Since I'm new to the forums, I'll introduce myself.
I'm Chris, and I've had about 3 or 4 years of school project type filming/editing/producing. I was basically the director and editor in every case, so I know my way around film production.
My question for you has has brought me to creating this thread.
I would say my budget is around $1,000, and I was wondering what tools you guys would suggest for making an indie show. The show is most likely going to be uploaded to Youtube for regular episodes, etc.
At the moment, I really have nothing but my cell phone to work with, so I'm pretty much at rock bottom.
I was thinking I would need about 2 hd cameras, and a boom mic for the whole deal.
Opinions on how far or close I am as to how much equipment I need?
Could anyone find me the tools I need to look professional AND stay in my budget?
I don't think the cameras will require too much movement or zooming adjust-ability.
Thanks for any future help,
Chris
Zensteve
07-03-2012, 01:41 AM
I really have nothing but my cell phone to work with, so I'm pretty much at rock bottom.
You don't need 2 HD cams & a boom mic to look professional.
As far as your show, specifically - not enough info to suggest exactly what you need.
If you have ever seen a show like Workaholics or The Office, you could get a good idea of the show I'm trying to make.
I do have a Droid X with HD recording capabilities. I suppose I've never really tested out how well they can record.
Aspiring Mogul
07-03-2012, 07:30 AM
Good work, Zensteve! :)
directorik
07-03-2012, 11:35 AM
If you have ever seen a show like Workaholics or The Office, you could get a good idea of the show I'm trying to make.
But you can't buy two HD cameras and a good shotgun mic for $1,000.
So you need to work with what you have. What makes those shows look
the way they look (and sound the way they sound) is higher end equipment
(both are shot with one camera) and skilled people. You won't have the
high end equipment so you will need to make up for that with skill and
talent.
For $1,000 you can get one, really cheap HD camera (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838776-REG/Canon_R300_VIXIA_HF_R300_Full.html) and a usable mic kit (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/551607-REG/Audio_Technica_AT_875_Shotgun_Microphone.html)
and a home made boom pole. But that leaves you with no money for lighting.
One of the reasons "Workaholics" and "The Office" look they way they look is
really good lighting - so good you don't even notice it.
But with 4 years of school you already know all that.
chrisdothtml
07-03-2012, 11:54 PM
But you can't buy two HD cameras and a good shotgun mic for $1,000.
So you need to work with what you have. What makes those shows look
the way they look (and sound the way they sound) is higher end equipment
(both are shot with one camera) and skilled people. You won't have the
high end equipment so you will need to make up for that with skill and
talent.
For $1,000 you can get one, really cheap HD camera (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838776-REG/Canon_R300_VIXIA_HF_R300_Full.html) and a usable mic kit (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/551607-REG/Audio_Technica_AT_875_Shotgun_Microphone.html)
and a home made boom pole. But that leaves you with no money for lighting.
One of the reasons "Workaholics" and "The Office" look they way they look is
really good lighting - so good you don't even notice it.
But with 4 years of school you already know all that.
4 years of school projects. Not 4 years of schooling for movie production. In the years I gained a large amount of knowledge FOR making movies, though.
jils johny
07-04-2012, 06:11 AM
you need to increase your budget.i dont think so $1000 will help since you may need a good shotgun mic,2 hdcams and the lighting kit.
mussonman
07-04-2012, 08:58 AM
go with just one camera, and a good mic, and if there's anything left over, some lighting equipment
directorik
07-04-2012, 09:27 AM
4 years of school projects. Not 4 years of schooling for movie production. In the years I gained a large amount of knowledge FOR making movies, though.
Sorry about that.
But with 4 years of school projects you already know all that because
you have gained a large amount of knowledge for making movies.
idenitycrisis27
07-04-2012, 10:45 AM
Listen to directorik about lighting. Your camera can be whatever. It doesn't even have to be HD. But make sure you have lighting at the top of your list. Light is to the photographer what paint is to a painter. And if you have good enough lighting, it truly doesn't matter in the slightest what camera you use.
A fantastic Indie lighting kit you could compile is this one right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUSrpcGf3gc and a few other sound tips are here starting at 5:35 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEq5T8fJarM
Sound is second on the list. The first thing that will take your audience out of a show is the audio. Audio, above all, needs to be invisible. Make sure that dialogue never gets too quiet, ambience doesn't get too loud, and you're able to adjust your sound in post. Depending on your editing suite, you have different levels of customization, but make sure you can hear everything, and hear it clearly. I bought this mic: http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/usb-microphones/meteormic/ for $70, and it's fantastic for dialogue in a relatively quiet setting. I used it for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxCLpXz6kFk , during the interview scenes, and there was a very loud air conditioner on at the time. I couldn't get rid of it entirely, but there is a SIGNIFICANT difference between the untouched audio and what was used in the final cut. I was actually able to notch filter the audio in Garageband, of all things. So, there's really no excuse for bad audio. That mic I linked to also has a screw in thread on the bottom for a stand, and it wouldn't take much to rig it to a painter's pole and transform it into a fully functioning boom pole.
As for a loud environment, the first thing you want to pay attention to is mic placement. The closer you can get it to your actor, the louder your actor will be compared to the noise floor. A noise floor is unavoidable no matter where you record, but especially outside, you can turn down the gain and get rid of as much of the noise floor as possible, while keeping close proximity with your mic and improving your audio that way.
Your camera is always nice to upgrade later, and a $1000 DSLR is my personal weapon of choice, as anything nicer than that doesn't really show up on YouTube, once your video is re-encoded on the server, the quality is degraded quite a bit sometimes. (Film riot, the creator of the videos I linked you to earlier, shot a short film on the Red Epic, and uploaded it in 2k resolution (Which is like theater resolution.) and it really doesn't look any different than the 720p on an average sized monitor.) Once you get up to the huge iMac sized screens, it might make a difference to have a nicer camera, but for all intents and purposes, 720p on YouTube looks nice and loads fast, and nearly any camera you can buy from the electronics section at Wal-Mart or Target can shoot in it. Also, cameras record in different ways, and it matters a bit what codecs you record in (h264/avi, etc) and what file formats you use in what editor, but that's a discussion for another thread, and it won't really come up as an issue (if at all) until you're in post.
For $1000 you could grab a great $300-$400 camera from Wal-Mart, a spectacular $500 in lights and stands, and $100 on your mic.
