What goes in the van for a night shoot

Night shoots are won in the afternoon. By the time the street lights come on, anything missing from the van stays missing until morning.

This is the list a crew of five works from on my shoots after dark. It fits in one van and up most stairwells.

Light you can carry up stairs

Most night work happens in places that weren’t built for a film crew. So the light has to run on batteries, fit through a door and go up four floors without a lift.

Panels

Two LED panels do most of the work. They dim without changing colour, which matters when a shot runs from dusk into full dark.

Practicals

Lamps that are already in the room are free light. We carry a box of warm bulbs to swap into them, because a cold bulb in a living room looks wrong on camera.

Try this at home

Film your own street at 21:00 with a phone. Whatever looks bright is what you’ll be lighting around.

The list at the van door

We read it out before the doors close, in this order, so the heavy cases go in first.

1. Camera, lenses and three charged batteries per body.

2. Two panels, stands, sandbags and the dimmer bag.

3. Radios, one per person, plus spares.

4. Tape, labels and a printed cue sheet.

What each thing is really for

Some kit earns its place for a reason you only learn on the night.

The batteries get their own case, and someone owns it all night.

The three things I never leave behind

A printed cue sheet, because phones die. A warm coat for whoever waits on the pavement. And a thank-you note for the neighbours, left in every letterbox before we go.

If you’re planning something after dark, tell me about your shoot.