How to Pack | Documentary Filmmaking Expedition

Documentary filmmaking is all about creative problem solving, especially for expedition-style shoots. Since documentary crews don't have the same resources as Hollywood, it's about using the gear you have to get the shots you need. In this (long) video, I'll run through the things I'm taking with me to document a potentially historic rock climbing mission in Northern Mexico.
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[@tonyscalifornia]

You can do a 100-packing video and I’ll watch it all because I love packing gear too. It’s a good practice so we don’t forget stuff on set and are more efficient with the transportation as video gear is a lot to deal with. Other than that, It feels like traveling already while packing a camera, most fun part.

[@cridhe_]

Luc opening every bag: "So in here I have some pouches..." Great video and really informative! Thanks for uploading it. Your channel has been an endless source of knowledge and inspiration in my adventure to become a freelance documentary filmmaker. Keep up the great videos!

[@LucForsyth]

Oh man, it's a problem I know!

[@cridhe_]

@@LucForsyth I think it would be more of a problem if you didn't have those pouches, I know it is for me!

[@bluedun9816]

I now have a laundry list of pouches to track down. I'm relatively new to filmmaking (3 yrs) and I have struggled at times managing all my equipment, tools, cameras, etc. This is the best video I have come across with practical solutions. Thank you.

[@LucForsyth]

You're very welcome! Pouches are an endless addiction, be careful!

[@ruisearts]

Yep, same.

[@josephberkeley]

Love the video. I have a lot of the same kit and pack in a similar fashion. Bags inside of bags. Seems like baggage handling is getting more severe. I try to get the camera bag as carry on. I have a Rock N Roller cart too. If you bring everything you have to carry everything.

[@bowserlm]

That cart looks super useful. I'm packing for a travel gig overseas and have much more gear than I can move just myself. I'm interested in something like this cart but I'm curious, how would you go about checking the cart once everything is at the airport?

[@kothaguru]

Watched the whole video. I am going on a 2 month trip to India to film a documentary, learning a lot from your videos!

[@LucForsyth]

Glad to hear man, I’ll make another one one day

[@moniquebeastie]

I love packing videos. You can never have too many bags and pouches. Thank you for sharing.

[@moniquebeastie]

Do you check the cart too?

[@LucForsyth]

I do!

[@LucForsyth]

Bags and pouches will be the death of me!

[@NickHimo]

So cool getting these insights from a pro!

[@cabe_bedlam]

Hugely useful video on backing gear, thanks! Also my Spanish is rusty AF, and I thought you'd written "listen to Pablo" on the bag :)

[@user-hs8su2xz6q]

Loved this video. I‘m also an pouch guy. So i saw the complete video.

[@WhenWillILearn]

I'm the same when it comes to camera bags, can't get enough of them

[@LucForsyth]

It's a total addiction.

[@NickHimo]

Long video but packed with value!

[@LucForsyth]

yeah, ended up being a little longer than I wanted...but thanks for watching!

[@gregstotts1638]

Great job on the video. I just found your channel and have subscribed. I'm learning a lot. Thx

[@LucForsyth]

Thanks Greg!

[@mtmccornack]

Couple videos back, you nailed something spot on.... you presented your dialy driver camera bag in frame, and it was completely empty....(such realism) I absolutely hate videos that start with "what's in my camera bag 2023" I find that in a perfect world that NOTHING is in my camera bag till I choose to leave my studio. What gets put in my camera bag is dependant on what I'm choosing to film that day... Taking every lens, light, sub dye printer, or light modifier I own to the park just to film my children and dogs seems ridiculously unrealistic. At some point, our gear gets beyond 1 backpack. I'm not sure I can fit everything in a car, yet alone a bag... ain't no one got time for that! (End Rantmission)

[@valentinmovilaru2690]

Congrats for the video. not long at all. I think that from time to time you can free flow a video with things that you want to talk about. No theme, just thoughts and opinions. Thank you for your work! It really helps.

[@LucForsyth]

You're welcome! I'll try and make it a little shorter next time!

[@XxSushiMonkeyxX]

Great video and great channel! Can't really understand how you don't have more views. So insightfull getting information from someone that actually works in the industry and is not just a youtuber. The audio in this video sounded a little weird to me, your voice is very bassy and hard to hear, but in your newer videos it sounds great so you probably fixed it already. Anyways, great content, keep it up!

[@LucForsyth]

Thanks, yeah some growing pains in the beginning, but think I've got the worst of them worked out! Funny, I thought coming from a TV background this would be easy, but live and learn!

[@CedarSpringWolf]

I appreciate the in depth detail. If the content is gold I'll watch forever. :)

[@LucForsyth]

I'll do my best to keep it that way!

[@CharlesWeill]

You live such an adventurous life! I'm so glad you are sharing it with us! inb4 1M subs

[@LucForsyth]

Thanks Charles! I will send you a commemorative plaque at 1m!

[@TheTechnoPilot]

Made it to the end and thanks for not cutting it down.

[@MatthewWagnerFilms]

So helpful! I’m glad I discovered your channel! Just recently got contracted for my first doc that requires heavy travel and this is super helpful as I prep!! Plus it’s just cool to see how other people do things :)

[@LucForsyth]

Awesome! Happy travels!

[@MatthewWagnerFilms]

@@LucForsyth thanks!

[@DesmondSimon]

Great video! Very true for the carry on. Shot a doc in Yellowknife this summer and not all of our bags showed up! Glad I was ready to go when I got there.

[@LucForsyth]

In Yellowknife as we speak!

[@Dstonephoto]

Alright, now do your one bag version . What would you stuff into a 50L carry on - no checked luggage. 👍

[@LucForsyth]

Great idea. That rarely happens to me these days, but I'll put it in the future videos list now!

[@NewYorkerPEACE]

Excellent useful video and from a professional doc guy and not a youtube creator. I come from a photo background in working in NYC and doing more video doc work and your video are helping me out. cheers

[@LucForsyth]

Great to hear, thanks!

[@DanilloCabrera]

Awesome video! we need a 2024 update! 😃

[@frithjofschlesinger9880]

Packing Videos are awesome 🤩 I absolutely understand your fascination with bags. 🤓

[@LucForsyth]

They’re the best! Think I’ll do another one soon…

[@BenPhanStudios]

Great video brother, I really enjoyed and learned a lot! Thanks for sharing your real world experience. I'd be paranoid to leave the gear if I had to use the bathroom in the airport 😂

[@banderlust]

That is really interesting, I would never thougth that a serious job requires so many luggage.

[@LucForsyth]

It’s out of control sometimes!

[@simonhead666]

Tons of inspiration here!! thanks

[@mossgatherer_]

This is such a great video, Luc! From a fellow bag nerd!

[@LucForsyth]

Yes! Bag nerds unite!

[@DJCRAZY99LP]

Loved this video. I‘m also an pouch guy. So i saw the complete video.😂

[@LucForsyth]

👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻

[@GriffinConway]

Love the long form content. Also I’m such a sucker for gear videos haha

[@LucForsyth]

So I’m not the only one!

[@Supercon57]

9:35 I've also seen rechargeable AA batteries that are 1.5v, they play nicer with various gear that expect that voltage I've never used them but I've heard from sound guys that they are nice but more expensive Also I've noticed my Rode NTG2 is much quieter when using 1.2v rechargeables as it's designed for and expecting 1.5v (the phantom on those mics don't work properly) You need to buy a special charger for the 1.5v rechargeables as it doesn't work with typical 1.2v chargers Hope that helps

[@PeaLoop]

Great video Luc! Ty.

[@LucForsyth]

you're very welcome!

[@4CardsMan]

My experience with AA rechargable batteries: Two Panasonic eneloop pro black batteries will power my zoom H5 supplying 48V phantom power to a Countryman B2D lavalier all day, but the white eneloops will not.

[@LucForsyth]

Interesting...I don't have any of the white ones, but that's good to know. Thanks!

[@MiriamFollin]

Very useful to see! I know it's a lot of work, but would be so useful if you could list the pieces you talk about, maybe with a link! Saw now that the video is a couple of years old, so maybe you do it now! 🤗

[@speedyfast9]

Firstly great content, I am just starting to do more international work and we are traveling with mount batteries. I was wondering if you have had any trouble traveling with them? And what the max size you take is?

[@MitchellMillennial]

I feel like you're my long lost bag loving brother, hail to the pouches

[@LucForsyth]

Bow down to the pouch masters!

[@scotey]

Such an amazing resource. We need to get you more views ... 347 is criminal for a video of this quality.

[@scotey]

BTW, I made it to the end. It was time well spent for the amount of knowledge imparted.

[@Tastewithnewdrinks]

Great review, keep going. Absolutely I like your video.👍

[@LucForsyth]

Thanks, happy to hear it!

[@SaadonAksah]

Nice 👍 Thanks for sharing your experience 👍

[@LucForsyth]

You are very welcome!

[@NickHimo]

That portable stool came out of nowhere. Such a good idea though. I remember everytime I was working at Glastonbury wishing I had a seat. That would have been great

[@LucForsyth]

Oh man, that stool has saved me so many times!

[@rossbird7085]

@@LucForsyth I must have bought a dud batch of those stools, or my 85kg bod was too much. Stool virtually exploded into pieces when I sat down! Thanks for you videos though.

[@RoadJournal]

nice!

[@avebeno]

This was not way too long! Great tips!

[@LucForsyth]

Awesome!

[@marcusreid8945]

Can you strap you flowtech legs to a bag and carry it on the plane with you?

[@killianbayer]

Hey Luc, I always find when prepping for a shoot I'm stressed about forgetting something important. You have even more gear in this breakdown. How do you make sure you don't forget anything? Do you use checklists?

[@Maros_Mari]

Hey Luc, this is great useful video, thanks for sharing. I was just thinking while you pulled all those bags, how would you go about packing for a shoot where you are alone, need to hike, camp, lets say Nepal / Ladakh type of place, you need some dry food, and take gear and you must pack in one backpack - would be great to see your suggestions - kind of one backpack setup for hiking and shooting doc. Thanks a lot.

[@LucForsyth]

I use F-stop camera bags pretty much exclusively. - shop.fstopgear.com/?rfsn=6879535.324ad4 My every day bag is the Tilopa 50L, and my expedition bag is the Shinn 80L. For my KZbin gear I use the Guru. If you choose smaller or larger ICU inserts there can be room in the top for whatever extra non-camera gear you need to carry. Hope that helps!

[@Superjeanmarc]

Kind of funny how almost every items starts by: "it's expensive... but... " haha

[@LucForsyth]

The story of filmmaking!

[@danwongphoto]

My peli case is a great seat

[@zhenyucai]

Thanks for sharing. It is helpful for photography expedition too. Are you using RoadRags II to modify natural light or for your Aputure MC, Aladdin and Ice Light? RoadRags are compact, but still one extra item to carry, and not cheap :-) . And also is the duffle bag good enough to protect your tripod and Ice Light from airline handling?

[@Ryan-Payne]

Would love to know how you travel with/ what lights you take when you're required to shoot indoor

[@LucForsyth]

I use 1x1 flex panels from westcott if I need to be super light, or a 300d ii with a softbox if I can fit it

[@davidvillanueva.]

Can you please link that v mount charger!

[@LucForsyth]

www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1247994-REG/idx_system_technology_vl_2000s_simultaneous_quick_charger.html

[@ruisearts]

I sat through this thinking (after months of research) how given the budget, you could now downsize almost all of this kit to half the amount of bags in size. Also if it’s cool to ask, who made Estuche De Pablo (brand), love it, and the sentimental value.

[@ruisearts]

Also, thank you for the perspective, also what’s your favourite pouch, functionality-wise.

[@LucForsyth]

Actually it's the opposite! That's a very small load for a professional shoot for me, and I was on a production this year with over 50 pieces of checked luggage! And the estuche de Pablo is an overnight bag from an airline - super fancy!

[@LucForsyth]

👊🏻

[@wiezyckifamily]

Wow, DUDE. So glad you made this. I'm prepping for a trip to Africa for a project where I'll be solo shooting interviews and day-in-the-life type stuff in multiple countries. This was was super helpful to me as I think through how and what to pack. I won't be actually camping but a lot of the locations will be remote and primitive obviously. Did you ever have any issues where one of your carry-on allotted bags was too big or for some reason they made you gate-check it? That's one of my big concerns so very similarly I'll prioritize one main bag with the minimum I need to do my job. The other bag will be nice-to-have items just in case the worst happens and I lose that bag. I love the idea of checking a peli case with additional lens bags / pouches. I'd not thought of that and really would help me reduce bulk in my clothing luggage.

[@RJCProductionFilms]

I'm doing the exact same!

[@Dstonephoto]

Wait, do the airlines not have a hard limit the amount power on those batteries of 120WH for carry ons ?

[@LucForsyth]

They do - I use 98WH batteries which I think are as high as you can have. Not sure, but they meet airline requirements. IDX 98's.

[@Dstonephoto]

@@LucForsyth Interesting. So it's a limitation per unit and not an aggregate limit. As far as value for money goes - discounting other benefits such as modularity - do you feel these batteries offer the best bang for the buck? I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole vmount/npf/power bank stuff. I'd love to know if I could use any of these as an alternative power source for strobes. I'm borderline fascinated by the tech tbh, surprised it's not more common in other industries, including off-grid power.

[@tylerjames3620]

Do you have a media pass?

[@exaltvideo]

Is there a way to dump the footage on your external without using a computer? In about to do a remote shoot and an trying to reduce weight as much as possible

[@LucForsyth]

There is, but I’ve never used them - sorry!

[@rodrigogarcia2607]

Hey! Love your content. Thank you for making the video, ita really helping me. Just a little observation: The background music is too loud, its distracting me from your voice.

[@LucForsyth]

Thanks for the tip, will definitely pay attention to that in future edits!

[@Superjeanmarc]

How many people does your crew consist of to manage (and carry) all that gear?

[@LucForsyth]

It’s variable, but I’ve definitely travelled alone with all the stuff. I’d say 4-8 is more common though

[@alutzlft]

Dude, you are missing out with the purchase links for all these stuff, you can make a buck if you register to amazon program. Hope you can make some money because this content its amazing. Im from mexico, hope to see you here safe and sound again!!

[@LucForsyth]

Good reminder! Someday I hope there's a good affiliate program that isn't amazon

[@RossHarrisonFilm]

How do you actually travel around once at the destination? And will you be met by a team to help carry this kit on expedition? Or is some of it to be left at a home base? And do you check the cart? And final question i promise... You find tripods travel safely without special cases? Hope the shoots going well!

[@LucForsyth]

Hey! usually a large van or 4x4 vehicle would be the most common way to move a crew around. And yes - when you've got this much gear you pretty much have to work with other people. It's something I like a lot of about documentary production, but also hate. It's nice to be with others, but it makes it a lot harder to blend in! I do check the cart. Ideally I'll pack it in with something else if it will fit. But too much to load onto airport carts! I also have a tripod bag. Just the one that came with the tripod but it's been doing a good job so far!

[@RossHarrisonFilm]

@@LucForsyth Thanks a lot, Luc.

[@NickHimo]

How many different types if tape do you have in total?

[@LucForsyth]

1 x roll of black gaffer tape 1", 1 x white gaff 1", 1 x white gaff 2", 2x paper tape - green and red. Possibly overkill, but I end up using them all the time!

[@OffTheBeatenPot]

Don’t you dare make the next one shorter!

[@LucForsyth]

Deal!

[@brian_bielanski]

Not too long

[@user-om7eh5ol7b]

Watched the whole video. I am going on a 2 month trip to India to film a documentary, learning a lot from your videos!