Body, Lenses, Tripod, Stabilizer .... what's next ???

C

c3hammer

Well-known member
After the bare necessities and a couple of tid bits for the specialties, what's the best bang for your buck?

Is it lighting, sliders, gels ....? What have you guys found that brings the money shot for the least cost? Maybe it's not a piece of gear, but a technique or style of shooting that you'd suggest as the next step.

The temptation to build the kit as a way to improve is overwhelming sometimes, but I'm sure there are some simple things out there that might be the way really improve our craft.

Curious what you guys have found that have had the most importance in improving your game.

Cheers,
Pete
 
To get things started,

1. I found the stabilizer to be one of the most important tools you can have in your arsenal.
2. ND filters to allow shallower depth of field for a given frame rate and appropriate shutter speed.
 
You have hit on a good point here:

c3hammer said:
The temptation to build the kit as a way to improve is overwhelming sometimes
Click to expand...

It seems many people use the excuse 'I'll make my film once I have that new xxx bit of kit', so the best idea is to shoot with what you have rather than hang around for things to be perfect. There will always be another must have piece of kit.
Having said that however, in my mind one of the most crucial pieces of kit is lighting. Even a small set or some modded worklights and a reflector will do, but without being able to control lighting within a scene, you are missing out. I would rather invest £1000 in a light kit and shoot at f4 with the lenses I have than spend that same £1000 of an f1.2 lens to shoot wide open with no light. It is about much more than simply getting an exposure. With lights you can create mood, atmosphere and sculpt your scene from the darkness. Without lights, you have to get really creative with bounce boards and sunlight, or you can end up with a boring image. Over the years, people have been chasing that 'elusive film look'. First it was 24p, then it was shallow dof, then it was funny colour grades. Those who are frustrated they cannot emulate the look simply need to put more production value into their films, which for me starts with light.

Oh, and get a bloody good sound recordist. This is more important than almost anything else! :thumbsup:

Sorry to get a bit preachy there...

David.
 
It depends on what you want/what you're looking for. Without a doubt, the best next step for shooting a movie is a solid lighting kit.

But... the next best step for getting really great, impressive shots is probably a slider.
So what are you trying to do? Shoot a movie that doesn't look like crap? Or shoot a bunch of beautiful shorts to get you attention and more work?

The differences are that to shoot a whole movie, you need to have a lighting kit to light it well, make everything look good and not have lighting problems get in the way. On the other hand, the single biggest increase in production value, the thing that makes people go "Oooh, what great cinematography" is, to the layman at least, camera movement. So if you're just doing shorts, you can tailor available light for the short (shooting in sunlight, creating an interesting setting that utilizes well just one or two small lights) and get the camera movement in there with a jib or slider. But you can't do that for a feature, because eventually, you're going to have a scene that you just need to light-- you can't have every scene take place outside in a park.
 
Do you have a sound guy or intend to get one? If not then you should move to the audio side and drop about $1K which is pretty much the bare minimum for decent audio. Though I would advise hiring or partnering with a sound guy instead. If you have this covered, then a "basic" grip kit. Three of four fresnels, some stands, sandbags, flags, scrims, etc...
 
Thanks for the suggestions, but this wasn't really a question about my kit as much as what have YOU found to be the best bang for YOUR buck?

I do mostly documentary wildlife type stuff as a hobby. I have a sound kit consisting of an H4n, a couple of wired lavs, and an Octava MK012 on a boom pole. While it's awesome for people it's virtually impossible have ready and available in the heat of the moment. My next pieces of kit to add will be reflectors and a slider. Lighting is too hard to carry up in the mountains :)

I was more currious what you guys have found that brings out the best in your style? The title of the post didn't really capture the essence of what I was asking.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Ah, in that case, I just picked up a new tripod, and I suspect it will be the single biggest asset to my camera work, and one of the most overlooked. For so long I've dealt with jerky panning/tilting, or not being able to follow a subject properly. Essentially, almost all my shots would have to be static. So yeah, I think that's the first thing to mention.

For me, the next thing is going to be the slider. Like I said, one of the most impressive things you can do is add camera movement, and that's it. Lights are a huge issue too, but I've got enough to get me by, and there's no one light that I'd say is the best thing in my kit, but saying "my lighting kit" feels like too much to encompass what you're asking. I've got some scoops, some open-face quartzs, one or two fresnels, some china lanterns, reflectors, stands, flags, gels, diffusion... it's almost like saying "my kit is the best part of my kit."
 
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