STarting out- what's needed?

B

bididdy

Active member
Ive been reading the posts on dvxuser.com almost daily- and Ive gathered that , to become a sucessful filmmaker- id have to purchase the camera, tripod, a decent lighting kit , might need a couple of mics or so...is this correct?

im just looking to shoot music vids & some short entertainment pieces.

i also eventually want to edit my own work. so i guess later down the road i need to get a Mac and FCP. am i missing anything to this list?
 
well, you'll need tapes :) . And you'll want a hard case, like a pelican 1600. and you'll need an external hard drive for all the footage to go on.

i THINK that's all you NEED to start.
 
Cheesesailor77 said:
well, you'll need tapes :) . And you'll want a hard case, like a pelican 1600. and you'll need an external hard drive for all the footage to go on.

i THINK that's all you NEED to start.
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thanks!
so u have any suggestions on reading material? when i check out the bookstores, most of the books have older information...especially something that would have info on lighting for dv...all i know is key, fill, back
 
YES, if you dont have barry's book it's a must.

As for lighting, you can read all you want and it won't help that much. You HAVE to just practice.

all lighting pretty much falls into Key, Fill, Back, and Background, If you UNDERSTAND the concept behind those terms, that's all you need to know, now you have to go make pretty pictures. It's like painting or anything else. Practice and you'll learn what you like.
 
What's absolutely needed to get started? well, for music vids, you could get by with a camera, tripood, tapes, and a place to edit, whether that be a PC, or a mac. I use mac, but that doesn't mean that you can't get it done on your PC at home. (Hell, you could even handhold the camera and do away with the tripod if it fit the music).

Like cheesesailor said, understand the concept of lighting, and you'd be surprised about what you can do with little to no budget.

If I was young and just wanted to practice my skill and shoot for "fun", that's what I'd get to actually go shoot something.

Wanna do shorts? you'll need a mic.
 
I know I'm gonna get a lot of crap for this, but don't feel like you NEED to get a Mac and FCP to edit with. Digital Content Creator Magazine just did an article this month where they benched the new Macs (G5 vs. Intel w/OSX vs. Intel w/Windows) and the Windows machine literally crushed the intel Mac running OSX. The G5 did very well but it's kind of irrelevent because they don't make them anymore. You'll spend WAY less money on a PC running Vegas or something and it will perform solidly.

That being said, check out DVeStore.com for great prices on the essentials:

Light kits: http://www.dvcreators.net/products/dvck.html

Tripod w/head: http://www.dvestore.com/products/bogen.html

Audio: http://dvestore.com/products/rodeshotgun.html
 
Well if you're going to run windows anyways, might as well save even more money and get a pc... unless you want a mac, or want fcp.

Jason
 
What do you need? If nothing else, cash. You can hire camera op with kit, lighting grip with kit, and sound guy with gear, and an editor with an edit bay, all this and the title of Producer can be yours! Really.

It all depends on how many hats you can wear at once, and that you do each task well. If you can't do audio, spending $1,000 on mics will do you no good. Here is a sample of my kit-
Camera
Lots of batt power for camera
Filters for camera
Tapes for camera
Tripod, for those steady shots and pans
Head phones

Audio
Pair of shotgun mics
Several dynamic hand mics
8 track HDD recorder/mixer to record vocals and instruments seprately, for a cleaner mix
Lots of cables and more adaptors than you'll ever need, because someday you will need something you don't have
Really good headphones

You'll notice there is no lighting. Don't have a kit for that, so if I need it, I'll hire someone- with gear- for way less than the cost of a lighting setup, and hopefully some experience too.

I also have an edit bay with Premiere Pro2, Sound Forge, Photoshop, a huge font library for titles, etc., etc., etc..

So, to say you just need a camera is a false statement. There is so much you need to go with the camera. If you are just starting, hire on as a second shooter for someone. Get your tapes back when he's done, and critique your camera work. Look at the finished video too. Take the money and buy a filter or a battery, your kit will fill out soon enough.
 
I would suggest getting what you need by priority one thing at a time this way it cam be acheived with any budget. This is what I plan to do. Case, field monitor, pro tripod.

It's just a thought.
 
Toronto has to have at least a few media centers where you can get bits of training and rent gear for really cheap instead of buying.

Cash and connections to people with gear will get you much further in my opinion. At least when you're just starting out.

Rent for a while, hire others and learn from them and then transition into gear purchases as you go along.
 
Go Mac and get either Avid or Final cut which are used by most professionals. Also the G5 is not made by apple anymore, making the speed issue completely irrelevant. I have never known and editorial house use Vegas.
 
Hey,
just to throw in my two cents, whatever platform your using to come to this website, use that, that should solve the mac vs. pc problem.

Where as i agree that the best way to learn is to get out there and just do it, there is one book that you should definitely check out.

In the blink of an eye - by walter murch.

If you dont know him he did the editing for apoc. now and edited jarhead with final cut pro five. Just to warn you it is primarily a book about editing, but if you are a good editor you know what you need when you shoot.

This book has been refered to, read from, and required by most of the film teachers that i have had in my years at film school. And is even mentioned at alot of the lectures i go to.


I'd also suggest the book 'feature film making at used car prices' by rick schmidt. This has a lot of great information of how to get up and running, get actors and whatnot, it talks alot about film however.
I went for his second book, "extreme dv at... prices" but its definitely not as good, and is more about shooting for practically nothing, which depending on your budget, might be right up your alley.

How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) by Bret Stern is a pretty amusing book and it teaches you a whole bunch of fun ways to slink by without too much dough (like buying all your props at walmart, then returning them before the 30 day return policy is up)

and one more book What They Don't Teach You At Film School by Camille Landau. It is mostly anedcotal, but has a lot of useful information. And if you ever doubt your filmmaking ablity its a great help.

Hope this helps.
 
epsilonbass said:
Hey,
just to throw in my two cents, whatever platform your using to come to this website, use that, that should solve the mac vs. pc problem.

Where as i agree that the best way to learn is to get out there and just do it, there is one book that you should definitely check out.

In the blink of an eye - by walter murch.

If you dont know him he did the editing for apoc. now and edited jarhead with final cut pro five. Just to warn you it is primarily a book about editing, but if you are a good editor you know what you need when you shoot.

This book has been refered to, read from, and required by most of the film teachers that i have had in my years at film school. And is even mentioned at alot of the lectures i go to.


I'd also suggest the book 'feature film making at used car prices' by rick schmidt. This has a lot of great information of how to get up and running, get actors and whatnot, it talks alot about film however.
I went for his second book, "extreme dv at... prices" but its definitely not as good, and is more about shooting for practically nothing, which depending on your budget, might be right up your alley.

How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) by Bret Stern is a pretty amusing book and it teaches you a whole bunch of fun ways to slink by without too much dough (like buying all your props at walmart, then returning them before the 30 day return policy is up)

and one more book What They Don't Teach You At Film School by Camille Landau. It is mostly anedcotal, but has a lot of useful information. And if you ever doubt your filmmaking ablity its a great help.

Hope this helps.
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Excellent post epsilonbass. I'm always looking for info in the book form, and I'll be sure to check out your recommendations.
 
"In the Blink of an Eye" is amazing. Just read it a few weeks ago.

As for starting out:
Don't cut corners...learn everything you can and do not skimp on the details. Make sure everything you do is exactly how you want it or do everything in your power to get it close. Whether you want to focus on just one area or all aspects of filmmaking, your attention to detail will definitely show through your work.
 
In the blink of an eye - by walter murch.
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"In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's pages) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication."

which edition are you familiar with? Was just curious, I assume if the 1st edition is great, the 2nd edition just improves on that greatness.
 
I have the second edition. It gives a very good look into digital editing, although it still seems somewhat dated now (written in like 2001 or something). But the other sections of the book are great. It is a quick read and you can find it at almost any bookstore.
 
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