Gear for B-Roll Shooting When You're a Team of One

In one of his latest videos, renowned YouTuber Thomas Heaton discusses the gear he utilizes for B-roll while producing videos for his large following. Heaton produces great cinematic work, but I was more taken by a profound statement during the video: the content and story you tell is far more important than the overall video quality you produce. 

Heaton points out another important thing to keep in mind: collecting the various pieces of gear that ultimately make producing great videos takes years of work. For new video bloggers the desire to purchase every known piece of equipment is fun and can be a very expensive proposition. While Heaton says he has a great set-up now, like many of us he started with humble beginnings, working with just his phone before slowly adding more equipment into his kit. 

Some of Heaton’s equipment, such as the Rode Stereo VideoMic X, is pricer than some of us might want to shell out for a microphone used to capture ambient sounds. He does offer cheaper solutions like the Rode VideoMicro Compact microphone. While as the Edelkrone SliderONE Pro demands a steep price tag, but for such a versatile and compact slider, there’s no denying, I still want one added to my production kit. 

What’s a part of your B-Roll kit? What would you suggest Heaton add to his? If you haven’t, make sure to follow Heaton on Instagram here.

Trey Amick's picture

Trey Amick is a full-time photographer based in Northern VA. Trey found photography as an outlet to the work-life he wanted out of, and after several years made the jump. Trey focuses on landscapes for personal projects but can be found working on commercial projects and weddings as well. Trey also enjoys bladesmithing.

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1 Comment

That Rode NT-USB sure does sound silky smooth.. yeah we may not need such a high end mic but it sounds great.