GlossaryWhat is turnaround on a film set?
Definition. Turnaround is the rest period between the end of one working day and the start of the next. Agreements set a minimum, so a late wrap followed by an early call, often after a night shoot, is the usual problem.
Updated 2026-10-12. Every screen is Spring Pro running Midnight Diner, our demo production.
How to protect it
Check every pair of consecutive days: when does the first day plausibly wrap, and when is the next call? Your union or crew agreements set the minimum, so check them, because the number varies by agreement.
Where it bites
Moving from a night shoot to a day shoot is the classic trap. Schedule the switch with a rest day, or move the call.
Questions
Is turnaround the same as a meal break?
No. A meal break is inside the working day. Turnaround is the rest between one working day and the next.
More about shooting schedule
A schedule is a labour bill. The cost of an error is paid in hours.
- Film production scheduling: the whole picture. The complete guide
- Scenes become strips. Strips become shoot days. The tool
- A film shooting schedule template, laid out as a stripboard.
- How to make a shooting schedule for a film, with a real sample.
- Turnaround and meal breaks on a film shoot: the rules and a calculator.
- What a day out of days report is, and how to read one.
- One line schedule vs stripboard: the same four days, three ways.
- How to schedule a night shoot for film: the calls, the meals, the rest and the loadings.
- Film weather cover day: how to swap a rain day, with worked costs.
- Scheduling through script revisions: the colours, the routine and what each change costs.
- What is a stripboard?
- What is a day out of days?
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