When you are standing in on a TV or film set, you might hear that an upcoming day of shooting will be a “split.”

What does “split” mean?

One thing is doesn’t mean is that you have to do the splits when you are standing in!

“Splits” refers to the type of shooting day. Read on for more information.

What Splits Are

Most of the time when you are working on a TV or film set, they will start shooting in the morning. Given that many shoots last about 12 hours, many shooting days that start early in the morning will wrap by the time night falls. These types of shoots are called “days.”

As calltimes creep later into the day, usually this means that shooting will also take place during the early evening. Most of the time, this kind of schedule is still considered pretty normal, and might be called “days” or “days into night.”

If a shoot is to be done completely outside in the dark, this tends to require shooting overnight. These types of shoots are called “overnights.”

That leads us to splits. “Splits” are the types of shoots that start generally around early afternoon and conclude around midnight or a little later. They are called “splits” because about half of the shoot is during daylight hours, and half of the shoot is during nighttime hours.

How to Plan When You Hear You Will Shoot Splits

When you hear, say, that later in the week you will be shooting splits, as a stand-in, prepare to have later calltimes and work late into the night.

If you work in a city like New York, which has a robust subway system but with less frequent service at night, consider how splits might affect your commute home.

After a particular time at night, your subway may stop running or your station may close for construction. Sometimes you might have to wait up to twenty minutes between trains, especially if you have a late-night transfer. If you live in New Jersey, you have additional travel considerations in getting home. These circumstances may bloat your travel time and compromise your sleep.

Start to prepare for the realities of split work, which are different realities than working during the day — or even than working overnight (when you might wrap during the morning rush hour). It may be that you need to ask around for a local place to crash if you have a really troubling commute home when working splits.

Summary

In general, if you hear you are working splits, just consider what that might mean for your life. Planning ahead can be key to your sanity and health as a stand-in!

How do splits affect you when you are standing in? Do you make different accommodations? Share your insights in the comments below!