What do I need to shoot my first 'film'?

C

ChrisC

New member
Hi there, I have just joined this forum and hope to pick your brains :laugh:

Next year I will be going to Asia to film for 4 weeks in 4 different countries (1 week per country).

The intention is to produce a tv programme as well as a DVD.

I have no previous experience of producing films and as such I am confused by the wide range of gear available on the market.

We will be filming for about 8 hours a day. If we can get some underwater footage it will be excellent.

I would welcome some info on the following:

- Can anyone recommend a good setup to use (around £4,000 -5,000 or so?)
- What is the best way to store the footage at the end of every day in the form of a backup
- What quality does it need to be for tv / dvd?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks,
Chris
 
These are some pretty broad questions. WHAT will you be shooting. What storage/editing resources do you have available? Are you wanting to shoot in HD or SD?

The "quality" needed for TV and DVD can be two different beasts. For TV, it really depends on your intended broadcaster's requirements. For DVD, you'll be working with standard-def unless you move up to Blu-Ray. For all SD material, miniDV (with the right camera and the right user) is perfectly acceptable. For HD, you can go anywhere from HDV to DVCPRO HD. Depends on budget, depends on if you want tape or tapeless.

For £4,000-5,000 you can get a pretty decent setup. Again, you need to identify what you'll be shooting. Aside from the camera, and a really good tripod with fluid head, you need to take lighting and sound into account. But then you have power concerns for the lights from country to country (unless they're all on the same system), and wireless mics that are legal in one country may not be in the other.

The basic setup would include:
- Camera (with at least three spare batteries, considering your schedule)
- Tripod with fluid head
- White/gold/silver reflectors
- Shotgun mic with fish pole and shockmount/zepplin kit
- Hypercardioid mic for interiors
- Headphones
- Basic 4-point light kit with soft box
- Plenty of blank media stock

But then, this may be completely wrong for what you're doing. Identify that and you'll have a better answer. And are you going to do this as a one-man-band, or will you have some crew with you? And if you have others to help, do they know anything about lighting or audio?

As for cameras, your budget is pretty good. So the Panasonic HMC-150 (I'm assuming you want the PAL version, though) might be a nice place to start if you want HD. It records to SD cards, so you'll need to be able to dump the cards to a hard drive at the end of each day. If HD isn't necessary, go for a DVX100b and get plenty of miniDV tapes to last you the trip.
 
Thanks for your comments. Some more information that you mentioned might help:

We are wanting to shoot in HD
It is for a series of DVDs and hopefully tv programmes on fishing
We will have two boats - I will be fishing from one and it will be filmed from another.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Okay... but how many other folks do you have, and do they have any experience?

This is not as simple as owning the gear. Knowing how to use it is essential. Lairhair's suggestion may be your best bet. Hire folks who have the gear and know how to use it.

Though, since it isn't until next year, you have some time to learn and to practice. But since you are the one fishing, who will be shooting?
 
I will have 4 others travelling with me. One of them has done some filming in the past for a fishing show in the US.

What sort of price would you be looking at for a small film crew to bring all their own gear for a month?
 
Well, probably a little more than $10k (£5k) to get a full crew for a month. But then, it depends on the crew and if you're able to negotiate some sort of package deal from them.

Since you're on a boat, you don't need lighting. Maybe an on-camera light just in case, and a couple reflectors. But you're definitely looking at wireless audio, the need for a field mixer, and the shotgun/pole/zepplin rig. And it may be beneficial to have double-system sound (a separate audio recorder). Which means that you need some one who knows how to run EFP audio. Tripod will be less important, since you'll be hand held on the boat, but still good in case the camera moves to shore at any point.

If it's you and some friends, and you can't hire a crew, I'd say try to shoot a pilot, or at least some sort of test, on a local lake. If you're going to be purchasing, do it soon and get some practice in so that you and the other four folks know what's going on when you get to Asia.

There are two sides of the fence here: get your own gear or hire a crew. Consider budget, skills, and the confidence you have in your own people's abilities. If you are really committed to doing this yourself, and it's not impossible to do, then get the gear soon and practice until next year.

So we've knocked out the need for lighting, since you're on a boat... unless you'll be doing any kind of interview segments on shore at night after a fishing day. I'd look at this as a basic setup:

Panasonic AG-HMC151 (PAL) AVCHD camcorder
Three extra batteries
Extra SD cards (you'll be able to clear and reuse them, so you'll need a laptop and an external hard drive to dump the cards at the end of each day)
Tripod and fluid head
Circular polarizer filter
UV filter
Field audio kit:
- Portable field mixer (Sound Devices 302)
- Two wireless mic systems* (Sennheiser G3, add a Countryman B3 lav to each one)
- Rode NTG-2 kit with mic, pole, zepplin/mount, and cables
- Sony MDR-7506 headphones
- Audio organizer bag (Porta Brace or the like)
- 3-channel ENG snake for mixer-to-camera link with headphone return
Two Flexfill reflectors (white/gold and white/silver)

*Do research on wireless frequencies and what's allowed in each of the countries you'll be visiting. It may be that you need to arrange for rental in each place.
 
Thanks for your very valuable advice. I have taken on board your comments and have now approached some filming companies to get some quotes.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
 
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