The Transportation Department
This chapter outlines the one department that is rarely seen on a low-budget film. The transportation department is responsible for all production vehicles and picture vehicles. In low budget, the only production vehicle may be one truck that serves the grip, electric, camera, and even sometimes craft service departments. In high-budget productions, each of these departments has its own vehicle, as do other departments such as art, wardrobe, and makeup. In addition to the transportation personnel, this chapter discusses the many production trucks that exist, what their purposes are, and how many might be needed based on script and budget level. Figure 16.1 illustrates the transportation hierarchy.
TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR
The transportation coordinator is the head of the transportation department (also known as “transpo”). He oversees and is responsible for the transportation budget. The coordinator also oversees the acquiring of all picture vehicles and coordinates airport pickups and deliveries. Following is a description of the transpo coordinator’s duties and responsibilities.
Pre-Production
■ Arrives early in the pre-production process to set up accounts with local businesses such as limousine services and vehicle maintenance.
■ Works with the APOC to pick people up at airport and deliver them to the hotel. The coordinator will receive a movement list, or travel log (see Chapter 4, Figure 4.2, for an example), from the APOC, which outlines airlines, flights, and times of arrival. The transportation coordinator will send out a pickup report with the driver that outlines the pickup time, location, and airline. See Figure 16.2. In the figure, the pickup report shows that the driver is taking an actress to the airport and picking up a crew member in the same trip.
■ Goes on location scouts. The coordinator is always looking to make sure there is ample parking for all production vehicles at locations.
■ Designs parking diagrams for each location for all the production vehicles. These parking diagrams show where each truck will be parked. This form ensures quick and efficient placement of the vehicles each morning.
■ Arranges for all production trucks to get to the location. Sometimes these vehicles may come from different states. For instance, the production may rent a grip truck from North Carolina, which may need to be driven to Virginia. The coordinator hires the driver and makes sure all arrangements are made so that the vehicle gets to the location safely and on time.
■ Hires the transportation captain and drivers.
■ Schedules drivers for cast and crew pickup at the hotel and transportation to the set every morning of shooting.
■ Schedules rental vehicles for appropriate crew members. The transportation budget, as approved by the producer, states which crew members get rental vehicles. Typically, on a medium- to high-budget shoot, the following would get a rental car: director, producer, production designer, prop master, set decorator, visual effects supervisor, production supervisor, and stars.
■ Loans rental vehicles on weekends for cast and crew.
■ Meets with the director to discuss the look of the picture vehicles.
■ Searches for any picture vehicles, photographs them, and presents them to the director. Once the director chooses, the transpo coordinator will then acquire the vehicles.
■ May need to coordinate with the stunt coordinator and special effects supervisor if vehicles are needed for stunts or special effects.
Production
■ Is first to arrive on set, to place all trucks.
■ Coordinates parking as crew and cast arrive.
■ Makes sure all cast and crew are transported to and from the set as needed. It is the job of the transpo department to be available for these rides. Also makes sure there is always a driver on set for emergencies.
■ If there are scenes with lots of picture cars, helps the ADs on set to coordinate the vehicles’ movements for the camera.
Wrap
■ Makes sure all accounts are settled.
■ Coordinates traveling people to the airport.
■ Sells any purchased vehicles.
■ Returns any rental vehicles.
■ Makes sure all production trucks are returned.
TRANSPORTATION CAPTAIN
The transportation captain assists the coordinator and may perform any of the duties listed in the section “Transportation Coordinator.” Which specific duties may be delegated to the captain is determined by the work style and discretion of the coordinator. In some cases, the captain may concentrate only on coordinating and managing the drivers. The captain usually begins work shortly after the transportation coordinator. Other duties that would usually fall to the captain include the following:
■ Sets up accounts with local gas stations for production vehicle fuel.
■ Locates local garages for maintenance of production vehicles.
■ Assists anyone with getting into accidentally locked vehicles. Although this is not a formal part of the job description, the transpo personnel usually help in this respect.
■ Arranges for local crew parking. Sometimes local crew members who work in the production office can park in a hotel parking lot. I once worked as a local on a show that had its production office in a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Since the hotel was in the middle of the city, there was no hotel parking. The transpo team arranged for local crew to park in the parking garage across from the hotel.
MORE TRANSPORTATION CREW
A dispatcher is usually found on larger-budget films. This person works solely to schedule drivers for transporting cast and crew to and from the airport or to and from the set. The dispatcher starts work in pre-production as soon as large numbers of crew begin to travel into the area.
Drivers are just that, drivers. They transport cast and crew to and from the airport and the set. Drivers work the longest hours of anyone on set because they must transport the first people to set and the last people off the set. During times when they are not transporting people, they stand by the vehicles, ready to give a ride at a moment’s notice.
Teamsters are drivers that belong to local transportation unions. Whether you are working in a right-to-work state or not would determine whether you need to hire teamsters as drivers. Teamsters are also drivers that are trained in operating bigger vehicles such as your production vehicles. Drivers or teamsters would begin work shortly after the dispatcher. The transportation coordinator may start with only a few drivers and add more as they are required.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD TRANSPORTATION TEAM
■ Respectful attitude toward crew and cast.
■ Knowledgeable about cars and the history of various vehicles.
■ Resourceful. Sometimes scripts call for vintage vehicles or vehicles that do not even exist yet. A good transpo person can find or help create any vehicle.
■ Knowledge of vehicle maintenance.
■ Great scheduling abilities.
OPERATIONS
First up in the morning for the transpo team is to park the production vehicles. Either the transportation coordinator or captain uses a parking diagram so that each vehicle has an assigned spot. After the production vehicles are in place, the drivers usually stand by the vehicles to perform any needed maintenance, move the vehicles, or, as is usually the case, sit around and talk with the drivers of other production vehicles.
At the same time, drivers are picking up crew and cast from the hotel to bring them to set. The drivers are scheduled to do this, according to crew and cast call times. Most crew will have the same call time, but actors are usually given split calls. This means that they are all given different call times, based on when in the day they shoot. The transportation team must figure out how to get all the cast to the set just before they are needed so that they are neither sitting around needlessly nor late. Usually, this timing means that the team is running drivers back and forth to the hotel throughout the day. The team must also be ready to transport actors back to the hotel when they are finished, again so they are not sitting around needlessly.
When a production is using stars, there are usually certain drivers assigned to certain stars. A driver picks up the star at the hotel or wherever she is staying and brings him to set. The driver may do other runs throughout the day, but must be available when the star is finished to transport him back “home.” The transpo team also makes sure that any local crew or visitors to the set have adequate parking. They will have signs posted for crew parking that is separate from the production vehicles.
Throughout the day, the transpo team has to make sure that all vehicles are gassed up and running properly. The transportation coordinator or captain will make sure that vehicles are getting gas as needed during runs. In pre-production the coordinator will set up an account with a local gas station that is conveniently located to most of the locations. Then, when a vehicle needs gas, the driver is sent to that specific station and can purchase the fuel without having to deal with petty cash and receipts. However, using petty cash for this purpose is also done.
At the end of the day, the coordinator or captain knows to have vehicles standing by to transport crew back to the hotel. Then, once all the production vehicles are loaded, they are returned to their overnight parking, which could be at the hotel if there is enough space, or to a parking garage.
PICTURE VEHICLES
Picture vehicles are any vehicles that appear onscreen. As such, your script determines the kind of vehicles that you need. The script, however, might state that an actor drives his car to the store. Perhaps no specific kind of vehicle is mentioned. This is where the transportation coordinator has creative input. After discussions with the director, the coordinator will venture to find the perfect vehicle that fits that character. In motion pictures, as in life, the kind of vehicle a person drives reflects his character and style, as well as economic status.
In some cases a picture vehicle may not exist. I once worked on a show that needed an armored truck. Since renting an existing armored vehicle from a company such as Brinks or Purolator was impractical, the transportation team bought an ice cream truck and worked with the art department to turn it into an armored truck for the film. In other cases, entire vehicles are constructed from scratch, such as the Batmobile. Sometimes picture vehicles are not covered by the transportation department. Vehicles such as spacecraft are covered by the special effects department, which uses models or CGI.
PRODUCTION VEHICLES
Following is a list of some of the production vehicles that would be found on a medium- to high-budget project. As previously stated, in lower-budget projects usually only one or two trucks would be used to transport all the equipment to and from set. One rule on union shoots is that no one except teamsters is authorized to drive or move trucks.
Camera truck: The camera truck is used to house the camera equipment and film stock. The truck also has a darkroom that the loader uses to change film magazines.
Grip truck: Houses the grip equipment.
Lighting truck: Houses the electrical equipment. Depending on how involved the lighting is for the project, there may be more than one lighting truck.
Honeywagon: A trailer that contains dressing rooms and bathrooms. The number of rooms that you need depends on the number of union cast that will be on set at one time. SAG has a rule that each actor must have a dressing room while shooting. Sometimes one of the dressing rooms is used for the AD team as an office. The honeywagon also has separate bathrooms on one side of the vehicle that can be used by crew.
Makeup trailer: Used for the makeup team and is outfitted with mirrors, sink, and makeup chairs.
Wardrobe trailer: Used for the wardrobe team and is outfitted with dressing areas and wardrobe racks.
Production office truck: If not using a honeywagon room, a separate truck is used as an office for the AD team, where they work on call sheets and production reports, and communicate with the production office.
Prop truck: Houses all props needed for the show.
Set dressing truck: Houses all set dressing needed for the show.
Generator tow: This vehicle tows the generator.
Stake bed: This vehicle is a pickup with an extra large bed and is used for hauling anything as needed.
Minivans: Used for transporting cast and crew to and from the set.
Star trailers: Nicely outfitted recreational vehicles (RVs) for stars. The number of trailers varies depending on the budget and the caliber of stars on the shoot.
Director’s trailer: Another nicely outfitted RV, which may be used also by the producer.
Water truck: This vehicle is needed in case you need to shoot with rain.
Special effects truck: This vehicle may be needed for any special effects equipment.
SUMMARY
The transportation department, also called transpo, handles all production and picture vehicles. The transportation coordinator works with his captain and drivers to make sure all vehicles are on set as needed and to transport cast and crew as needed. When working with picture vehicles, the transpo coordinator may work with other departments to coordinate special effects or stunts. The number of production vehicles on a show varies with the size of the show. A low-budget production may have only one vehicle in which to store all of the equipment, whereas a higher-budget show may have numerous vehicles.