Run a tech recce

What this is about

The scout chose the location; the tech recce makes it shootable. Now the heads of department walk the confirmed space with the shot list in hand: the DP places the camera, the gaffer traces power and rigging points, sound hunts the hum, production times the load-in. Questions that would each cost twenty on-set minutes get answered in bulk — where does the twelve-by frame stand, which circuit carries the lights, where does video village live without appearing in the frame? Shoots that skip this visit answer everything on the morning of day one, at day-one prices, with the whole crew watching.

The order matters more than the tools. Skip a step and you usually notice two steps later — by which point the fix costs several times as much.

What runs differently here

Where this differs from the general case:

• The recce is setup-driven: the group walks the shot list position by position, not the building room by room.
• It is the last cheap moment to change the equipment list — additions discovered later arrive by courier at courier prices.
• Risk assessment input is collected here: trip hazards, rigging over people, public interfaces all get seen in place.
• Timing is part of the output: load-in, moves between setups and wrap get realistic durations attached.

Step by step

This order gets you there fastest:

1. Schedule the recce after locations are confirmed and the shot list is stable — a recce against a moving plan confirms nothing.
2. Bring the right people: DP, gaffer, sound, first AD or production lead — plus the location contact who can open doors and answer house questions.
3. Walk setup by setup with the shot list: camera position, light positions, cable runs, what needs moving out of frame. Decisions get spoken and written down.
4. Trace the power: which circuits, what capacity, where the fuse box lives, who has the key. Name the point where a generator becomes the answer.
5. Time the logistics: load-in route with cases, elevator rounds, parking to set distance, and the real duration of every move between setups.
6. Collect risk notes as you go — rigging points, trip lines, public areas, working at height — as direct input for the risk assessment.
7. Fix the remaining unknowns with owners and deadlines: the missing distro, the unanswered roof access, the neighbor to inform. Circulate the recce notes to every department the next morning.

Common pitfalls

What most often goes wrong in practice:

• Running the recce without the shot list, so the group admires the building and confirms nothing.
• Leaving sound at home because 'it is just a walkthrough' — the hum they would have caught costs an afternoon on set.
• Notes that live in one person's phone instead of reaching the departments that act on them.

With TillyGen

TillyGen gives the recce its working documents: shotlist and schedule per location come out structured, and recce findings flow back as changes every department sees.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.