If you could say one thing to a beginner...

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davbeisner

New member
I'm a beginner at video and I want to learn from the pros. That said, let me give a little history:

I'm only 23, but I've been in the pro audio industry for almost ten years now and I currently run a small recording studio and I do pretty well at it and make some pretty good money. I've got extensive audio experience with studio work, live sound, and installation. That said, I think I understand technology fairly well and so I'm hoping I'll be able to transition to video fairly easily (though I know it's going to take a lot of work to learn everything!) I'm just finishing up college (I graduate in May '09) but my school has already hired me full time. They want me to take my skills in technology, learn how to do video work, and then create over a hundred 5-10 minute promo videos for use in fundraising and admissions. They're pretty much investing a couple months worth of my salary (which isn't bad either!) in getting me trained in videography and video technology.

I'm having weekly training sessions with the Film prof at our school and he's teaching me a lot of stuff with compositing and framing and how to use a camera from an artistic standpoint.

I've spent the last four weeks reading forums here, at dvinfo, apple, adobe, and more, just trying to learn. I'll be using the lynda.com tranining videos to learn FCP, After Effects, Photoshop, and Flash (a lot of the stuff I do will also be developed on our website).

Right now it looks like they'll be buying me an HVX200A with an extra 16GB card (means I'll have two 16gb cards), a Mac Pro with FCP and some basic video/audio hardware (looking at the Blackmagic Intensity Pro for video--want to be able to use HDMI outputs to monitor on HD screen--and the M-Audio ProFire 2626 for Audio--allows me to use a lot of the pro-audio gear I already own including an ADAT HD24 for multitracking and it works with ProTools M-Powered if we decide we need to purchase that eventually.) Then I'll also be getting a good tripod (looking to spend somewhere around $1400 and I'm looking at a Manfroto head on Cartoni sticks). For lighting, I put myself through college by working construction so I already have three 1000 watt lighting trees. I can get old color films and diffusers from our theater department here at the school. I've also read (I think it was here) that hanging a shower curtain in front of the lights is a great difuser.

So I've pretty much got the equipment stuff figured out and planned out. I've been able to keep the total cost for everything under $15k which I think is pretty good. Now I just need to spend time learning the art of the trade.

That's where y'all come in: Three questions for y'all:
1. What's one thing you wish someone had told you when you got started in video?
2. What's the most valuable thing YOU would like to impart to a beginner?
3. What's one piece of equipment I haven't listed that you would like to recommend or what's one piece of equipment I have listed that you think I should reconsider?

Y'all's advice is much appreciated and I look forward to reading your responses!


David
 
  1. Read the manual.
  2. Work on other people movie's to get experience.
  3. Write good scripts.
  4. Get good sound.
  5. Be nice to everyone on your set.

Noah
 
my only suggestion is to start making videos as soon as possible. i get better with every video i make. even it's just a stupid 2 min stop motion with your teddy bear. take that, and mess with all the options and effects so that you get quick and efficient when it comes time to do your serious work. that's my tip.
 
1. It's about the story.
2. It's about the story.
3. It's about the story.
4. Never stop learning (about life, about relationships, about filmmaking, about anything)
5. The more you learn the less you know and nobody likes a know-it-all.
6. I'd rethink the Intensity Pro. A Matrox MXO + 23" Apple Cinema Display can get you a solid, budget HD monitoring solution for under $2k that can get close to a Sony b'cast HD CRT in terms of image quality and accuracy.

-A
 
1. What you put into it is what you'll get out of it. Hard Work = Payoff. Sounds corny but it is sooo true.
2. Always be willing to learn. Don't let an ego get in the way of furthering oneself.
3. Oh yeah, and Short Cut Keystrokes
 
1. Buy a real lighting kit.

I did the home depot lights for several years and it was not until I bought some real lights that I realized how much effort I was expending dealing with cheap workarounds. Even a simple Britex lighting kit with a softbox is worth the expense. They are light as a feather and compact, which helps tremendously when you are working alone or with a small crew. Saves a lot of time and physical effort, which may not seem like much but a few hours of wrestling with cheap halogens takes its toll. I noticed after I got real lights I could work much longer without getting fatigued.
 
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