One of the best things about modern filmmaking is that it doesn’t require a lot a lot of people anymore. It is possible to shoot a short-film with a micro-crew, or even do a commercial shoot flying solo. If you are in the situation where you will be conducting a corporate shoot by yourself, there is some must-have gear that you may not have thought of. Here are our crew’s recommendations on what to take with you when taking on a shoot alone.
We will cover:
Camera System
First up is the most important bit of kit: the camera. Without which, there would be no video! Clearly a must-have, the options come when you decide which camera to use and all the other essentials that it needs: lenses, memory cards, and batteries.
Camera Body
For many one-man crew situations, this will be a relatively simple answer: use the one you own! If you are reading this and are about to purchase a camera, or if you have several different types of cameras and can never decide which one to take, then this bit is for you.
First consideration is what you need it to do. For example, does it shoot in 4k, what is its sensor, which codecs does it record, and which lens mount-system does it utilize. These are key things that will affect your camera choice.
Once you narrow down the features you need, there will be several choices on the market.
Price aside, your next choice will probably come down to size. As a one-man crew, this is an important factor for 2 reasons,: firstly, ergonomics of using it on your own without an assistant; secondly, does it fit into bags/cases that you can lug about on public transport if needed. Now, yes, most cameras can be carried by a person on their own, but if you need a tripod, lights, sound gear as well that camera size/weight becomes VERY important.
Lenses
Once you have your camera selected, your next choice is which lenses to pack. Chances are you have a range to choose from and won’t need all of them all the time. In an average-sized backpack, you can fit a camera and 2-3 lenses, so let’s use that as a good number to choose from.
Similarly to camera choice, your lenses will depends on the type of shoot you are doing and how you will go about achieving the client’s vision. This could be two zooms, such as 24-70 mm and 70-200 mm. These two options offer good coverage. You could also have a 24-105 mm with a fast prime, or two primes such as 14mm and 50mm.
If you’re filming a talking head with some general cutaways, then a 24-70 mm will cover most of it. Experience will teach you the best lenses to use for which situations, whether it’s a longer lens (85mm, 100mm, 135mm), wider lens (10mm, 14mm) or just a higher quality/faster mid range lens (35mm, 50mm).
Here’s a decent guide to get you started.
Batteries
You camera and lenses are not much use without power, so you will need some batteries. Depending on your camera, the battery type will be different, as will the run time of a single battery. A good way to aim for is to be able to shoot for a whole day without recharging, so this might be a 8-10 hour period. (Chances are, you won’t be solidly shooting/having your camera running the entire time, so you can probably get away with 6 hours runtime, but 8 – 10 is safe.)
Now, with cameras like the Sony a7s this might be 10 batteries, with a camera that uses v-locks it might just be 1 high capacity battery. Factor this cost when purchasing a camera; generally, a day worth of batteries will set you back somewhere around £300-£600.
Memory Cards
Similarly to batteries, you want enough cards to be able to record throughout a whole day. Now, this is a bit more tricky to estimate compared to batteries, as there are a huge amount of variables. Resolution (HD/4k/6k), FPS and codec all affect how much space the footage will take up/long a memory card can record . For example, a 64 GB FS7 card gives you over 60 minutes in HD, but in 4k, it halves it to 30 minutes. (The reason being how many pixels the camera is recording and the card storing—here’s a good article to explain this.)
If you have enough cards to record for 10 hours at HD (so 5 hours 4k), you should be fine for most corporate day-shoots. There will be the odd time when it might not be enough—this is where a lightweight laptop might be needed; more on that later.
Cost-wise, again, it depends on the type of card. Some SD cards are as cheap as £20, but then, other higher-end cameras have £300 cards. Simply put, as with batteries, factor the cards into your buying decision, as there is no point having a cameras that can only record for 30 minutes.
Grip
Whilst you wont be needing (or able to carry) extensive amount of grip equipment , here are some key bits to consider.
Tripod
A tripod is something you will use pretty much every shoot. They are a tried-and-tested essential filmmaking tool. The choice to bring a tripod is an easy one, the choice of which tripod, less so. Like the camera body, it will be about ergonomics and size/weight.
Weight-bearing capabilities is the first thing to check: can it support the weight of your camera, heaviest lens, and any other bits you mount to the camera such as sound gear, monitor, handheld rig, ect.
Then decided what height you need it to go to. Generally, you want a tripod to be able to extend at least 160 cm. 170cm+ is ideal, as you don’t want to get caught filming a tall person standing up and have to do a low angle shot!
Weight of the tripod itself is basically about how much you can or are willing to carry. If you get carbon fibre as opposed to aluminium, this will cut down the weight but that will come at a premium cost, so bear that in mind.
Handheld rig
Cameras such as the Sony FS7 come with fairly good handheld ergonomics out of the box, as it has an arm and a shoulder rest built in. Other cameras with lesser out-of-the-box ergonomics might need extra additions to make it operator friendly.
The mistake a lot of small camera operators make is not building it into a proper rig. If you are using a camera like the a7s or GH5 you will want to build at least a small shoulder rig for it, if not a fully-fledged bespoke rig. Online, you can purchase bits individually to customize it to your tastes http://wolfcrow.com/blog/comprehensive-guide-to-rigging-any-camera-19-shoulder-rigs/ , but generally, you will want 2 handles, a way to mount the camera onto the bars, and a shoulder rest. Ideally you will be able to balance it so its not front-heavy—counter weights can be added to help this.
Gimbal
Gimbals are fairly new to the market but have already been shrunk down to very small sizes. Big gimbals such as Movi M15 https://cvp.com/product/freefly_movi-m15 are not feasible for a one-man crew, but nowadays you can get single-handed gimbals for smaller cameras such as a7s/GH5 cameras. Regardless of portability and size of shoot, gimbals are a nice-to-have but not a must-have. You should never overuse a gimbal, so do not pack it at the expense of a more key part of your kit.
Sound
On-camera mic
This is your catch-all way of recording sound. Some cameras have internal mics, but they are very-low quality, so even for just catching general ambient sound, you will want a mic on top of the camera. This, in a push, can also be a backup if there is an issue with another audio source coming into the camera.
Lav mics
The best thing about lavalieres is, once they are set up, in theory they can be left. (I.E., you don’t need a sound person!) Lavaliere mics are the go-to way of recording clean audio of an interviewee. These may either be wired or wireless (radio) mics. The benefit of wireless is it means you are not tethered between cameras and interviewee. For certain situations, this is desirable: to avoid trip hazards or cables getting in the way. Lav mics have a lot of different ways to mount them on a person, so work out which accessories you need and make sure they are packed with the mic. (Skin-friendly tape is a good place to start.)
Headphones
When recording sound, you will want to know the mic is performing as needed. There are lots of things that can cause audio issues and without headphones, you wouldn’t realise this until it was too late in the editing suite. Always have a pair of good quality headphones so you know you’re getting a strong, clean audio input.
XLR Cables
Often if you mics are wired, whether that be a top mic or lav mics, they will be using XLR cables. Make sure you have spares of the lengths you need: for example, a top mic might only use a very short one, and a lav mic might use a 10m one. And know how to properly wrap an XLR! Wrapping them incorrectly can break/twist the inner wires and lead to poor audio.
Lighting
Light fixtures
With recent advancements in technology, most one-man crews will use LED-based lighting systems. LED panels have a good output and are relatively small compared to tungsten equivalents. Generally, you will want 2 lights (3 if you can fit them in) so that you have a stronger key light and then a smaller, versatile light to be used as a back light, background light, or fill light as required.
Colour temperature is also an important think to think about. In general, we suggest going all daylight balanced. Bicolour is a bonus, but often you can suffer from less accurate colours so be careful and choose wisely.
Light stands
As well as lights, you will need stands to put them on. Most lighting stands are not very big but you will want to check the size of your lighting case/bag and see how they would fit in. Some brands do smaller stands, so find the ones which fit with your bag setup. Like with tripod, of course, make sure they can easily support the weight of your lights, as the last thing you want is a light falling over and both breaking and potentially hurting someone. If you have the space, sandbags can be utilized here, but these are very heavy.
Extras
There are lots of extra things you might need on a shoot. Here is a fairly long list, but you can pick and choose which will be needed on any given shoot.
Battery chargers
If you do not have enough batteries, or you think you might run out on a shoot, it’s always good to have a battery charger with you. Most of the time, you will not be far from a plug socket. If filming out and about, its more tricky, but if you break for lunch or a coffee, source a place where you can top up your batteries, even if for just 30 minutes.
Extension leads
Always have at least one extension cable with you, even if it is just 3m long. Chances are, the plug sockets will be exactly where you don’t want to light, so you will need to use these to light the scene the way you would prefer.
In addition to helping extend the distance you can work from a plug socket, they also help to multiply the sockets—this can be endlessly beneficial, especially when charging batteries. (Although make sure you aren’t overloading the socket!)
Tape
Always handy to have gaffer tape and cloth tape on-hand. These can be used in a number of ways, from taping cables down to avoid trip hazards, to placing a marker so talent know where to stand each time.
External Monitor
Most cameras, even high-end ones do not have particularly big viewfinders, as usually they are only needed to be seen by 1 person. If you have and are able to fit in a monitor then you can have a bigger and better way of monitoring what you’re filming. This helps when wanting to let clients or others on-set see what you are capturing, not to mention many monitors come with extra features such as false colour, peaking and LUT overlays.
Laptop/Hard drives
If the shoot requires lots of footage to be recorded and your memory cards might not have enough space, then have a lightweight laptop and hard drives in your case. If needs-be you can unload some of the cards on-set to free up space for more shooting.
Reflector
This is especially useful if you are filming outside. A small, foldable 5-in-1 reflector is a really useful tool. It allows you to bounce or diffuse existing light, and this can make a world of difference if you are trying to avoid the sinister ‘side-shadow’ on someone’s face.
Summary
In conclusion, there is no set-in-stone guide to what gear should be used in a one-person shoot. Cover all your basics, and anything extra you can take is a bonus. Put together your kit on a project-by-project basis: what you need for one shoot, you may not need for another. Plan for the worst, hope for the best!