RED Cameras?

Yeah, but here's the big difference: in painting, or sculpture, or writing, or drawing, or almost any other artistic endeavor: you can do those largely by yourself without spending buttloads of money!

You don't have to buy a $17,500 paint set, and then another $30,000 in support gear, and then buy $10,000 worth of easels and another $5,000 worth of paint thinner. You buy a fifty-dollar paint set from Toys R Us, or you buy the good stuff, doesn't matter -- no matter what you spend it ain't gonna add up to film equipment.

So you're in it for "free."

But that's just equipment. What about the actual painting (or sculpting or writing) process? Do you have to get a cast and crew of 10 to 20 people together, bring them to various locations, have them hold props that you've made and wear costumes that you've bought them, feed them, pay for those locations, and on and on? No, with the individual arts you can do those in your living room.

The "indie filmmaker"? He's going to carry around $30,000 of debt on his credit card for the rest of his life if his film doesn't sell. And that's his FIRST film. Presuming he does a second one, it all starts over again.


That's a very good point. One could argue, however, that if you want to be a "succesful artist"in other mediums nowadays, those 30 000 dollars would also have to be spent: on lobbying, social parties, galleries showings, other artist/critics recognition, press awareness, etc.

It can, like you said and well, Barry, be a much cheaper venture for the creative part- since it basicaly depends on the artist and the "canvas" (paper, sculpture,etc.)

Bottom line: give us Toys'r'us priced REDs :)
 
Reading over this thread again I thought it would be fitting to point out the experience of one our own DVXUser members currently putting together his first feature.

Taormina was able to secure Tom Sizemore, among other credited actors, to be in his film.
AND, he is shooting on an HVX.

Here is his production thread:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=126339


But here is the relevant part for this discussion:
(emphasis added by me)

Question for you: Did Tom's people want to know what camera you would be shooting with? Did they scoff at the HVX?

Neither the choice of camera nor the format has ever come up in any discussions with Sizemore's people or the other actor I am negotiating with right now.

...(edit)...

Agents don't care. The big hurdle was the script. They loved it, and that's all they care about.

And in other news - the Duplass brother's film, which someone mentioned earlier, 'Baghead' (shot on the HVX) was bought at Sundance this year by Sony Pictures and will be out in theaters later this summer. That makes the second film they've sold, the first being 'The Puffy Chair' shot on the DVX, which had a theatrical run as well.

Sorry to beat a dead horse - but I thought both of these examples hit a bit closer to home and were worth sharing.
 
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