Table of contents
Most reshoots happen because the image was soft, the light was dirty or the sound was hollow. None of those can be rescued in post. An hour of preparation before the camera rolls saves days of patching. This checklist is ordered by on-set sequence and can be printed and carried.
1. Gear and Substitutes
| Purpose | Standard setup | Low-budget substitute | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main camera | Mirrorless with prime lens | Flagship phone on gimbal | Lock exposure and focus |
| Second angle | Second body | Older phone on tripod | Match main camera settings |
| Audio | Wireless lavalier | Wired lavalier | Never use the on-camera mic for speech |
| Fill light | Soft light plus reflector | Large window plus white board | Avoid hard direct light |
| Support | Tripod | Desk stand with weight | Gimbal for movement |
Gear need not be complete; substitutes work. What cannot be skipped is audio — audiences tolerate average images but not muffled speech.
2. Three Lighting Setups
Indoor with a window: place the person side-on to the window, use the window as key light, and bounce a little fill off a white wall. Turn off ceiling lights to avoid mixed colour temperature.
Indoor without a window: one soft light at forty-five degrees to the subject, plus a weak backlight for separation. Depth appears immediately.
Outdoors: avoid midday overhead sun, shoot morning or late afternoon. Backlit scenes need a reflector on the face, or embrace a silhouette deliberately.
The governing rule is consistent colour temperature. Mixing warm and cool light in one frame looks dirty no matter how it is graded.
3. Four Audio Rules
Microphone distance: clip the lavalier a hand-width below the collarbone; too far and room noise dominates.
Turn off air conditioning and fans. Low-frequency noise is inaudible on headphones and persistent in the final cut.
Record thirty seconds of room tone for patching pauses in the edit.
Test-record ten seconds and play it back. Confirm peaks do not clip and sibilance is not harsh before the real take.
4. Working With a Shot List on Set
A short video shot list works as a metronome. Shoot by shot number, not by final sequence, and finish everything sharing a camera position in one pass.
After each group, review three things: focus on the subject, clear space for subtitles, and nothing unwanted in the background.
Name files consistently, for example date-theme-shot number. Footage management in video production often costs more time than the shoot itself.
5. Handing Footage to the Editor
Deliver three things: footage named by shot, a list of usable segments, and one reference film. The third is often skipped and saves the most communication.
Editing needs more room than shooting. The extra thirty percent of footage is usually what rescues a cut.
6. FAQ
Can a phone produce usable footage? Yes, with lighting and audio handled. Its weak points are low light and zoom; other scenes are close.
Do we need to buy lights? Test one take with window light first, then add a single soft light. One is enough for most interiors.
How long does production take? Half a day to a day shooting, two to three days editing. Animation or grading extends it.
Related
- See also: the five-column shot list
- See also: controlling duration in the edit
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