Reserving Gear and Stages

How to Begin Reserving Equipment

For any SCA film production, including reserving equipment and/or stages, students must follow the following steps through the three-phase Greenlighting process via the SCA Production Office.

• Prior to reservation, ALL student filmmakers are annually required to read this Student Production Handbook in its entirety and complete the SCA Production Training found on SCA Central in D2L.

• Students must be currently enrolled in an SCA class to reserve equipment or facilities and/or to participate on the crew in key roles.

• All correspondence regarding student films must be through DePaul email. Please remember to check your DePaul email inbox frequently while working on SCA projects.

Reserving Equipment/Stages

Reservation requests for SCA projects are broken down into two categories:

1.Anytime Projects - Self-directed, informal productions using designated equipment packages.

These projects are designed for lower-risk, independent filmmaking that encourages experimentation, technical practice, and creativity outside of coursework with minimal administrative oversight, based on fitting all the following criteria:

1. Filmed at a personal residence or on public property (where public access is not obstructed and thereby requiring a film permit)

2. Involves a team of no more than five people

3. Does not include any of these situations which require university support or special approvals

   1. Stunts

   2. Intimacy

   3. Prop weapons

   4. Use of spaces not owned by students or not student-housing

2.Everything Else

All projects that are larger in scope and/or requiring support from the Production Office including providing access to filming in spaces on campus, insurance for private property and city permits, and filling requirements related to SCA production safety guidelines.

SCA projects must be tied to a class of current enrollment by the Project Owner. If the student (Project Owner) is embarking on a side project that is not a syllabus assignment, they must enroll in an Independent Study* to pursue this endeavor.

*See policies on Independent Study options in the “Important News: Policies” section of this handbook.

Exception: Awarded grant projects and projects approved via a DHub sanctioned club with faculty oversight, may submit projects without a specific class number, although the student must be currently enrolled in SCA.

If you are unsure whether your project needs to follow this system, assume that it does, and the system will guide you, letting you know if in fact you do not need to continue.

Greenlighting Process:

REDLIGHT - Phase 1

Submit a Project Information Form (PIF) using Smartsheet. The link to begin this process is found on SCA Central in D2L*:

The PIF will ask you for basic information about your project, including:

Project Owner name and contact information

Class/syllabus information (or Grant name or DHub club sponsor information for non-class-related projects)

Script or Treatment to be attached

Shoot dates

Once submitting the form via the “submit” button, your form will be received by the SCA Production Office and staff will set up your project in Patron Portal, the reservation system for equipment and facilities.

Find instructions for using Patron Portal on SCA Central in the “equipment” files. Equipment center staff can also help to address questions regarding making reservations in the system.

*If you do not see SCA Central or SCA Production Training as courses in your D2L, please notify the Production Office at [email protected] (expect up to one full business day turnaround time).*

YELLOW LIGHT - Phase 2

Once the project is set up in Redlight he owner of the project (and any secondary contact listed on the submission) will be notified by email to their DePaul email address, of the project now in “Yellowlight”, signifying the ability to reserve equipment and stages.

These students will receive a Phase Two submission form with notice of the Yellowlight status, asking the student to submit more detailed information for the project. Prompts for information will be based on the script and shooting plans submitted in Phase One, with questions regarding safety plans, location needs, cast and crew lists, and receipt of General Release Forms, which are required to be signed by all cast and crew participating in a student film production. *See sections in the handbook about weapons, stunts and Intimacy Coordinator.*

These prompts will be a first step in a continued conversation with the Production Office until all questions are answered, necessary paperwork is uploaded, and the project is ultimately Greenlit/approved.

Students involved in the production will have access to the original submission via a link to their “Dynamic View” during pre-production and production phases, with the ability to update and change information as needed.

GREEN LIGHT - Phase 3

Once the Production Office confirms that all information has been provided and approved by administration as needed, the project is formally approved or “Greenlight”. Students will see the yellow turn to green on their Patron Portal reservations for the project and a notification will be sent out to the project owner and contacts with that final approval update.

As noted in this update from the Production Office, the filmmaker can expect a daily reminder to submit the Call Sheet and Production Report from each shoot day and/or stage use.

Don’t forget to include your post-production planning during your pre-production—a very typical filmmaker misstep. We highly recommend engaging your editor and post-production partners in the pre-production process, keeping in mind the technical needs between camera, memory card and edit system, as well as continuity, and other visual effects or other post concerns. It’s much cheaper to address is now than to fix it in post!

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Note to students regarding deception and academic integrity

Disregard to policies and procedures, and falsifying information on the Production Information form, equipment reservation information, or any documents and contracts required for any stage of production are actions that cause potential harm to the students, and anyone involved in their productions. These rules are in place for safety.

While the University provides insurance coverage for student productions, any violation of integrity by falsifying documents may in turn give a false sense of coverage to people or objects related to that project. Falsifying information could potentially harm your process and the safety of the talent and crew. Therefore, measures are in place to check for safety and violations to policies and procedures may result in sanctions under the University’s Academic Integrity policy.

Reserving Equipment

Students must be currently enrolled in SCA to reserve and/or checkout equipment or facilities.

As previously described a Project Number assigned by the Production Office is required prior to reserving advanced equipment and/or stages.

Reservations for equipment and stages are made using Web checkout Patron Portal, our reservation software once a Project Number is obtained. Instructions for use are available on SCA Central.

Reservation Guidelines

• Reservations for all equipment/facility centers must be made at least one business day prior to the requested pick-up time.

• Reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance of the pickup date with the exception of MFA Thesis and Project Bluelight films which have 60 days.

• Winter, Spring Quarters: 4 days or 96 consecutive hours: (Example: Equipment checked out Thursday morning at 10am is due back Monday morning at 9:59am, etc.)

• December Intersession and Summer Session: 10 days Maximum or 240 consecutive hours. Minimum of 7 days between reservations per student/ project

• Equipment Centers reserve the right to limit resource quantities (number of pieces of equipment reserved)

• Reserved equipment must be picked up on the scheduled reservation time and date

• Students are responsible for procuring and paying for any desired equipment outside of DePaul on their own or insurance coverage for outside rentals, to use on qualifying

• ALL reservations for equipment at any DePaul SCA facility must go through Web Checkout at least one business day in advance, no walk-up window reservations will be accepted.

• The student listed on the reservation must be present to pick up and return equipment. Equipment will not be released to others.

Advanced Equipment

Advanced cameras and some advanced lighting and grip equipment require certification prior to reservation and checkout.

Students may obtain certification upon completing specific courses covering advanced equipment in their syllabi. Courses are subject to change, see Academic course catalog to identify these courses.

Students who can provide proof of prior coursework or experience on advanced equipment may request a certification test at the appropriate equipment center, subject to scheduling and equipment availability.

Checking Out Equipment

All paperwork due to the Production Office for project approval must be received at least one business day prior to check out, or reservations may be canceled.

• Equipment not picked up on time will be made available to other students

• The student listed on the reservation must be present to pick up and return equipment. Equipment will not be released to or accepted from others

• The student checking out equipment must inspect all packages to confirm that all items and parts are present and in working condition, immediately upon pickup. Please allow ample time. Any issues must be reported to checkout center staff immediately. The student will be responsible for any damage discovered after equipment is removed from the checkout center premises, including environmental damage such as from mud, water, or beach sand.

• All students must always carry their student IDs

• Anyone on-site for reserved stage space must remain within the DePaul facilities. Visiting other stages at Cinespace is not permitted

See Appendix for further Cinespace location and access details.

Returning Equipment