Just Starting Out

D

d1sCo

New member
Hey all,

I am just starting to put serious time and energy into filmmaking with my Canon 600D. I am working on a fairly tight budget as it is and have been purchasing some essentials as time goes by. I currently own the gear listed below:
I have what could probably be labelled as "intermediate" experience/skill in shooting time-lapses and working with editing and motion graphic software such as AE/FCP. I majored in 3D animation/design while in college and while I took several film classes there, the film program at my school was somewhat...limited. As a result I feel like I have a great deal to learn about filmmaking in general and learning will be something that I will constantly be doing no matter where this may or may not take me.

I suppose my questions to you all are first and foremost what gear would you recommend is a "must" for me to pick up or work towards getting first? Right now my gear is very much the sign of a low budget/indie filmmaker and while I know some gear is important, gear is not everything when it comes to producing professional visuals. I've been looking at renting as an option for when I absolutely need a better piece of gear for a particular shoot or film.

Secondly, any tips or suggestions when it comes to on the field recording? I am mostly interested in documentary work and I am still working out how to consistently get a high quality picture in various lighting conditions. Grainy/noisy video has been a problem for me in the past and is frustrating when I look at what others produce on similar cameras with a crisp and clear picture.

Thanks in advance for reading and any advice!
- Matt M.


 
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What about lights? Also the rode is extremely basic. For great audio you need to get the mic off the camera...
 
NoahK said:
What about lights? Also the rode is extremely basic. For great audio you need to get the mic off the camera...
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Hey NoahK, appreciate the response. Lighting has been something that I have been meaning to add to my kit, but what kind I am not sure. Part of me was considering renting lighting equipment instead of purchasing it for when I would need it. Since like I said I am mainly interested in documentary style work that mainly uses the light provided in whatever environment you are working in. I've been looking at picking up this cheap set here for everyday lighting needs.

As for the RODE. I know it is pretty basic but like I said I am working with a fairly limited budget right now as this is not something I plan doing full time, at least not for some time. Also I figured I could get a boom mic extension and separate recorder in the future and still use the RODE mic for recording the audio.

- d1sCo
 
"cheap" and "lights" don't go well together. that set's going to end up a hundred dollar garbage can filler. if you can't afford to get real lights, don't get any lights and shoot outside (or rent).

if people are truly producing images with less grain/noise on similar cameras, they're probably using professional lights (but i really do have to ask, are you sure the cameras are all that similar?). Alternately, they could be using much better lenses (f4 just isn't going to get you very far).

good luck with your shooting.
 
sonofaresiii said:
"cheap" and "lights" don't go well together. that set's going to end up a hundred dollar garbage can filler. if you can't afford to get real lights, don't get any lights and shoot outside (or rent).

if people are truly producing images with less grain/noise on similar cameras, they're probably using professional lights (but i really do have to ask, are you sure the cameras are all that similar?). Alternately, they could be using much better lenses (f4 just isn't going to get you very far).

good luck with your shooting.
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Thanks for the words of advice. I realize that "cheap lights" are usually not worth the money you spend on them, which is why I will probably rent a set when/if I need it to use for my projects (interviews, ect.)

As for the noise issue I am fairly confident that they are using very similar set ups to my own, with the lighting situation being one big exception. I believe it is more due to me resorting to use the ISO in low light situations than anything else really. I just got the 50mm in the mail and plan on doing some extensive shooting with it this weekend, hopefully having a prime lens will aid in my ability to handle low light situations.

Thanks for the well wishes! :)

wgzn said:
dont use red type on a gray background. its very hard if not plain painful to read
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Apologies, I could read it fine on my monitors at home and did not believe it would be a problem.

Also just to say, so far the welcome has been less than warm on this board, with the exception of sonofaresiii, which is disappointing to say the least. I am not looking for red carpet treatment but a little more encouraging and constructive help/criticism would be more helpful.

Thanks

-d1sCo
 
Also just to say, so far the welcome has been less than warm on this board, with the exception of sonofaresiii, which is disappointing to say the least. I am not looking for red carpet treatment but a little more encouraging and constructive help/criticism would be more helpful.
Click to expand...

guess u just caught us on a bad day. some days are better than others ; )
and some questions especially general or very broad ones tend to get less hospitable answers than other ones.
 
Having a prime will help with low light shooting. Your two zooms are very slow, so I can see why you are getting grainy footage. If you are not planning on doing a lot of photography and needing auto focus lenses, I would consider fast vintage prime lenses. They do not have auto focus, but you can't use auto focus while shooting video. Check out the lens section of this forum.

I much prefer a vintage Nikon 50mm 1.4 for about $100 over the Canon 50mm 1.8 for about the same price. You can also look into the Nikon 24mm 2.0. That will set you back a little more than the 50mm, but in small rooms you will find the 50mm may be a little tight. If you need a longer lens consider the Nikon 85mm 1.8 or even the Rokinon 85mm 1.4. Those 85 mm lenses sell for $250-300ish.

For audio I use a Zoom h4n with a rode NTG1. I used it as a shotgun mic on my Panasonic HMC150, but it also does a good job on a boom. There may be better mic for that use, but it's what I have and gets much better audio than me Rode Videomic Pro, which I use for ambient sound. A great thing about the Zoom h4n is that with the dual XLR inputs, you can get a splitter and then run one channel hotter than the other to give you more options in post, assuming you are just running one mic into the Zoom.

On the lighting issue, you are probably better off renting for now. That way you can experiment with various setups and see what works best for your needs. Generally speaking, for interviews I like to use a Lowel Rifa 55 as my key and then a couple of Lowel Pro Lights for the hair light and background light. You can also use a Pro Light as a fill light, but a bounce reflector works good as well. I also use dimmers with all of these lights.

Getting good audio and spending the time to learn about lighting is a great way to step up your production quality. You don't have to spend thousands to get good results. I think of the Lowel brand like Chevy or Ford. certainly not high end, but you can get good results once you learn how to use them.
 
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