Kit List for a Small Video Crew (Free Template)
Every kit list for a small video crew starts the same way: a note on someone's phone that grows for two years, gets copied badly between jobs, and never quite matches what's actually in the van. Below is the structure we settled on after enough 6am realisations that the battery charger stayed at home - seven categories, in the order we actually pack them. Copy it straight in, no email required.
Why category order beats shoot order
It's tempting to list kit in the order you'll use it on the day - camera first, then whatever's next in the run of day. Don't. Pack and check by category instead: all the lenses together, all the audio together. When you're stood at the van doing a quick mental tick, "have I got all the lighting" is a question you can answer in five seconds. "Have I got everything for shot 6" is not.
1. Camera
- Body (and a backup body if the job justifies it)
- Spare batteries - more than feels necessary
- Cages, plates and mounting hardware already fitted, not loose in a bag
- Filters: ND, polariser, clear/protection
- Lens cloths - you will need one within the first hour
2. Lenses
- The set the brief actually calls for, not just "all of them"
- Front and rear caps for every lens you're not carrying in the primary bag
- A cleaning kit and a rain cover if there's any exterior work
3. Lighting
- Key, fill and any practicals the shot list needs
- Stands - always one more than you think, they get borrowed
- Diffusion, flags and clamps
- Gel if you're matching to a practical or window light
4. Audio
- Boom, mic and a lav per speaking person on the day
- Recorder and spare cables - cables fail more than anything else on this list
- Headphones for whoever's monitoring, and windshields for anything outdoors
5. Grip and support
- Tripod, and a slider or gimbal if the schedule has movement in it
- Sandbags or weights - especially outdoors, especially if it's breezy
- Gaffer tape, cable ties, a multitool. This category is small and gets used constantly.
6. Power
- Chargers for every battery type on the list above, plus the cables for them
- A power bank or two, and extension leads if you're relying on a venue socket
- Spare fuses or adapters if you're working somewhere with different sockets
7. Media and storage
- Cards - enough for the day's shot list plus a real margin, not the exact estimate
- A card reader and a laptop or drive for on-day backups
- A dedicated wallet or pouch for exposed cards, separate from blank ones
The habit that actually prevents missing kit
The list itself isn't what saves you - the second check is. Tick the list loading the van before the shoot, then tick it again loading back in after. The first pass catches what you forgot to pack. The second catches what you left behind: the charger still in the venue wall socket, the lav mic clipped to a chair, the tripod leg propped in a corner. Crews that only check once, on the way out, are the ones who lose kit - just later than they think.
It's also worth keeping this list attached to the actual shoot, not floating separately, since the kit for a two-person talking-head interview and a three-person product shoot with lighting rigs aren't the same list wearing different labels. We cover building the rest of the day - schedule, contacts, client sign-off - in our free call sheet template, of which the kit list is one section.
The lazy version
We ran this exact structure as a note that got copy-pasted and half-edited for every job, which is how kit gets left behind - the version from three shoots ago still has a lens you sold. So in Cinella, the kit list lives on the shoot itself: save a template once per crew setup, and it attaches to every new shoot with nothing to retype. Tick it off from your phone at the van, both ways.
The template above is yours to keep regardless - print it, stick it to the van, no strings attached. If retyping it for the fortieth time ever gets old, Cinella is £12/month during launch (rising to £15 for new subscribers after; your rate stays £12 for as long as you stay subscribed), with a 14-day free trial and nothing charged if you cancel inside it.