Camera for a documentary on a budget

J

Joshua_1

I'm about to start my first (and possibly last) documentary. The budget comes from my own pocket, and being retired (from Israel), it is extremely tight. Full HD is mandatory. I'll use only manual focus.

I own Canon 7D and few zoom lenses.
For best image quality (within my tight budget), my options are: Stay with the Canon 7D; purchase a second Canon body, like 60D; purchase the Panasonic GH2 with its' kit lens (14-42); purchase the Canon Vixia HF G20.
What are your recommendations?
 
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Alcove Audio said:
What type of documentary and what are your sound needs? Sit down interviews? Nature recording? Run & gun? Each situation has it's own unique requirements. Once I have a DETAILED answer I can make specific recommendations.
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Sit down interview, or, rather, 1 person at a time narrates a story to the camera and mike. That's the first part. Should I get at the second part (docu-drama), it will be if and when there will be sponsors.
 
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rayw said:
You should spend some time researching the names and submission deadlines of the festivals you legitimately believe would exhibit this documentary.
Determine if you can shoot and edit this before their deadlines.
Then research the films, docs + narratives + shorts, that those festivals did show last year and the year before and see what cameras were used.
It'll take some light work on your behalf.
And likely you'll end up noticing that the images your 7D can capture are just fine.

It's the audio that's gonna kill your festival submission, not the images.
Overwhelmingly, audio is the numero uno festival submission killer.

Contact the festival directors and see if they can provide a spec sheet.
That'll solve 90% of your problems.

The merit of the story and its execution are irrelevant if no one is going to watch it because no one's even going to hear it because the audio sux.
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Thanks.

There is a long way for me to go before looking for festivals.
First I need to shoot, on my own, the straight documentary part, where few people narrate their story to the camera (each individual separately).
Only after I'll have the full text of all the stories (testimonies), I'll be able to write the full script for the entire movie, including the docu-drama (staged) part.
With the video of the testimonies and the full script I'll be able to apply for sponsors - only then.
If and when there will be sponsors and reasonable budget, I'll be able to gather a full crew, actors and gear to rent. The post production time span will depend on the studio and budget that will by approved by the sponsors. It isn't in my hand, not at this point in time.

I'm well aware of the importance of sound. However, this particular documentary leans on the fantastic, magnificent, fairy-tale-like story it will provide. Anyhow, the audio will not suck, I'm not going to show anything to anyone, not even to potential sponsors, if both image and sound will be less than perfect, on a professional level. My experience as a sound engineer and being an audiophile will assist me with the sound quality.

As for spec sheets, how can I contact festivals directors?
 
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Joshua_1 said:
A) There is a long way for me to go before looking for festivals.
First I need to shoot...

B)As for spec sheets, how can I contact festivals directors?
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Wrong.
You're going about this bass ackwards.

A) First, you need to contact the film festivals and learn to KNOW what they will expect so that you can deliver it.
Not do whatever you want to do, then go to them and try to reverse engineer the work you've done to fit.

B) YOU SPEND A FEW HOURS NOW RESEARCHING the film festivals you're likely to submit to whenever you get finished, then you email them or read their FAQ sheet or both.


GL!

20120325FilmitAndTheyWillCome.png


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rayw said:
Wrong.
You're going about this bass ackwards.

A) First, you need to contact the film festivals and learn to KNOW what they will expect so that you can deliver it.
Not do whatever you want to do, then go to them and try to reverse engineer the work you've done to fit.

B) YOU SPEND A FEW HOURS NOW RESEARCHING the film festivals you're likely to submit to whenever you get finished, then you email them or read their FAQ sheet or both.


GL!

20120325FilmitAndTheyWillCome.png


Untitled_zps817ec757.gif
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Thanks.
I can some it up by saying that both video and audio will be of a technical quality qualified for feature movies.
 
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Joshua_1 said:
I can some it up by saying that both video and audio will be of a technical quality qualified for feature movies.
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That's a bit vague. A "Hollywood" feature movie? A "Franks Family Film Festival" feature movie where they used a 20 year old consumer camcorder and the onboard mic? Or something in the middle like a decent regional film festival?
 
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Joshua_1 said:
What's the daily rent charge?
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I wouldn't know. You hire the production sound team - PSM, boom-op and audio assistant - with the gear for which they charge a rental fee. They also provide all on-set comms such as walkie-talkies, bullhorns, headphone distribution for the director, camera team, video village, etc. They usually are hired by the week, month, season or shoot duration.

I don't know real numbers at that level, but they do "all inclusive" "deals" like (assuming an $4k day rate), weekly $17.5k (5 days), monthly $60k (four 5 day weeks - 20 days).
 
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Joshua_1 said:
I can some it up by saying that both video and audio will be of a technical quality qualified for feature movies... "Hollywood" feature movie.
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That's both impractical and rather pointless. Feature film sound is both incredibly high quality (and therefore extremely expensive) and quite different specifications from HDTV broadcast. So either you would need to make two mixes (one theatrical standard and one broadcast standard), which would be even more expensive or just make one broadcast standard mix. A decent quality broadcast standard mix would be fine for the vast majority of film festivals and be considerably cheaper than a theatrical mix.

G
 
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Thanks.
I'll look into the various technical sound standards. There may well be at least two final versions, one for HD TV and on for cinema theaters. There may be even 3 final versions, 1 for cinema theaters, 1 for European TV and 1 for USA TV.
 
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