The collective of stand-ins on a television or film set is known as “second team.”

In order to function as a true team, it helps when the stand-ins review what they saw during marking rehearsals and during different takes. Doing so helps them to coordinate their blocking when production wants to run a second-team rehearsal.

Why Review?

When stand-ins don’t coordinate what they saw during a marking rehearsal, sometimes unnecessary problems develop during a second-team rehearsal.

Say that an experienced stand-in is paired with an inexperienced stand-in for a chase scene. The inexperienced stand-in may have seen that the scene is just one actor running after another actor. The experienced stand-in may have seen more: that the chasing actor was not directly behind the chased actor but instead staggered to the chased actor’s right shoulder, that the actors were moving at varying speeds during the chase, that there was about six feet between the actors, etc.

If the inexperienced stand-in is doing the chasing, that stand-in may simply run directly behind the other stand-in, without regard for the distance between them or the speed at which they are going. Not knowing this information will likely waste the first second-team rehearsal. All the better if the first second-team rehearsal is not wasted because the stand-ins reviewed what they saw and coordinated ahead of time!

How to Review

If you are standing in on a project and you watch the marking rehearsal, if there is time right after the marking rehearsal you may want to consult with the other stand-ins in the scene what they saw. It may seem somewhat inane to do so in seemingly straightforward scenes, but some seemingly straightforward scenes have blocking details important to the shot, and discussing those details helps to ensure that all of the stand-ins in the scene pay attention to those details rather than work ignorant of them.

If there is time, it wouldn’t hurt to run your own rehearsal of the blocking of the scene in order to make sure every stand-in is on the same page about the scene’s blocking. This way the camera department doesn’t need to spend time trying to get you to do what was in the marking rehearsal, details of which you were responsible for seeing.

Other Reasons to Review

Even the best stand-ins miss details of the marking rehearsals. Reviewing with other stand-ins what they saw may help you better understand what details you might have missed in watching the second-team rehearsal. Reviewing can also help you understand how your actor’s blocking affects another actor’s blocking. For instance, one stand-in may cross when you hit a particular mark. Not realizing how that stand-in’s blocking is contingent upon your blocking can lead to a problematic second-team rehearsal.

Reviewing after Takes

And of course, after marking rehearsals is not the only time for stand-ins to review blocking information. During actual takes, the blocking may change for the actors. The stand-ins generally need to know these changes when they step back on set. If one stand-in is not watching the monitors but if you see a change to that actor’s blocking, sharing that information with the stand-in will ensure you are able to coordinate when you step back in to re-create the scene. Reviewing changes in the blocking with the other stand-ins helps to ensure smooth second-team rehearsals in late camera setups.

Do you coordinate what you see with the other stand-ins in a specific way? Do you run your own mini second-team rehearsals? Share your experiences below!