���˿���

Tripods

^{To get the best out of your camera you should use a tripod wherever possible.}

Overly shaky footage can often look amateurish and some viewers can get motion sickness if they watch too much unstable, handheld footage.

Tripods range in size and price from mini-desktop versions through to heavy professional stands.

Even the least expensive tripod will improve your footage.

Sliders

^{A slider is a portable device which rests on top of a tripod.}

A slider usually consists of a solid camera plate which can glide across a short track.

By attaching the camera to that plate you can create smooth, short tracking shots.

Camera bags

^{A camera bag will help keep your kit safe.}

Because modern cameras are so portable, it can be tempting to just carry them around, but it's always safest to place them in a dedicated camera bag.

Durable hard wearing bags are fairly inexpensive and a decent one will allow you to safely transport your camera from shoot to shoot.

Batteries

^{Charged batteries are an essential piece of kit, so it's always worth having a spare if you can.}

Cameras can run out of power very quickly, especially if you are recording a lot of footage.

Sourcing spare batteries for your camera and bringing these back-ups with you when you shoot will allow you to get more footage.

Storage

^{Most modern cameras use SD cards to record and store footage.}

Because digital video files can be very large it is a good idea to invest in some extra storage.

Your camera itself probably already comes with an SD card but it is always a good idea to buy another card and bring it with you on every shoot.

It is also advisable to make a backup of all of your film footage. Ideally you should do this every time you film.

If you are filming often, you may need to buy an external hard drive but you can also use a USB Pen Drive to store back-ups of your footage.

Be careful to label your storage media correctly and keep it in a safe place.

Sound Recording

Most cameras will record audio but if the film you are making has a lot of dialogue you may find that your camera is not capturing that sound clearly.

If that is the case you may need to use some additional equipment: