MASTERY FILMS – FILM PRODUCTION SERVICES
Film Production Transportation Logistics
Whether you are shooting a small corporate video, a medium TVC, or a large feature film, transportation is a major pillar of your production that should never be overlooked. Mastery Films is just the film production company for you! We run a tight ship that provides all the moving parts for your film production services, allowing you to focus on what your shoot is all about in the first place: filming. We’ll run your film production transportation logistics seamlessly and worry-free.
One of our key services is that, depending on the exact requirements of the project, we, as a film production company, can utilize a whole selection of vehicles based on the needs of each department. Here’s a brief list of some of the vehicles used frequently on all types of film productions.
Types of Transportation
Production Van
This is the most standard production vehicle around the world; everyone’s doin’ it! You will find them in all types of productions. On average, these vans can handle about 10–12 people, but we recommend keeping it to about 7–8 people to ensure that everyone has enough space and is comfortable.
VIP Vehicles
In some productions, there may be those we can consider VIPs such as the CEO of a major conglomerate or a high-profile actor. If a standard production van is a little lacking for you, a vehicle with a more premium aesthetic, such as a Lexus Alphard or a BMW or Mercedes sedan might be more suitable. We’ll have plenty of selections to keep your VIPs delighted!
Sprinter Van
This 12–15-seater is a fantastic option when transporting a large crew or department. It provides the necessary volume to ensure every department arrives together, avoiding the risk of staggered arrivals due to congestion or local traffic while keeping your crew in absolute comfort.
Buses
More useful for long-distance shoots with a large number of people along with a fair amount of equipment. Although slower than other modes, a bus can transport your crew to and from the shooting location in bulk.
Box Trucks—Large & Small
Used extensively by the camera, lighting & grip departments; art department; and SFX department, among others, these vehicles are primarily designed to transport equipment and nonhuman resources to the set.
Toilet Trucks
Everyone needs to use the restroom, but not every location will have the space or the quality of facilities that you and your crew need, especially when you have a large number of people on set. This scenario is when we bring in the toilet truck. You’ll always be thankful to have it on set.
Vanity Truck & Motorhomes
Last, but not least, you have to make sure that your star talent is comfortable on-set; we can organize motorhomes. To get them looking their best before they step in front of the camera, the HMU Truck would be the order of the day. Wardrobe trucks, as the name suggests, are where the wardrobe department would keep all the wardrobe material options for each of the talents of the shoot day sorted and ready.
If you’re running a large production, you may also request a production office truck or other essential support vehicles.
setup systems depending on size and scales of your shoot
Whether it be a small corporate shoot that might only require a single production vehicle for crew and gear or scaling up to medium and large productions, we've got you covered! We’ll build out your transportation department at scale. At Mastery Films, we aim to be as lean as possible without compromising the level of efficiency expected during the shoot.
Here’s what we can do for you:
Small-Scale Productions
We aim for success at all levels of production. If you have a small fixer documentary shoot, a three-person team for your corporate video production, or a standard event videography shoot in mind, we can definitely help to ensure the success of your shoot. A lot of the time, with small-scale productions, budget is key. We aim to do more with less. As long as you and your team are happy with the structure of the transport department, we’re happy too!
On this scale of production, the producer or fixer on the job usually runs the transportation logistics directly. We try to avoid having a transportation assistant to keep costs as budget-friendly for you as possible, unless doing so would negatively affect the efficiency of the shoot.
Medium-Scale Productions
This stage is where individual departments begin to receive dedicated transportation infrastructure of their own,
with specific vehicles and logistics assigned to support each department separately. This will require more transportation and coordination to ensure everyone needed on set that day is in the right place at the exact time; this scale is usually befitting for an average commercial film production or a large corporate video production.
At this scale, we’ll usually have a transportation assistant or a coordinator to help out with the transportation logistics of the shoot. We’ll try to keep the crew in the transport department as lean as possible to maintain
low costs. The transportation coordinator's job is to ensure the entire engine in this department runs smoothly, pre-calculating for traffic delays, parking limitations, and flow to ensure the team always arrives on time.
It’s important to understand that it’s not just about getting from point A to point B, but you also have to keep in mind other factors such as loading time, rush hour traffic, the weather of the day, and whether or not it’s a public holiday. With all of these factors, we’ve got you covered!
Large-Scale Productions
This phase is usually for large commercial film productions, feature film productions, reality shows, or TV series productions when the transportation department becomes an animal of its own. We’ll have dedicated transport managers, coordinators, captains, assistants, and any other crew ready to assist in the production service at the scale that you see fit. We’ll make sure that you not only have the production vehicles that you need but also supporting vehicles, such as motorhomes, toilet trucks, production office trucks, wardrobe trucks, dedicated parking for all vehicles, and any other production support to ensure that there are no hiccups on your shoot!
The Protocol Behind the Production: How Our Film Production Company Masters Film Production Transportation Logistics
At Mastery Films, regardless of the ever-changing landscape of your production, our goal as your film production company is to keep things as predictable as possible on your shoot. Here’s how we try to keep your film production transportation logistics on track.
Safety First
When it comes to transportation, nothing is more important than the safety of our crew on the road. We make it our top priority to ensure the well-being of all our production crew, no matter how rushed and pressured things can get at times. Remember that you can always recover from a delay, but you cannot recover from a potential accident you could’ve prevented.
Designated Drivers
When choosing what type of production vehicles you need for your production, you also need to choose your production vehicle drivers. The one responsible for transporting your crew, equipment, motor homes, etc. safely to and from the set each day.
Over the years, we have partnered with and built our own production transportation service team, which consists of drivers who have experience working on film productions with both foreign and local crews from around the world. These drivers are able to handle early morning pickups and late-night drop-offs, and they not only transport the crew but also assist them during the production and manage the everyday pressures of shoots of any size.
License & Insurance
Always ensure that any designated driver for a production vehicle has both the correct and valid licenses and insurance, as this is paramount.
This process ensures that all potential cast and crew are insured should the worst occur.
The Transport Order and Movement Sheet:
The transport order and the movement sheets are basically your biblical texts for all your film production transportation logistics, especially on medium to large scale shoots. Without it, it becomes extremely cumbersome, sometimes impossible, to know who, what, or when is being picked up or dropped off.
In summary, the transport order will show: who is assigned to which vehicles on each day for your entire production. And the daily movement sheet outlines the following:
- All locations and destinations you and your team will be traveling to on each day
- Estimated departure and arrival times
- Assigned vehicles for each crew member
- What time they will be picked up
- Who their driver is, their name, vehicle number, contact information,
- Other vital information
Communication: Communication is key, not just for the production happening on the camera but also for everything behind the scenes; this principle extends deeply to the transport department.
- The designated head of the transport department, whether it be the producer on a small shoot or the transport manager and coordinator on larger ones, will be in charge of keeping communication clear and direct to ensure seamless flow once the wheels start turning.
- One thing that is key is to make sure all key communicators, both on the production and the client side, speak English or a lingua franca that all can communicate in.
- In addition, all production vehicle drivers have designated SIM card walkie-talkies or radios to be able to remain in communication without having to answer their phones.
Be ready! Once the wheels start turning and engines start roaring, anything can happen; stay alert, keep calm, and have fun!
This is just a small glimpse of what it takes to run the logistics properly for any type of video production you might have in mind. So if you’re looking to shoot your next big project with a flexible and experienced production team at a great production house, consider Mastery Films as your go-to video production company!
Apart from this, if you want a deep dive into transportation protocols and vehicle uses for specific countries, you can check out the links below. Don’t hesitate to contact us about your project, whether large or small.
