How to make a Movie

A

Avenger007

Well-known member
I know everyone has probably discussed this but im curious. As far as dv goes (well say no HD here) what would be your perfect setup? Which camera, what software and so on at a reasonable price. For ex. a dvx100a $3400 vegas $500 a crane $500 and so on... it kinda makes you begin to realize how cheap a good setup can be and what it truly costs to make a stellar movie from home. So ya what do you all have to offer.

Off the top of my head Id start with this:

dvx100a w/16:9 conversion & chrozziel matte box
Dual 64 bit opturon, geforce 256mb, 21inch flat panel
vegas 5 with dvd architect
a cobra crane and promax dolly.
still thinking...
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Not a bad setup. I have everything I need to make a film now; the only thing left are excuses.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Yeah, there are enough people who have enough gear who would let you borrow, that lack of gear itself shouldn't be the impediment to getting it made...
 
Re: How to make a Movie

I would start with a great script. Then a great camera, the DVX of course. Then a couple of great theatre actors. Now all you need are your skills and passion.

Eco
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Actors really need to be higher on this list. They can really make or break your movie into having the audience buy into your script. Equipment can be negligable, good content is always important regardless... you can shoot a pile of **** using the best equipment and in the most interesting way, but it will still simply be a pile of ****...
 
Re: How to make a Movie

You can't make chicken salad out of chicken **** - you need the barebone structure, so yes, actors and a screenplay are the absolute most important.

As far as what equipment you'll need, a solid camera (like the DVX) will let you record the footage. All the other stuff (anamorphic adaptor, cranes, etc) is icing on the cake. Everyone loves icing, but the cake better taste good, otherwise it's just an overly-sweet mound of sugar.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Oh, Mike! You mean to tell me you've never had a chicken **** salad?

MMMMMMmmmm. salad.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

All joking aside, I've found from experience that you can't really teach a filmmaker to recognize and appreciate good acting and good actors...it's just something they pick up in the process of doing. Hell, I've had trouble teaching actors to appreciate good acting...so lord knows it doesn't come naturally to people.

I'm consistently surprised at how few "filmmakers" ever take an acting class. How few filmmakers ever read abook about acting technique or even bother to learn the basic terminology of acting. Yep, filmmaking is a school of hard knocks in that respect.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

In reply to the SUBJECT of this thread...

I'm a huge fan of not purchasing a lot of gear now. Especially production gear.

I think the best thing to own gear wise is a G4 or G5, Final Cut Pro and Microsoft Word/Final Draft. That way you have the tools to write and edit your project yourself. I firmly believe you learn most about filmmaking in the writing and editing stages, and while learning its essential to be very actively involved in these stages.

As far as production goes, especially if you're doing this just for a movie (not a wedding, industrial, or corporate BUSINESS) I would just rent the gear. If your a "hobbyist", especially a budding one, it is way too much money to spend to buy a DVX, Dolly, tripod, sound gear, etc etc. I did that and now I have $15,000 of equipment sitting in my closet that I don't know if I'll ever use again. In my field we shoot only film and its ALWAYS sourced out to production companies...so a SD MiniDV video is useless to me from a professional standpoint. Now if you think you can make money, and a good ROI on some purchased gear DEFINITELY buy!

I have a friend who has been very successful getting into filmmaking, he even had his first short film he did screen at Cannes and he has never purchased a single piece of film or video equipment in his life. He just rents and/or hires crew...usually 16mm or the SDX900. The production value of everything he does looks a hell of lot better than anything I've gotten with my $15,000 DVX/Sound/Lighting package I purchased....thats including shooting with a pro DP. He puts all his money into the actual production of his films.

Just something to think about. $15,000, $10,000, even $5,000 is a lot of money if you're a hobbyist. Leave the buying to the rental houses, and they'll leave the moviemaking to you.

Now I would never discourage a newbie from buying a $600 DV camera from Best Buy to really experiment. That investment was one of the best I've made.

I assume I will likely get some disagreements to this posting, seeing that this is a website actively visited by individuals who own or want to own the DVX100 and all its sidekick toys for hobby.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

I see your point - renting a DVX for an individual film (or any other camera for that matter) is a very good alternative. What owning a camera can do is allow you to make money off of having the camera - ie renting it out, or doing last-minute shoots.

Since I got my DVX in January, it's ended up paying for about half it's retail price all on its own - simply because I own it.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

These kinds of dv cameras (dvx/xl2/etc) need to spend (waste ?) a lot of time to really know how to get the best from them. Even if you read all the most useful threads of dvxuser !!
Of course, what i'm saying is only available if you want do to yourself the dp and/or you want to have the best picture possible from these cameras.
So, buying the camera and renting all the others things you need could be the good point of equilibrium.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

[quote author=Mike_Donis link=board=Offtopic;num=1094614079;start=0#6 date=09/08/04 at 09:34:00]You can't make chicken salad out of chicken ****.[/quote]

Ha ha I'm still laughing. Although remember, you can have the right ingredients and still make a **** chicken salad.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

um...glad to see all the posts but uh i wasnt really going for a debate over equipment or actors...or chicken ****. ;D natob started to answer but gave in to the other discussions. I completely agree on the side of acting and not just equipment too. Ive taken acting for 4 years now and I too believe its a must for directors to familiarize themselves with acting.

So what im curious about is lets say you got the greatest acting team assembled. Now if you could get a reasonable amount of money what would your equipment setup be? SD wise. Like i asked someone and they said 2 JVC HD10s, dvrack, a laptop with blah blah and this and that...

or...to dive into something deeper like how much are you willing to sacrifice for equipment or acting and vice versa.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Ten thousand dollars.

A hundred thousand dollars.

It's too arbitrary to come up with a total amount without knowing the specifics of what is needed. You can make a movie with a used Canon GL1 and a bootlegged copy of premiere on a home PC, or you can make a movie with a 535A/B package and a 1 ton grip truck...

THere isn't exactly any kind of easy answer for this question because there are so many options. Essentially, you will need:

a camera
audio equipment
lighting equipment
support equipment
transportation
editing equipment
some expendables
some locations
some props
some costumes
some crew members
and some actors.

What you need in each catagory will define the costs in that catagory, and what you're able to beg and borrow will define how much you spend in that catagory.

Pick out a camera, an editing platform, a microphone, and a lighting kit and you'll be able to start nailing down prices.
 
Re: How to make a Movie

Avenger, to answer your question as best I can about gear I'll just list what I have, then you can visit my web site: http://www.nathanpbrown.com to the see the results of that gear:

Mac G4 with Final Cut Pro 3, After Effects
Dell Workstation for 3D, 3D Studio Max
DVX100
Sony PD100 DVCAM
Manfrotto tripod with fluid head, its a something 3, there is like a 1 and 5 series of this head as well...the 3 is pretty smooth
Shure FP24 audio mixer (the most well-built gear I've seen)
Audio-Technica AT835b shotgun
Samson wireless with Audio-Technica Lav
Lowel light kit (2 totas, 1 omni)

I always rent lights though, HMIs and Fresnels, sometimes a grip truck. My little Lowel kit has its uses, but I need waaaaayyy more to light my projects. I usually spend $300-$700 per shooting day on lighting/grip...I also often rent a dolly and sometimes work with my friend who has a Steadicam Master Series.
 
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