Hello all,

Well I'm taking my first step into the world of independent production. I just got a Panasonic GS400 and FCExpress. I'll be working on a very short film to get aquatinted with my new toys. any advice or recommendations? Tools I might need, books I might find useful?

Welcome to the wonderful world of film!

Advice:
1)You already sound like you know what you're doing! That's the first point! Keep that up at all times!
2)Every time you start a project, keep it within the scope of what you can accomplish, but aim to improve one area...as in, start just making A movie, then next time, try action, next time lighting, next time audio... then when you believe you can do them all, make a "real" short. We did alot of teaser trailers early on- that's a fun way to start.
3) Eventually, when you start to get serious, get a boom mic, lights, and as much equippment as you can. But before that, just have fun. It's important to spend the first few films creating the good memories.
4) Let yourself make mistakes. They're invaluable to learning. More so than getting it right by fluke.


Other people know more about the book thing... I wish I was literate....

Anyway- welcome!

-Logan-

hi Logan and thanks for the advice I'll keep it all in mind.

Welcome to the boards Turki! You couldn't have found a better place then this for advice. :) Lots of friendly folks here.

The advice I would give is to always keep going. Even when you have your worst of worst days, keep going. You'll get threw it and it'll really test you to see if you really want to do this as well.

Hope you have fun shooting and keep us all updated.

Hey there, new guy. :)

Here's a book you might like to read: The Five C's of Cinematography (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/187950541X/qid=1114036708/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8216263-6974253?v=glance&s=books)

You should also visit SonnyBoo.com (the "downloads" section) and get some basic actor releases. Nothing worse than finally making something worth showing, and you suddenly find you don't have permission to do so! :eek:

Get ready for lots of trial and error. :cool:

Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew"
Film Directing: Shot by Shot by Steven Katz

Helped me. Then again I just learned how to make the faces on my Lego people talk. LOL

Thank you all for your help, advice and support.

I'll take all into consideration and will take a look at the books mentioned. This won't be easy but hope it will be fun :)

Hi Turki! Welcome to Indietalk.

:welcome: i like-a-da-turki :D

thanks bird and bad haircut.

Hi, Turki; I'm new to this site also

Like you I just got a new toy: Panasonic AG DVX 100a
It makes me crazy that I can't 'play' with it as much as I would like to right now...

I am in the development stages of a MONSTER documentary and though I know
its a good project, I sure could use all the advice I could get, too.

Here are 3 books I have purchased:

Guerilla Film Makers Handbook -Jolliffe & Jones

Risky Business: Financing and Distributing Independent Films - Mark Litwak

Shaking The Money Tree -Morrie Warshawski

I don't know if these will help, but every little bit takes you further along

Hi! Everybody! --spinner