How’s your call sheet joke file? Do you collect copies of comics, humour and interesting facts or solicit others to send you humour as they find it? I am a great believer of the call sheet joke.
When the next day’s call sheet is handed out at the end of the day – just watch – the crew typically takes note of their particular call time, and then turns the call sheet over to look for the call sheet joke. Often crew seek out the call sheet at the end of the day (motivated to read the latest call sheet joke) thereby making the A.D. job of distributing the call sheet a little easier.
Here’s your opportunity to match the tone of the production you’re on with the humour you supply. Go to doctor’s office, see medical humour. Go to a lawyer’s office, see legal humour. Film productions, however, visit many different locations and subject matter through the script. The are are many numerous genres and sub-genres. On a comedy, for example, you may want the call sheet humour to contribute to the light and playfulness of the story. A joke you would choose to share on the call sheet of a family film may not be the same one you would use on that of a horror film.
Luckily there are a host of sources from which to build your call sheet joke file. Here are five great ones:
1. Single frame jokes
This is the standard fare for call sheet jokes. Comics like The Far Side and Bizarro are great examples. Some folk re-caption the comic to more closely suit the production they’re on. You could even use Gladys Works In The Movies comics from this F.I.L.M. Blog.
2. Weird news (e.g. at: Canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews)
Amazing what shows up in the news! Fair warning, though: some items will make everyone laugh, whereas others will make some folk feel uncomfortable. Be selective.
3. Snopes.com
A site that researches and dispels urban myths. You can use these two days running, e.g. Day 1 = Myth #1; and then Day 2 = Answer #1 & Myth #2; etc.
4. User-submitted jokes (from the crew)
Open yourself up to contributions, and you could get a wide range of possibilities. At very least you will learn the humour style of some of the crew this way.
5. International weather
(e.g. at: World Weather Info Service or International Weather.com)
What? Weather for someplace you’re not shooting? This idea is useful when you’re shooting entirely in studio and the weather outside really doesn’t matter to you.
Keep in mind that humour can go too far. Jokes can be taken the wrong way. The call sheet joke lasts only a day, yes, but the document itself will be archived with the production paperwork for the life of the production’s files. The call sheet is still an official document. So make your final choice of joke wisely.
What are some the other call sheet joke sources you use?
Cheers & an enjoyable shoot to you,
Deb
I sometimes like to use the production quote of the day. A funny thing overheard on a walkie or stated by one of the cast or crew. Just ask the PA’s what they overheard that day. They have the inside scoop on everything.
Hi Deb,
Thanks for the great info!
Hi Deb
Nice blog!
Just wondering – have you ever received grief about using a cartoon without permissions? My brother-in-law is a cartoonist, and has found his work on everything from reataurant menus to office memos – all without permissions. His concern is not about receiving any money for use, but, like use of artwork, expressions, poetry, video, etc. in film scripts, his concern is use in context, and the respect of just asking first.
I know the call sheet is just a daily thing, published in haste at the end of a crazy day, and not widely distributed – and I totally get the need for humour during a shoot…but as we in the film and tv biz are sensitive to piracy, i just wondered if this cartoon thing on call sheets without permissions has ever been addressed?
Would love to know any thoughts.
Good point, Deborah, about piracy. I’m not a lawyer, but I tend to consider (1) the call sheet is not a public document and is certainly not for resale; (2) if the comic is for sale, then by all means buy it before use; and (3) if the comic is available freely, look to see if there are restrictions on its use. Where possible identify where the comic came from… at very least you’ll be advertising to a small crew who may enjoy the humour and look for more. With these points in mind, I’ve never had legal trouble with a call sheet joke.
As a PS to question above…artists are especially sensitive to re-captioning or changing intent of their cartoons with comments (to suit production, for example) which were not the original
As you say, the call sheet becomes an official document, so use humour wisely.
Anyone encounter issues with this?
No. Never had any issues with this either.