Film Locations Glossary
Dining tent
What is a dining tent?
Also called catering tent, or dining bus.
A dining tent is the covered area at base camp where the unit eats, sized to the crew count and often the largest single structure the locations department has to site.
It needs level ground, access for catering trucks, power, and enough separation from set that lunch is not audible in a take. On wet locations it doubles as the only sheltered space a crew of a hundred has.
Example
Lunch for 110 needs a 40-by-60 tent, level ground, catering truck access alongside, and power. On a hillside location that footprint does not exist, so the unit eats at base camp and the shuttle schedule absorbs the difference.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Sized on the crew count and placed on the base camp site plan.
Common mistake
Siting the dining tent where it fits rather than where catering can reach it. A tent the catering truck cannot park alongside turns lunch into a carry.
Related questions
- How big is a film unit's dining tent?
- Sized on the crew count, and on a mid-size feature it is often the largest single structure at base camp, needing level ground and power.
- What happens when a location cannot fit dining?
- The unit eats at base camp instead of near set, which lengthens the meal break and the shuttle schedule absorbs the difference.