Scheduling

Second unit

Also called 2nd unit

What is second unit in film production?

A second unit is a smaller, separate crew that shoots material not needing the principal cast or the director — establishing shots, inserts, cutaways, driving plates, stunts — often on the same day as the main unit, under a second unit director who works to the director's plan.

Because the two units shoot at the same time, a schedule has to hold both without reading them as a clash: Day 12 for the main unit and Day 12 for the second unit are two different days of work, with their own call sheets, locations and crew. Treating the second unit as its own day is also what keeps its cost visible rather than buried in the main unit's.

How big a second unit is varies enormously — from a camera operator and an assistant grabbing inserts to a full action unit with its own stunt team. On many smaller productions there is none, and its shots are picked up by the main unit at the end of the schedule.

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Reviewed 2026-09-30

Related terms

Shooting day: A shooting day is one scheduled day of principal photography, defined by its call time, its planned scenes and its wrap. It is the atomic unit of a production schedule: budgets, crew bookings and location agreements are all counted in days rather than hours.
Stripboard: A stripboard is the shooting schedule represented as one coloured strip per scene, ordered in the sequence the production will actually shoot. Each strip carries the scene number, length in eighths, cast IDs, location and day/night. Reordering the strips reorders the shoot.
Call sheet: A call sheet is the document issued the day before each shooting day telling everyone where to be, when, and what is being shot. It carries individual call times, the scene list, the location and its parking, weather, sunrise and sunset, hospital details, and department-specific notes.
First Assistant Director: The First Assistant Director is the person responsible for running the set and delivering the schedule. They break down the script, build the shooting schedule with the line producer, and on the day they call the shots, manage the clock and keep the unit safe and moving.