Powering a Miami location shoot: batteries, generators and not running out

Updated: September 10, 2026

The failure that stops a shoot completely

A camera can be swapped. A lens can be borrowed. A microphone can be replaced with a different one. Power cannot be improvised, and when it runs out everything stops at once. It is the least discussed part of a gear list and the one most likely to end a shoot day early.

Miami adds its own pressure. Heat shortens battery life, exterior locations rarely have convenient outlets, older buildings have circuits that were not designed for lighting loads, and a rooftop or beach position may have no mains supply at all. Planning power properly is not a technical nicety; it is the difference between finishing the day and apologising for it.

Work out what you actually need

Start with a load calculation rather than an instinct. List every item that draws power, note its consumption, and add them up. Lighting dominates the total on almost every shoot; cameras, monitors and audio are comparatively small.

Then think in terms of time rather than instantaneous draw. A fixture running for six hours consumes far more energy than the same fixture used for twenty minutes, and battery planning is about energy over the day rather than peak wattage. A useful habit is to estimate runtime per fixture and total it, because that number tells you how many batteries you need rather than how big a generator you need.

Add headroom on top. A third above your calculated figure covers the setup you did not plan, the take that ran long, and the battery that turns out to be older than it looked.

Battery types and where each fits

The item people underestimate most is the accessory load. A camera drawing a modest amount becomes a much larger draw once a monitor, a wireless video transmitter, a follow focus and a receiver are all hanging off it. Monitoring in particular is a steady drain, and it is discussed in shooting in log and reading your monitoring tools.

Heat and battery behaviour

Lithium batteries lose capacity at high temperatures and degrade faster when repeatedly heated. A case of batteries left in a car in a Miami parking lot will underperform, and will keep underperforming afterwards.

The practical measures are simple. Keep spares in shade or in a cooler with no direct contact with ice. Do not leave batteries in a vehicle. Allow hot batteries to cool before charging, because charging a hot cell shortens its life. And retire batteries that no longer hold a useful charge rather than keeping them in rotation, since an unreliable battery in a case is worse than no battery, because someone will pick it up in a hurry.

Using building power safely

Where mains power is available, the question becomes how much you can draw from a given circuit. Ask building management what is available rather than guessing, and be aware that several outlets in a room often share one circuit.

Practical rules that prevent the common failures: spread the load across circuits rather than plugging everything into a convenient wall; know where the breaker panel is before you need it; carry enough cable to reach a different circuit; and never assume an unfamiliar outlet is on its own supply. Tripping a breaker mid-take is disruptive; tripping the one that also feeds the client's server room is a different kind of problem entirely.

Outdoors and near water, use protected outlets and keep distribution off the ground. In older buildings, check whether outlets are properly grounded, because some are not.

Generators: when they are worth it

For locations with no supply, or loads beyond what a building can offer, a generator is the answer. Two considerations dominate the choice.

Noise. A conventional generator is loud enough to ruin dialogue recording. Inverter generators are much quieter, and even then the unit needs to be placed well away from the microphone with cable run back. Budget for that cable.

Clean power. Sensitive equipment prefers a stable waveform. Inverter units provide this; basic contractor generators may not, and the symptoms range from flickering fixtures to equipment that refuses to run.

Add the practical items too: fuel for the whole day plus reserve, a safe place to run it, adequate ventilation, and someone responsible for it. A generator that runs out of fuel two hours before wrap is a self-inflicted wound.

A workable charging discipline

1. Everything charges the night before. Not the morning of, because chargers are slower than optimism.
2. Label charged and used. Separate cases or coloured tape. A mixed case wastes time and causes mid-take failures.
3. Assign one person. On larger shoots someone owns power. On smaller ones, nominate anyway.
4. Charge continuously on set. Set up a charging station at base and cycle batteries through it all day.
5. Swap on a schedule, not on a warning. Change camera batteries between setups rather than waiting for a low indicator during a take.
6. Carry the chargers. Batteries without their chargers on a multi-day shoot is a familiar and painful mistake.

Cables, distribution and tidiness

Power distribution is also a safety matter. Every cable crossing a walkway needs matting or tape, every extension needs to be rated for the load, and daisy-chaining power strips is a habit worth breaking.

Label your distribution so anyone can trace what feeds what. When a breaker goes, the ability to identify the offending circuit in ten seconds rather than five minutes matters. And keep spare cable in the truck, because the distance between the only available outlet and where the light needs to be is always further than it looks.

Planning for the specific location

Different Miami locations present different power problems, and it is worth thinking about them at the scouting stage.

Rooftops and terraces often have no accessible outlets, so plan for battery fixtures or a long run from below. Beaches have no power, plus sand and salt, so batteries are the only realistic option and equipment protection matters. Boats have limited supply and it is often unsuitable for sensitive gear; assume battery power. Older buildings may have limited capacity per circuit. Modern offices usually have adequate supply but restrictive rules about what may be plugged in and where.

Whatever the location, confirm during the scout rather than on the day. Support and rigging plans interact with this too, since where a light can be placed is partly determined by where it can be powered, and the equipment side is covered in camera support gear for steady Miami shots.

Travelling with batteries

If crew or gear flies in for a Miami shoot, battery rules become part of the plan. Airlines restrict lithium batteries above certain energy ratings, require them in carry-on rather than checked baggage, and expect terminals to be protected against short circuit. Large block batteries and power stations are the ones most likely to be refused, and finding out at the airport is an expensive way to learn.

Check the current requirements before the trip, tape the terminals, carry batteries in their cases, and have the specifications available if asked. Where a battery is too large to fly, the sensible answer is to rent it locally rather than to argue at check-in.

The redundancy question

How much backup is proportionate depends on what the shoot is. For a repeatable interview, running lean is reasonable. For a one-time event or an expensive talent day, redundancy is cheap insurance.

The minimum worth carrying on any professional job is spare batteries beyond the calculation, a spare charger, spare cable, and a small power station capable of running the essentials. That package fits in a case and has rescued more shoot days than any single piece of creative equipment.

How we plan power

We calculate the load and the runtime rather than estimating, and we confirm available supply during the scout rather than on the day. Batteries are charged the night before, kept out of vehicles and heat, and cycled through a charging station throughout the day. Where a location has no supply, we specify a quiet inverter generator or battery fixtures and we budget the cable to place it far enough from the microphone.

If you are planning a Miami shoot in a location with awkward power, we are happy to look at it before anything is booked. More technical guides are on our blog, there is background on the about page, and you can reach us through the contact page.

The short version

Calculate the load and, more importantly, the runtime, then add a third for headroom. Remember that accessories on the camera add up to a real draw. Keep batteries out of heat and out of vehicles, retire the tired ones, and charge everything the night before. On mains, spread the load across circuits and know where the panel is. For no-supply locations use battery fixtures or a quiet inverter generator placed well away from the microphone with cable to reach. Label charged and used, assign one person to own power, and carry spare batteries, a spare charger, spare cable and a small power station.