Total price for decent level filming?

Hi, I'm currently using Sony HDR - CX160 to basically do everything since I'm very new to cinematography. Now, I know that filming tools such as dolly, jib, all the different mics, the CAMERA itself, the lens, and all the other tools cost ALOT of money. I'm just curious, how much money should I save up so that in 2-3 years, I can buy decent-level film tools?(including the camera itself) I know I'm being very ambiguous with the term "Decent-level", but I'm talking about tools that I can make first professional indie film in a entry-med level. Thanks!
 
There is no single answer here because the gear you need will depend on the type of film, and your definition of "professional indie film."

All I can give you is my own personal experience making my first feature film. I spent about $6,000 on gear, and another $6,000 for the rest of my expenses (which includes not having to pay for locations or many of my actors/crew).

You can probably spend less than that, but I doubt your film will end up looking "professional" at that budget level no matter how skilled you are at filmmaking.

Some exceptions would be if you are making a found footage film or an experimental film. Those types can be made for very cheap, and the line between amateur and professional gets pretty blurry.

Just my personal opinion.
 
When you say "make your first professional indie film" do you mean as a cinematographer? Or as a director? As both? I think before you can figure out what you need gear wise, you need to figure out what you have talent wise- that will decide the "level" of film. From there, you can choose whatever on god's blue earth you want.

That all being well and good- I have noticed this forum has quite a few gear centric specialists and there is a difference. What is it you want to do? Do you want to be a cinematographer? Do you need to own mics? Can you rent any of this stuff or hire crew that have paid for it at a fraction of the cost? I dont know, there are 10 or 20 other questions I'd ask before making a suggestion.

The cost of decent filming is $0 because you can give a person with an eye for talent and a knowledge of exposure a camera and get a great result. It just may not be the right result for your story.
 
You can make a professional looking film with a camera and a tripod. It all depends on execution, style, etc. Don't have an 'end goal' as such. Make lots of films, and as you're planning them you'll have moments of "damn, I could make this so much better if I had [x piece of gear]." If it's a one off thing, hire that piece of gear. Or if it's something that becomes a recurring trait in your work, perhaps look at buying it then.

Your style will change and evolve. If you're thinking that right now you need a 20ft jib, it's quite possible that in 2-3 years when you've saved that much money you prefer a grittier handheld style of shooting.

I would get the basics: Camera, a couple of decent lenses (don't overspend, if you end up doing a *big project* you will probably end up hiring a better camera and lesnes anyway) and a tripod. Maybe a steadicam or something similar. Figure out if there is stuff you're desperately missing, maybe get those in due time. But I'd be tempted to keep with a bare bones setup and invest in hiring proper sound people when the time comes.
 
DONT BUY SHIT UNLESS YOU

1. Cant find a professional operator or someone you know to help you.
2. Are shooting on something that costs total under $2000 because you cant make a movie otherwise.

The odds are very good someone got a gear boner and bought a lot of shit and would by psyched to get back even 1 or 2 thousand bucks for something their nerd erection caused them to purchase. If they can rationalize it by "well I made 2K for 17 weekends of work" you probably just saved yourself a ton of bread.
 
Ah, I meant to say director. But is it much cheaper to rent these items? and I wanted to be able to kind of get into all the different parts of making the film, so I'm thinking of getting mic and other necessary items myself.
 
I'll pipe in for APE/Alcove....

Even if you had the best sound gear in the world, who's going to operate it?

You can have great gear, but if the operator doesn't know how to use it, your sound is going to be sh*t at best.

Yes it helps to have your own gear, though it isn't your only option and often not your best option unless you're going to learn how to use (and teach how to use it) yourself.
 
"Professional" doesn't come from owning pieces of gear. "Professional" is talent plus experience. "Professional" is the ability to creatively and efficiently push the available equipment and available budget to the very limits.

As you mentioned mics I'm going to assume that you want to shoot your own script; I'll also assume that you're producing. Don't buy any gear. Direct the film. Preproduce it to death. Hire a DP and a PSM/Boom-op. They will have decent gear and know how to use it intimately. You'll want two or three really good, smart PAs. Take really good care of the cast and crew during the shoot and give them at least a token stipend. I'll assume here that you are editing, but hire someone to handle the audio post; again, better equipment and more experience.

Instead of throwing your money at gear invest it in talent. That is what will give you a professional product.
 
Yeah, definitely. I don't think skill comes with price. But I was just wondering if I would have to spend thousands of dollars later on when I'm semi-amateur since these items can get really pricey.
 
and to answer your question, total price for decent level filming gear is: All the way from very little to a lot.


These are random numbers:
Lets say you decide on a Red Epic Camera as your flavor.

The body is what $30k?
Then you need to buy all the accessories to go with it. Large amounts of batteries, redcards. Lets say you add on another $4k.
All the other things to go with it (I'm really not camera dept, so I'm so fudging it here) maybe another $10k.

So $45k later, you've got your camera.

Did I forget to mention, if you're using a red, your editor and grader (assuming you do it yourself) should really have a Red (named something) video card, costing just under $7k ($5k for the cheap version).

Did we mention the amount of hard drive space required to store, on top of that, the backups required? hmm...

So now we have a camera and all that, what are we shooting.... oh, that's right sound. A sound setup can cost you a lot of money. Cheap ones you can get away for a few thousand bucks, and you always need more and more gear.

Dolly, Jibs, Crane, sliders etc. Adding up.

Ready to shoot?

Oh wait, the picture is all dark... We need lights!

Ok, got a bunch of lights... Now lets shoot.... Awwww crap. Doesn't fit in my car anymore. Gotta buy/hire a truck.

Ok, ready, lets go shoot... Where are you shooting? Location? What are you shooting, got a script? Who are you shooting? Got actors?

Feel like we're missing something here... Oh yeah, that's right, who's going to shoot this with you.... and what do you mean, they expect to get fed??? AND PAID? Dammit, I fed them. That's enough!

Ok... fine, got all that... now ready to shoot.

awwwww crap. A new camera just came out ;)



Your question was similar to how long is a piece of string. You can shoot on a Canon 2ti with a few cheap lights from the hardware store, Zoom h4n, Rode Mic etc for really cheap. Will the end result be good? Possibly. It depends what you're shooting and on the quality of the people element really. Could the end result be better if we used an Alexa? Yeah, it could. It could also look like a polished turd too.

You could pick up the new Blackmagic Production camera. There are pro's and cons, like you need to grade it, though it only costs about $3k + accessories. You can pick up somewhat decent audio gear in the $2k to $3k range total. Light costs, that's outside my area of knowledge, but $2 to $5k though they'd last you a lifetime if you buy quality lighting gear. That goes with quality grip gear too. You'll still need good people to operate the equipment of the kids with the t2i will pass you by.
 
and to answer your question, total price for decent level filming gear is: All the way from very little to a lot.


These are random numbers:
Lets say you decide on a Red Epic Camera as your flavor.

The body is what $30k?
Then you need to buy all the accessories to go with it. Large amounts of batteries, redcards. Lets say you add on another $4k.
All the other things to go with it (I'm really not camera dept, so I'm so fudging it here) maybe another $10k.

So $45k later, you've got your camera.

Did I forget to mention, if you're using a red, your editor and grader (assuming you do it yourself) should really have a Red (named something) video card, costing just under $7k ($5k for the cheap version).

Did we mention the amount of hard drive space required to store, on top of that, the backups required? hmm...

So now we have a camera and all that, what are we shooting.... oh, that's right sound. A sound setup can cost you a lot of money. Cheap ones you can get away for a few thousand bucks, and you always need more and more gear.

Dolly, Jibs, Crane, sliders etc. Adding up.

Ready to shoot?

Oh wait, the picture is all dark... We need lights!

Ok, got a bunch of lights... Now lets shoot.... Awwww crap. Doesn't fit in my car anymore. Gotta buy/hire a truck.

Ok, ready, lets go shoot... Where are you shooting? Location? What are you shooting, got a script? Who are you shooting? Got actors?

Feel like we're missing something here... Oh yeah, that's right, who's going to shoot this with you.... and what do you mean, they expect to get fed??? AND PAID? Dammit, I fed them. That's enough!

Ok... fine, got all that... now ready to shoot.

awwwww crap. A new camera just came out ;)



Your question was similar to how long is a piece of string. You can shoot on a Canon 2ti with a few cheap lights from the hardware store, Zoom h4n, Rode Mic etc for really cheap. Will the end result be good? Possibly. It depends what you're shooting and on the quality of the people element really. Could the end result be better if we used an Alexa? Yeah, it could. It could also look like a polished turd too.

You could pick up the new Blackmagic Production camera. There are pro's and cons, like you need to grade it, though it only costs about $3k + accessories. You can pick up somewhat decent audio gear in the $2k to $3k range total. Light costs, that's outside my area of knowledge, but $2 to $5k though they'd last you a lifetime if you buy quality lighting gear. That goes with quality grip gear too. You'll still need good people to operate the equipment of the kids with the t2i will pass you by.

I see, it's very much like building a computer. New things come out, and one part requires another part to be expensive.
 
http://youtu.be/3Xg8p4KR-PI this video is pretty good in explaining how you can get crappy result with a red epic and a decent result with an inexpensive dslr if you know what you're doing.
I'm having trouble watching it just from the epileptic editing. Picture quality looks pretty good though.

Gahh, I couldn't make it through the whole thing. Seriously, that was painful. That was as annoying to my eyes as a roomful of loudmouths on cellphones is to my ears. The sound and picture quality was pretty good though.
 
Talent is what matters ther are a lot of experienced directors out there that make Crappy films because they do not have much talent. Most low budget movies suck do to poor Planning, Writing and Rushing to make the film instead of taking your time to set up a good shot, or anything else for that matter. Find the right actors, etc.

If somebody gave me the same budget that guy had for birdemic shock and terror. I'd film on DSLR's (not the camera he shot on) set up better shots and actually direct the actors properly and give them a good script to work with.

This is one of the reasons why I havent shot any films yet. Preparing myself beforehand.
 
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