What to buy when getting started

J

John Allison

New member
Hi everyone,

I've been a film buff for years and I've decided to try to get into making short films. I will have somewhere between $1000 and $1500 Canadian which is pretty close to on par with US dollars now. I have through work the Adobe CS 4 Creative Suite and I run Windows.

What should I be looking at for purchasing to get the best bang for my buck. I know audio is extremely (maybe even more) important than video. Should I divide my money equally between camcorder and audio equipment. I'll probably either make my own cheap steadycam. I know I should also think about lighting but I may be able to use some good photography lighting that a relative have.

I'm still working out what I would make for short films. I have several ideas that are bouncing around in my head but nothing totally defined so I'm looking at fairly general purpose short film making equipment.

Thanks
John.
 
Are you looking to shoot variation of high definition?

Do you have a tripod?

Help us out with what you intend to shoot and how you intend to deliver the video.
 
What do you want to do? "Make short films" could mean anything. Are you a director, cinematographer, sound guy, what? Depending on what, you can start by making friends with someone who owns a good camera system or audio system and invest in things the production needs more.

This depends largely on where you live. Since I'm in such a small area I've had to buy everything, but people in cities can often network when needed. Unless you plan to also hire yourself out as a videographer, but it doesn't sound like you will be.
 
John Allison said:
Hi everyone,


What should I be looking at for purchasing to get the best bang for my buck. I know audio is extremely (maybe even more) important than video.

Thanks
John.
Click to expand...




haha well it's def. not MORE important or we'd all be in the radio biz. And honestly the learning curve to making good films is steep enough you shouldn't feel too guilty about skimping on a bit of the quality for the first few films. When you feel that you're good enough at telling a story visually, then spend the dough and get the pro gear.
 
I'd love to shoot in HD as I might be able (even if it is just for my friends) to show what I create at the local theatre which has blu ray. I do imagine most would be viewed on a web page and through you tube but I want to think a bit a head and if I can get enough practice I'd love to try to submit some stuff to a few of the genre film festivals.

I'll mostly be doing this as a hobby to start and who knows. If I can do it as a hobby long enough maybe I can turn it into something more.

I do have a half decent tripod for still photography.

I love the stuff that Ariescope (http://www.ariescope.com/) does for shorts. I want to be able to shoot inside and outside and also during the day and night. It won't be any huge complex scenes with lots of movement (ie car chases or anything like that). I'm thinking low budget fun campy genre shorts.

As to what "position" I'd be taking it would start with friends and other amateur actors and anyone who could help so I imagine I'd be the guy with the camera and telling people what to do.

I do live in a medium city (Saskatoon) but I imagine I'll be ordering at least some of the equipment online as it will be cheaper.

I hope this helps.
 
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