Film Locations Glossary
Quiet hours
What are quiet hours?
Quiet hours are the periods during which a location's noise-generating activity has to stop or drop below a set level, fixed by permit condition, local ordinance, or the agreement with neighbors.
They bite hardest on generator placement, load-out, and vehicle movements rather than on dialogue scenes. Publishing them to the crew before the day is what makes them survivable.
Example
Quiet hours from 10pm mean no reversing alarms, no ramp drops, no shouted calls, and generators already relocated. The load-out at 11:30pm is where they actually bite, so it is briefed to the crew rather than left to the locations team to police.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Set by permit condition, local ordinance, or the neighbor agreement, and circulated to all departments.
Common mistake
Making quiet hours the locations team's job to police. They only work if every department knows them before arriving, especially the crews doing load-out.
Related questions
- What are quiet hours on a film location?
- Periods when noise-generating activity has to stop or drop below a set level, fixed by permit condition, local ordinance, or the neighbor agreement.
- What breaches quiet hours most often?
- Load-out: ramps, tail lifts, reversing alarms, and shouted calls, rather than anything happening in front of the camera.