Any Features Ready to Shoot on HVX?

I don't mind discussing money, because it's all my own money. And I do my own distribution, and so on, so hey.

The BBS Documentary cost $20,000 to produce, and that's equipment, travel, food, and editing equipment (including tons of hard drives). I made that back in the first week of sales. So consider me a success story.

Packaging and duplication cost $26,000, but it's a really nice package and I had 5,000 of them done.

I intend to use the HVX to shoot my next few documentaries, and I will likely focus on one while grabbing footage for the next few as time and opportunity presents itself. (I.e. I will be in a city for a couple days and shoot down and get background shots for second documentary after finishing interview for first, etc.)

I use my day job as primary funding. I don't pay actors and I don't have a crew. The downside of this is I have experienced 1 hour nights of sleep on a multi-day shoot and I have learned the hard way that I can drive 240 miles in a day before I get dizzy.

I intend to shoot with an HVX200, although I am almost 100% guaranteed to purchase a laptop with external drives and capture directly to that, avoiding P2s completely. I will fashion some sort of backpack setup to allow me to do this remotely. Pain, but those P2s are non-starters at that current price.

Good luck to all the filmmakers following their dreams!
 
Thanks for that Jason, and congrats on the doc. I haven't even tried to get into the non-fiction field of filmmaking but am a huge fan of them. Nice to see you have the system down.

What are your thoughts on using the laptop to capture? Just planning on walking around with a firewire connection while you shoot?

Thanks again and good luck with it.
 
Yes, my plan is to shoot with a laptop connected by a firewire cable. When I did my previous documentary, I had no "moving" shots, just intercutting of interviews and footage. (It came out good, trust me.) This one might have some limited movement (and the next one after that will) so I suspect I am going to look like Boba Fett, and I can live with that.

I get the impression that's not how people want to shoot, and that's fine, but I'm definitely going to be going that way.
 
Jason:

Some really dumb questions, as I've never owned a laptop:

(1) Can you shoot with the laptop in your backpack? Or will have to unload backpack and shoot while laptop is on the ground etc?

(2) Will closing the laptop shut down the computer? E.G: Laptop in backpack, standing by to capture.

(3) Will the camera automatically trigger the capture process, or do you have to click "capture" on the program before you can shoot?

I've thought about the HVX200/laptop combo, and wondered about the limitations inherent in this method.

Thanks
 
biggest problem i see with the laptop backpack method is protecting the firewire port from stress - if you know how you will do that Id love to hear it. I have already ruined a few firewire cables (luckily not the port) from being "overzealous"
 
Originally Posted by HVXguy
II will worry about my post-production flow afterwards.

HeHeHe, let me digress, I started this thread to get some input on post-production flow. From all reports and what I have been reading,
it looks like Mac is the way to go?? When shooting a feature length product with a camera like the HVX we are talking at least 720p and preferably 1080p. What I meant about the post-production flow afterward was that I have no plans to edit as I go. I will probably find a way to do rough editing with the system I have before committing any resources to set-up the finishing solution. By the summer I hope to have enough info to build a rock-solid system that can deliver feature film quality..
 
stabwound said:
(1) Can you shoot with the laptop in your backpack? Or will have to unload backpack and shoot while laptop is on the ground etc?
Click to expand...

It can be done in a backpack, but I would be scared of the firewire's connection to the camera. They are famous for failing.

stabwound said:
(2) Will closing the laptop shut down the computer? E.G: Laptop in backpack, standing by to capture.
Click to expand...

You can set most laptops to stay on when closed. You also have to make sure the computer doesn't overheat in there. Then it'll turn off.

stabwound said:
(3) Will the camera automatically trigger the capture process, or do you have to click "capture" on the program before you can shoot?
Click to expand...

Don't know there. Also, would the camera be able to tell you if the capture failed (computer over-heated and shut down mid-shoot)?
 
I'm working with a couple of people from the WB on a feature that starts shooting in March (Hopefully if I get the HVX by then). We're looking at a 40k budget, and we plan to shoot the whole thing green screen in a studio. Everybody below the line will be working for free or low payment because our budget is so small. We're looking to get it in for Sundance 2007, but knowing all of the problems and time that come with the VFX work we might be pushing it. We're still in the process of trying to find a studio, or a warehouse that could be used as studio so if anyone out there knows of a good one, please let me know. Here's the link to the blog our director started.

http://www.latenightproject.blogspot.com/

Good luck to everyone shooting there first feature on the HVX!
 
OK, several things. :)

First of all, I better disclaim everything by saying that I am NOT a Professional in the common sense of the word. I do this video stuff and create projects and people download or purchase the products. Some people really like it, some people complain about this or that. But I don't do this as my day job. It doesn't mean I don't care, but it does mean I don't care about specific things that others likely do care about.

One thing to keep in mind is I shoot with a one-man crew. This means I do certain things in a way that would make professionals unhappy, but I do other things that professionals cannot risk doing.

I knew I wanted a nicer camera for this new movie, and that I might as well shoot in High Def in some way. I don't know High Def very well and I don't understand all the codecs and options, but life has rewarded me for plunging into darkness that I only know about 40% of, so there we go. Follow me at your peril. :)

That said, my approach that has worked for me is to buy commodity hardware and just buy a friggin' ton of it. This new "direct to hard drives only" thing is a scary prospect, but I'm looking it over as best I can.

I suspect that the vast, vast, vast majority of the shots I would do with this HVX would be along the lines of still shots, laptop and hard drive happily next to the camera on a little table or pedistal, while I shoot away.

Some smaller amount of these are the classic "oh ****" shots that a person does, like taking a camera and scootching under a car to shoot someone's feet walking by, or lying down on a diving board with your $5k camera shooting someone floating in water with the sunlight beaming down. You know, those shots where one wrong move and you are one saaaaaaad panda.

The key is to only do these shots when you have to, not all the time, and I design my films so I won't have to; instead of panning across objects, I move them in front of a static camera, or I digitize images and scroll them by with modifications (Vegas is great for this) so that it's 3-Dish but doesn't need the camera. You know, having fun.

Maybe with the laptop I'd get, I'd use some sort of strap system, like they use for babies: http://www.montkid.com/montkid/images/large/sherpani_emi_baby_carrier_lg.jpg

There's a lot of options out there. I'd be smart about it. As for firewire, I'm definitely going to use a card in the laptop, and carry a metric ton of cables. The key is to do something I can live with, where I look at the finished shots and go "excellent", as opposed to "ewww". If I might have done it differently with a producer breathing down my neck but with ten times the money, so be it. But I work on stuff for me, first.
 
lpcvideo1 said:
It can be done in a backpack, but I would be scared of the firewire's connection to the camera. They are famous for failing.
Click to expand...

My firewire connection to my DSLR Sigma SD9 camera failed really quickly after maybe 20 downloads.

It is indeed fragile.

I tripped over the cable once. The cable head won't stay in the camera any more... and the signal won't go through (bent pins?)

I now use my firewire card reader, which I leave plugged in the computer permanently.

I worry about using the firestore. But then, I've not heard any horror stories from the firestore users.

Connectors built like the XLR audio would be sooooo reassuring.:happy:
 
Hey zoo, I'm moving my answer to your question here because I think this is a more appropriate thread (and the other one got hijacked anyway). Wasn't sure if you saw my response or not.

zoostory said:
Haakon what are your plans for post work flow? I am very curious. Are you going to just go down to starndard def for festival entry and distro, up it an HD tape format, and/or blow up to film?
Click to expand...
I plan to edit completely in HD with FCP5; I'll probably be shooting 720 because there will most likely be some off-framerate stuff and my guess is having the extra recording time will come in handy for us on our first outing with the camera. Some people have said that the difference between 720 and 1080 with this particular camera is indistinguishable; though I think Barry's tests may prove slightly otherwise, I don't think the little boost we may see will be enough to justify the huge increase in storage requirements and processing power to edit.

That being said, the master will definitely be HD. I would like to find some way to distribute over the internet for people interested (some people have mentioned setting up a torrent), so distribution via that route will probably be likely initially. We will be selling the film eventually, however I have thought about making this a "pilot" feature for the HVX in that it's probably going to be one of the first films shot with the camera and I am going to see if Jan would like to do some promotion with it (provided of course people feel it's up to snuff). :) Because of that, I may first release it on DVXuser for the enthusiasts who really understand this stuff and would like to see something concrete put together that's actually profesionally lit and constructed and not just shot in the lobby of an electronics store (no offense to the people who have posted footage of electronics stores!).

It will definitely be a piece that we will be looking to enter into festivals, however a blow-up to film at this point is questionable. Our budget is very tight and unless it takes off in some way that a film out becomes necessary, it will probably stay in the digital realm. There's no predicting the future, though... I really don't know.

There's no question in my mind, however, that for initial widespread distribution we'll have to downconvert to SD for DVD release... at this point there's just no HD mechanism in place for people to view it at home (and not enough people have HDTVs). I actually think Blu-Ray will be upon us faster than most people think; it had a huge presence at CES and TONS of BD products were announced to ship by May/June of this year, and although it will inevitably be expensive and crude at the beginning, it's something I am looking at getting into as early as possible. It's obvious to me that it will take off at some point, and after spending the last year with HD cable in my home, I'm not looking at producing any new SD-mastered content from here on out (it can always be down converted if need be). Who knows, it may very well be one of the very first independent features distributed via Blu-Ray as well, but I'm not sure if that will really matter for at least a year or so.

I guess the moral of the story is that with a desktop computer these days, you have the power to go from acquisition to delivery all on one machine, and we'll probably just export to whatever format/delivery method seems to work best when we get there. Perhaps people would rather pay for an HD version they can download and watch on their computers versus getting an SD version mailed to them on DVD. We're kinda in new territory, which is also sorta fun. :) It's a very interesting time to be an independent filmmaker, and with so many new tools being offered at our disposal, it's quite an exciting time, too. The coolest part is that it's only going to get better from here on out.
 
I will be shooting the pilot for a one-camera sitcom as soon as I get my HVX. I'm also shooting a feature with the HVX shortly thereafter. The budget for that is around$30,000 (out of my own pocket). At this point, it looks like I'll be shooting 720p exclusively to the P2 cards.

We shot a "promo trailer" late last year with the DVX (you can see it on the website), and I'm really looking forward to getting my HVX. It really is a dream come true for indie filmmakers and I too beleive it to be the beginning of a revolution. Barry and Jared seem to be the Tom Paine thereof. Hopefully one of us can be the Washington or Jefferson. Good luck with all your HVX projects!

http://15minuteslatermovie.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top