Kichigai
New member
Evening all. I'm a college Radio/TV/Film student, focusing on TV for the most part. I'm working as part of the college TV club (that is, the college TV station) as the tech manager, and I'm hoping to do some freelance video work to try and make some money on the side.
I'm looking at buying the HVX-200 for a couple reasons. Our TV station owns one, and my experience with it has been positive, a friend of mine at the TV station bought one and loves it, and the possibility of being able to shoot tapelessly is very enticing.
I've spec'd out the camera, some tapes, a pair of mics (Røde NTG-1 and a Shure VP64A), some XLR, a cheap tripod (Smith-Victor Propod III), and a bag, coming in at about $5,700. Granted, a lot of this really isn't so awesome (I'd really like to pick up a Shure SM58), but this is just enough to get me started. I have enough money to cover this, but given the economic situation (and how it pertains to me and college loans) I want to make sure I can eventually pay off the equipment (preferably within a year, maybe one and a half, two?).
Right now my plan is to see if there is even enough work in the area to make things worth my time (which is interesting, since I spend Sep-May in Glassboro, NJ and May-August in the vicinity of St. Paul, MN, so I have "operatives" in Minnesota checking around).
I really don't have much of a demo reel of stuff I've shot (most of the stuff I've done here at the TV station is technical, like VTR operation, working with CG, maintenance, audio, and building a portable studio), so I'm focusing on known quantities (my church, groups that know me well), but I'm also looking elsewhere. For now, I'm thinking of doing simple stuff: weddings, birthdays, perhaps even some promos for local businesses; at a discount price.
What I'm trying to ask here is what's the best way to get started in all of this? Do I just damn the torpedos and buy my equipment anyway? Should I not get the HVX (I hear a lot of upset comments over the current pricing scheme with P2, though I'm not planning to do a lot of HD right now at all, but I do plan to eventually)? Any advice for a n00b? Once I get some material built up, what's the best way to go about finding work (I plan to talk to deans of various colleges while I'm here at school, but Minnesota is a different story)? What's the going rate for these kinds of jobs? Any suggestions on producing stuff like this (or resources to consult)? Or should I give all this up and forget about it? I figure since my intent is to work in television (maybe in studio production, perhaps as an engineer, for all I know, camera man in the next Planet Earth) and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a portfolio of things I've produced on my own.
Anyway, thanks for putting up with my rambling and obviously inexperienced questioning, though I do stress that I'm quite serious about all of this. Any advice you have to give would be greatly appreciated.
I'm looking at buying the HVX-200 for a couple reasons. Our TV station owns one, and my experience with it has been positive, a friend of mine at the TV station bought one and loves it, and the possibility of being able to shoot tapelessly is very enticing.
I've spec'd out the camera, some tapes, a pair of mics (Røde NTG-1 and a Shure VP64A), some XLR, a cheap tripod (Smith-Victor Propod III), and a bag, coming in at about $5,700. Granted, a lot of this really isn't so awesome (I'd really like to pick up a Shure SM58), but this is just enough to get me started. I have enough money to cover this, but given the economic situation (and how it pertains to me and college loans) I want to make sure I can eventually pay off the equipment (preferably within a year, maybe one and a half, two?).
Right now my plan is to see if there is even enough work in the area to make things worth my time (which is interesting, since I spend Sep-May in Glassboro, NJ and May-August in the vicinity of St. Paul, MN, so I have "operatives" in Minnesota checking around).
I really don't have much of a demo reel of stuff I've shot (most of the stuff I've done here at the TV station is technical, like VTR operation, working with CG, maintenance, audio, and building a portable studio), so I'm focusing on known quantities (my church, groups that know me well), but I'm also looking elsewhere. For now, I'm thinking of doing simple stuff: weddings, birthdays, perhaps even some promos for local businesses; at a discount price.
What I'm trying to ask here is what's the best way to get started in all of this? Do I just damn the torpedos and buy my equipment anyway? Should I not get the HVX (I hear a lot of upset comments over the current pricing scheme with P2, though I'm not planning to do a lot of HD right now at all, but I do plan to eventually)? Any advice for a n00b? Once I get some material built up, what's the best way to go about finding work (I plan to talk to deans of various colleges while I'm here at school, but Minnesota is a different story)? What's the going rate for these kinds of jobs? Any suggestions on producing stuff like this (or resources to consult)? Or should I give all this up and forget about it? I figure since my intent is to work in television (maybe in studio production, perhaps as an engineer, for all I know, camera man in the next Planet Earth) and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a portfolio of things I've produced on my own.
Anyway, thanks for putting up with my rambling and obviously inexperienced questioning, though I do stress that I'm quite serious about all of this. Any advice you have to give would be greatly appreciated.