, that means you’re not standing in on a different project in that time, so you’re potentially keeping yourself from scoring points!

The object in the Multiset Stand-In Contest is to score the most points, but moreover it is to develop a lot of different stand-in experiences rather than to just get settled in one stand-in environment.

The stand-in with the most amount of points at the end of the period wins!

So, what was the experience like? We want to know! Comment below about your experience of Stand-In Challenge #2: The Multiset Stand-In Contest!