Hi guys! My name is Michael and Im a 23 year old student studying International Politics & Diplomacy. For the past few years I've been traveling and trying to find my personal medium of expression. I've been interested in film for quite sometime and decided to start to get my feet wet. I've done a bit of research and was wondering what everyone thought of my plan.
I don't know of anyone with a camera or who knows a lick about filming. I decided that the first thing to do was to get my hands on a camera. I've saved up a bit of money and through my research it seems that the Canon SLR t2i seems to be the best option for me. The shape of the camera (shaped more like a photography camera) at first worried me. From my experience a good tool only focuses on one primary function (i.e. swiss pocket knife vs actual pocket knife), however, after watching some test footage on youtube and after reading the information on this site I think that it would be a great starting camera. From reading (sorry I forgot your name)'s blog I've learned that the downfalls of the t2i are the poor quality audio, high compression, and the jello effect. If there is anymore information someone would like to throw my way please let me know!
Step 1- The Camera
So I figured that for my first step I would save up money to buy a nice camera (check). The next step is to find out what camera I want and buy it. I feel good right now about the t2i but if anyone has any pertinent information or advice please let me know.
Step 2- More Money and Messing with the Camera
So for step two I think once I have a camera it will be important to learn the ins and outs of it. During this time I want to be saving up money for more equipment and also learning the basics of filmmaking, like camera work, lighting, sound, and filming techniques.
Step 3- Equipment and Character Portfolio
One of the reasons Im interested in film is because I like to create stories. However, the stories I usually come up with have such strange characters that no one could possibly portray them in real life, at least not on such a low budget. So after I've shot around and learned about the camera I was planning to buy some sound ( for alcove) and lighting equipment (still havent done much research but I know sound on SLRs suck). After I have the equipment I wanted to invite people over and just have them sit in front of the camera and tell them they have X amount of time to show me who they are. Im hoping that by putting them on the spot without props or being told what to do, that I will be able to see what type of character the are. This is kind of hard to explain and is a long way down the road anyways.
Step 4- Shorts
Once I have my equipment and a catalog of characters the next thing I want to do is buy some nice director shorts. You know, the type that Wes Andersen would wear. After that I want to take my character portfolio and come up with some unique stories for the people to go through and make some film shorts!
So, after reading this I know some of it might come off pretentious, please keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about filmming and that is why I am here. The above is just a rough sketch of an attack plan. I would like some advice on my thoughts in general on filmming and where to start with it. Particularly, I would like some words on my path to buying a camera. Is there anything at all I should be aware of about t2i or SLRs in general that I might be kicking myself about later?
Here are some cameras I have found locally that Im considering. I know that lenses go on the front of the camera and can zoom and do different effects (fisheye etc) but dont know what the various m.m. do. Any info on that would be great! Also are all of these cameras the same, the t2i which shoots in HD and does like 27 fps in 180pi?
Top choice is below. $750 comes with lenses, eyepiece, 2 batteries, charger, and memory card
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pho/2225362724.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/2277507909.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/2235123186.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/2288466940.html
I know its a lot but, this is very important to me and I want to do it right thanks anyone who helps!
I don't know of anyone with a camera or who knows a lick about filming. I decided that the first thing to do was to get my hands on a camera. I've saved up a bit of money and through my research it seems that the Canon SLR t2i seems to be the best option for me. The shape of the camera (shaped more like a photography camera) at first worried me. From my experience a good tool only focuses on one primary function (i.e. swiss pocket knife vs actual pocket knife), however, after watching some test footage on youtube and after reading the information on this site I think that it would be a great starting camera. From reading (sorry I forgot your name)'s blog I've learned that the downfalls of the t2i are the poor quality audio, high compression, and the jello effect. If there is anymore information someone would like to throw my way please let me know!
Step 1- The Camera
So I figured that for my first step I would save up money to buy a nice camera (check). The next step is to find out what camera I want and buy it. I feel good right now about the t2i but if anyone has any pertinent information or advice please let me know.
Step 2- More Money and Messing with the Camera
So for step two I think once I have a camera it will be important to learn the ins and outs of it. During this time I want to be saving up money for more equipment and also learning the basics of filmmaking, like camera work, lighting, sound, and filming techniques.
Step 3- Equipment and Character Portfolio
One of the reasons Im interested in film is because I like to create stories. However, the stories I usually come up with have such strange characters that no one could possibly portray them in real life, at least not on such a low budget. So after I've shot around and learned about the camera I was planning to buy some sound ( for alcove) and lighting equipment (still havent done much research but I know sound on SLRs suck). After I have the equipment I wanted to invite people over and just have them sit in front of the camera and tell them they have X amount of time to show me who they are. Im hoping that by putting them on the spot without props or being told what to do, that I will be able to see what type of character the are. This is kind of hard to explain and is a long way down the road anyways.
Step 4- Shorts
Once I have my equipment and a catalog of characters the next thing I want to do is buy some nice director shorts. You know, the type that Wes Andersen would wear. After that I want to take my character portfolio and come up with some unique stories for the people to go through and make some film shorts!
So, after reading this I know some of it might come off pretentious, please keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about filmming and that is why I am here. The above is just a rough sketch of an attack plan. I would like some advice on my thoughts in general on filmming and where to start with it. Particularly, I would like some words on my path to buying a camera. Is there anything at all I should be aware of about t2i or SLRs in general that I might be kicking myself about later?
Here are some cameras I have found locally that Im considering. I know that lenses go on the front of the camera and can zoom and do different effects (fisheye etc) but dont know what the various m.m. do. Any info on that would be great! Also are all of these cameras the same, the t2i which shoots in HD and does like 27 fps in 180pi?
Top choice is below. $750 comes with lenses, eyepiece, 2 batteries, charger, and memory card
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pho/2225362724.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/2277507909.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/2235123186.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/2288466940.html
I know its a lot but, this is very important to me and I want to do it right thanks anyone who helps!
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