And it's easy to get lost in the mania of preparing for the first day of shooting. Of course, you know you need to bring lights, cables, and, of course, a camera. But Lewis McGregor of Indie Tips shares a few less obvious, but very essential pieces of gear that you won't want to forget when you show up on set.

Here's the list of items mentioned in the video (as well as one added to the article):

  • Clothes pins
  • Fans
  • A tape measure
  • Tape
  • A blade
  • A highlighter

There are so many items that could be added to the list -- you're probably thinking of them right now. A few things that come to my mind are:

  • A phone charger: Not having your phone charged while on set, especially if you're directing or producing, is truly crippling.
  • Wet wipes: Stuff gets messy working on a film. I have too many memories of being a sticky, red mess after handling fake blood during a shoot and getting it all over my equipment. No bueno. (Towels are also a great thing to bring along.)
  • A flashlight: 75% of working with film equipment is looking for said film equipment. Sometimes that can be a bit of a chore if you can't really see what you're doing -- maybe you're on location in the middle of nowhere, or maybe you're in a dark corner of a soundstage, either way, you're going to want a flashlight to make things easier.

Surely we all have stories of unpreparedness -- showing up on set with what you think is all of the gear you could possibly bring and then some, and then realizing you don't even have a pen to cross off the scenes you just shot on the script. So, making a list of less obvious items to bring is really essential. In fact, just keeping one on hand (say, on your phone, where it's always accessible) and making edits to it after having a fit about forgetting to bring something will save you later on.

Be sure to check out McGregor's post for more.

Source: Indie Tips

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