What’s In My Kit? – Helpful Items to Have on Hand During Filming

Sometimes on a production, you’ll have a great hair and make-up person with an all-purpose kit that can solve just about any problem that arises.  And sometimes you won’t have that person on set, in which case it helps to be prepared to tackle a lot of small problems with your own kit. I can’t take credit for this idea. When I started working in production at Henninger Media Services many years ago, our team had just such a kit. We took it on nearly every shoot and added to as new challenges arose. I found it so useful over the years that one of the first things I did when I started working for myself was to build my own. My kit includes: 

• First aid supplies

• Superglue

• Mounting putty

• Sewing kit

• Safety pins

• Manicure scissors

• Tweezers

• Nail file

• Lip moisturizer

• Lotion

• Vaseline

• Hair ties

• Brush

• Combs

• Hair spray

• Hair molding paste

• Toothpaste

• Dental floss

• Listerine sheets

• Antacids

• Pain reliever

• Oil absorbing sheets

• Translucent powder

• Pressed powder in a few shades

• Compact mirror

• Cosmetic wedges

• Cotton balls/cotton pads

• Carrying case

My carrying case is lightweight (which I recommend) and when zipped up, is a size that fits easily into a backpack around other items. Before each shoot, I make sure I haven’t run out of anything crucial and that nothing needs to be cleaned (hair brushes and combs, for instance).

Being on camera can be nerve-wracking, particularly if you’re not used to the experience. My goal is always to make the people appearing on camera as comfortable as possible. Helping them look their best usually involves taming fly-away hairs and lightly powdering a person’s face to eliminate shine. But if someone has a headache or an upset stomach or suffers a wardrobe malfunction during filming, it’s great to have what you need to make them feel better. Their comfort will come across on screen.