Video Production and Film Set Must Haves
We’ve all been there... you swore the base plate for your tripod was attached; or that you put the memory card pouch in a safe place so as not to lose it; or that your T Bar is readily packed from the last shoot you worked on.
Turns out, you’ve got no base plates, those memory cards are somewhere so safe that no one, not even you, can find them or that you had to pack down so fast at your last gig that your T Bar (as well as 2 lens caps and your elusive base plate) are still there.
The best way to deal with issues like this on film sets is simple: don’t let them happen!
Easier said than done we know, so to minimise the risk of these things occurring, we recommend having a “Back-Up Box” that comes with you to every set, every shoot, every location. Something that has those emergency items that are frequently forgotten. Below are just a few of the things that are stocked in ours:
Batteries (and lots of them)…
Look at your kit-list; what batteries do you need? Buy 2 packs of each and stick one in your kit bag and another in your emergency box. AA, AAA, D, USB power bricks, the lot.
Cables
There’s always gonna be a lost, forgotten or broken cable on set. Or a bit of kit has broken, and you need to double-check it’s not a broken cable, so you should have some working ones in the box. XLR, USB, HDMI, SDI, iPhone, Thunderbolt, power cables... if you connect to it, grab it. Sounds like overkill but if you’re on location and you don’t have a connection to a bit of kit or you blow a fuse on a power lead, you’re up shit creek.
Tool kit
We’re not talking drills and saws... We mean screwdrivers, Allen keys, pliers and a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman. Having access to the right tool can save you a world of pain when it comes to high-pressure shoot situations.
First Aid Kit
Doesn’t have to be able to do minor surgery, but have some plasters, gauze and microporous tape. Every production needs a full First Aid Kit, but having this is handy if you catch your finger on something sharp when setting up.
Pens
Simple, but you’re always going to need to make a note, mark something, fill a slate. But 9 times out of 10 you won’t have a pen on you, so get one (in fact get ten and make sure one of them is a Sharpie).
Gaffer Tape
Trust us when we say, you can pretty much do anything as long as you’ve got a roll of gaffer. It comes in a multitude of wonderful colours but you’re not looking for fancy, so just get a big roll of the black stuff and you’ll be wrapping up your shoot in no time!
To reiterate, all of the above may seem over the top, but each and every one of these items are things that we’ve been without at one time or another on a shoot, and could have really done with.
So if you want to avoid gear disasters, the answer is simple; get a Back-Up Box and get it filled with spare base plates, screws, memory cards, screwdrivers, batteries, XLR cables etc. And then never open it.