Who Needs Sleep?

[Adrian Correia]

So....two and a half hour travel to set, sixteen hour day on set, two hours travel back.....a minute from my house and I fall asleep at the wheel. Please guys, if you are tired pull over and sleep a bit....I thought I was fine and I just passed out. If my red cases had been in the back I would probably be dead. Thank God for seat belts and air bags.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4154/img0164o.th.jpg (http://img692.imageshack.us/i/img0164o.jpg/)

[Steven Caesare]

Ooof, dude, glad you are OK.

What did you hit? tree? pole?

-sc

[Babu Kantamneni]

Lucky!

[Joseph Hutson]

Glad you are all right...at least enough to post again on RU. :rolleyes:

[Scott Miller]

WOW! Glad you are OK, ad no one else was involved (as mentioned, OK enough to post).

[DCC Erickson]

Glad you're alright. Don't know the specifics, of course, but:
Motel 6 = $50.
Your Life = Priceless.

[Peter Hodgins]

So....two and a half hour travel to set, sixteen hour day on set, two hours travel back.....a minute from my house and I fall asleep at the wheel. Please guys, if you are tired pull over and sleep a bit....I thought I was fine and I just passed out. If my red cases had been in the back I would probably be dead. Thank God for seat belts and air bags.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4154/img0164o.th.jpg (http://img692.imageshack.us/i/img0164o.jpg/)I had to drive home twice after 20hr day on set (8am to 4am). On both trips I was driving and had that reaction where your head suddenly snaps off your neck as you come to from driving while semi-conscious. Two times is enough, next time I book a motel.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Wow, thank God you are okay, sorry about the car.

Yes as you said seat belts are an absolute must DO, and I also never leave any of my cases in the back of my vehicle with out been tie down, is very important to do this, as you mentioned, would you had the heavy RED case in the back, you would surely be a less happy man.

Sorry again about this Adrian.

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

My father's friend once fell asleep while riding a bike. Yeah, dangerous stuff.

[Andrew Walker]

I've had some amazingly close calls driving from LA to Sacramento and from LA to Phoenix. I just push myself too hard. In October I drove out to Missouri from LA in one shot. Drove for 22 hours with no rest and did it again on the way back. Of course I would stop to shoot some timelapse or something on my way out there. Then a couple weeks after that I drove out to Tennessee from LA but this time I would sleep in hotel parking lots for 4 hours or so. But the longest I have ever driven in one shot was going from Whistler, Canada to Sacramento, CA. I drove through a really bad snow storm that had hit the entire North West. I ended up driving over 400 miles in the snow going 30mph in a Toyota Corolla. That drive lasted for 30 hours, something that I hope I never have to do again.

[Rick Presas]

Glad you're ok man!

Sakes.

This is why if i'm EVER at a 12+hr shoot I always either have a driver or get a hotel. Especially if its a two hour drive each way. I'd rather get the 4 extra hrs of sleep a motel 6 would afford me.

Once again man glad you're ok.

[David Doko]

I wasn't so lucky after a 17 hour day - broke my ankle and wrecked my car on the 110. It could have been much worse though. Sleep deprivation accumulates.
It's not so easy pulling over, sometimes you don't even see it coming.
Haskell Wexler's documentary "Who Needs Sleep" covers the problem very well, I recommend it to anybody who works in production.

[Rick Presas]

I think I'll order a copy of it. looks thought provoking.

To me, anyhting above a 12 hour day is just ridiculous. The way youre working your crew you only get about the first 2 days of QUALITY work. Theres no way you can tell me that a DP or grip is NEAR on his game after 3 days of only 4 hours of sleep.

[Rick Darge]

LUCKY!!! Glad you're hear to post about it man. Stay safe. Protect those eyeballs.

[rod bradley]

Indeed, I see this penny wise pound foolish pushing long days where the quality of everything goes down. People think they can do it. I was recently DP on a feature where we went six 18 hour days back to back -- then I simply refused to punish my crew any further. The producer wasn't happy -- and I was paid with a very bad check.
(This was all complicated by being in a foreign country with a lot of gear that needed to eventually get safely out of the country.)

And yes, we should all remember we SHARE the road with others -- and not only endanger ourselves when we push too hard. I'm sure you're thanking your lucky stars not only for your own survival -- but that you didn't injure or kill anyone else. And that the lesson learned was so relatively inexpensive.

[Steve G]

Nothing cool, macho or heroic about pulling crazy long days and then putting yourself and other road users at risk. Also, if you have been doing long hours and then driving, you may find that you are breaking health and safety at work legislation. Production and car insurance companies will do anything to get out of paying, and if you have broken work legislation laws, you may find yourself uninsured.

[Andrew clemson]

I have the same problem when workin in Abu Dhabi, which is an hour and a half away (when you abide by the speed limit, which noone else does). When you snap to from dozing because youre overtaken by a Hummer doing 200KpH, you dont need any more coffee!!!

Glad youre ok.

[Craig Ryan]

http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/upload/2007/08/coffee%20poster.bmp

In all seriousness, glad you're alright.

[Jeff Coatney]

Report the producer who refused to get you a hotel room to the production's insurance company. One claim like this and the Producer will never be able to get production insurance again at their preferred rates. You're lucky to have survived. I don't care what you're making for a day rate, its not worth your life.

[Jeff Coatney]

I've had some amazingly close calls driving from LA to Sacramento and from LA to Phoenix. I just push myself too hard. In October I drove out to Missouri from LA in one shot. Drove for 22 hours with no rest and did it again on the way back. Of course I would stop to shoot some timelapse or something on my way out there. Then a couple weeks after that I drove out to Tennessee from LA but this time I would sleep in hotel parking lots for 4 hours or so. But the longest I have ever driven in one shot was going from Whistler, Canada to Sacramento, CA. I drove through a really bad snow storm that had hit the entire North West. I ended up driving over 400 miles in the snow going 30mph in a Toyota Corolla. That drive lasted for 30 hours, something that I hope I never have to do again.

Dude, slow down and smell the roses every once in awhile...

[Adrian Correia]

It's scary to me how many of us have had the same experiences....I just wanted to highlight my own for other people who are thinking of pushing the envelope.....thanks for all the kind and stern words from my brothers and sisters here....everyone take care of yourselves and have a wonderful holiday...especially you Andrew, 30 hours!!!

[Sally Shamas]

A dozen of people died on their way back home from 24h ,48h or 72h shoots here in Lebanon. I personally know a keygrip that almost lost his son who works also in production as a video assist , his son had a car crash after a 48h shoot , lost an eye and was in a coma for a while . After recovering ,The guys is still working as a camera assist and his dad is still a keygrip ... You are so lucky ! Lhamdella 3al Salemeh Adrian!
P.s.: just in case u r wondering wat the last sentence means , it means Thank God for ur safety !

[Leo Ticheli]

Of all the dangers inherent in our business, sleep depravation is clearly the most deadly.

I never allow my crew to undertake (pun intended) a long drive after an overtime shoot day. Any producer who does so should be run out of the business. Maybe jailed. Maybe sued. Probably all three.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

[Mark L. Pederson]

So....two and a half hour travel to set, sixteen hour day on set, two hours travel back.....a minute from my house and I fall asleep at the wheel. Please guys, if you are tired pull over and sleep a bit....I thought I was fine and I just passed out. If my red cases had been in the back I would probably be dead. Thank God for seat belts and air bags.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4154/img0164o.th.jpg (http://img692.imageshack.us/i/img0164o.jpg/)

Adrian I glad you are okay. Scary stuff.

[Steve Sherrick]

Adrian is a good friend of mine and I have to say I was shocked when he told me what had happened. It was a real eye opener. I have to say, I'm very guilty of pushing the envelope. Most of the time I'm just trying to cram so much stuff into a day. But it's dangerous on many levels. We need sleep. If you deprive yourself of this necessity its starts to weaken your system, causing health problems, affecting your personality, and in the worse case scenario putting your life, and the lives of others in danger. I'm working on trying to re-program my clock. It's hard. Many years of damage. Diana Schwarzbein, an authority of metabolic healing says that it can take 6 months of 10-12 hours a day of sleep to finally get back to normal and then you can start to get back to 8-9 hours a night. She says normal sleep looks like this.

1. You should be asleep within 15 minutes of head hitting the pillow
2. Over the next 8 hours, you should cycle through various stages of sleep, including REM (dream) sleep
3. You should not get up to urinate or for any other reason, even if it is easy for you to get back to sleep.
4. When you wake up, you should feel rested.

If not, you have a sleep disturbance.

It can take a while for you to feel rested, even when you have got a good night's sleep if you've been sleep deprived for a while. It takes a long time to correct this. At some point though, your body should start to recover and you should feel rested again, but it will be frustrating at first.

There are a ton of things that can cause sleep disturbance. Even if you are attempting to get normal sleep. The list is too long to go through, but I suggest if you are having trouble to read her book, or others on how to get through these issues.

I only mention these things as sleep is a constant struggle for me, and one that I'm trying to correct.

Fortunately Adrian is okay. Otherwise, we would have lost a very talented DP and a good person. Take this stuff seriously guys. I know I am.

[Jeremy Newmark]

http://www.12on12off.com/

[jonedan]

Hey,
BADLY. I woke up all the time and couldn't get any sleep. Don't use computer in bed.I've taken sleep meds only once, when I was having a minor breakdown at friend's and he offered me some of his. They didn't really work well, except the next day I felt like a zombie.

Thanks.

[Brook Willard]

So....two and a half hour travel to set, sixteen hour day on set, two hours travel back.....a minute from my house and I fall asleep at the wheel. Please guys, if you are tired pull over and sleep a bit....I thought I was fine and I just passed out. If my red cases had been in the back I would probably be dead. Thank God for seat belts and air bags.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4154/img0164o.th.jpg (http://img692.imageshack.us/i/img0164o.jpg/)

Glad you're okay, Adrian. I lost a friend a few years ago to falling asleep at the wheel. It's one of those things that people don't really think of as a possibility until it's too late. Glad you made it out okay.

I found myself doing 31.7h on the clock this weekend before having to drive 25 miles home in the middle of the [second] night. Strangely enough, I wasn't really that tired. That said, there have been times when a simple 15h day has drained me beyond the point where I could safely drive. Take Adrian's warning, everybody... this sort of shit does actually happen.