What's In My Bag - On Set

Hi everyone,

As mentioned in last week’s post, I’m gonna tell you all about what I keep in my bag when I’m on set!

I’m going to start with what I keep in my beloved bumbag. This is the stuff I like to keep on me, around my waist all day.

The first thing I always make sure I have packed is a spare pen (or two, or six…) Pens are always super useful to keep on you and yes, you will need a million because everyone will ask to borrow them, and 99% of the time you won’t get them back

It’s also always good to be that prepared person who hands a pen to a producer/director/production manager when they need one.

The next thing I always keep on hand is my inhaler, I’ve been asthmatic since I was a child and whilst I rarely have a flare-up as an adult, different things on set have triggered it in the past, such as dry ice, dusty studios/warehouses/ filming with animals.

It’s for these reasons that I also carry a packet of tissues, and some antihistamines in my bum bag as well!

I also always keep lip balm on hand, in my case I like the pink tinted vaseline (I have really pale lips and look like a dead body when I’ve no lipstick on), and keep a tin in every bag I own so I’m never caught without.

For the foreseeable future, all sets will now have to follow new rules and regulations in order to be COVID-19 compliant, so from now on I’ll be keeping a mini hand-sanitiser on me every set day!

Now, moving on to what I keep in my big bag/rucksack on set. Most of the time when I’m on set I’ve been the runner/researcher in charge of making sure all of the contributors/health & safety forms and location agreements have all been signed off properly, so I always make sue to carry extra blank versions of every form that needs signed, just in case.

I always keep a water bottle in my rucksack because, whilst most professional sets are catered and there are plenty of water bottles around, everyone tends to lose track of whose is whose pretty quickly and they start to run out, so I alway like to bring my own and keep it in my bag.

I also like to bring a notebook on set for to do lists, shopping lists, coffee orders etc. I’ve been sent out shopping last-minute on set for props, SD cards, adapters etc.

Another hand sanitiser won’t hurt!

I like to keep post-it-notes in my set bags too, because I was usually data-wrangling (backing and organising all the footage from the camera/sound ops’ SD cards up to hard drives) on set too. When handed a card I would write the camera op, time of day and card number onto the post it, and stick it on the card so I don’t get them mixed up.

Even though most sets are catered, I always like to keep some extra snacks in my bag too. The good, sweet, carbs chocolatey snacks always seem to go first so I keep some extras to get me through the last stretch of filming. I also like to keep them to eat on the car journey home, I can get really hangry and be a monster when I get home if I’ve not had something to eat on the car journey so if anything, the extra snacks are for other people.

The last thing I keep in my bag on set is some deodorant and body-spray, when you’re on your feet all day running around whilst being baked under studio lights, you can get a lil bit sweaty, so keeping some deodorant and spay on hand just makes the day a bit more pleasant for everyone.

I hope this written version of the ‘what’s in my bag’ tag was a fun read and if you liked the video version, please like and subscribe to my youtube channel!

Thanks guys,

Stacey Xx