Hi guys, I am brand new here, and I am brand new to the world of film. I am looking to start shooting a short to get my feet wet; because film has always been a media that I love. My background is in acting though, and I have next to no knowledge of the technical side of film making. In fact the only camera I have had the chance to touch beyond best buy stuff is a red. Some of my questions as of the moment are, what are some good lower budget camera's to rent? I would love to rent a red, but I can not find anywhere to rent them. Budget is not to big an issue I mostly just need to look at what the proper gear is to get an idea of what my budget should be. I all ready have a decent script I am looking at using, but in the end this first short is for me to get a good feel for how to tell a story using this type of media. I am looking at using a shotgun mic on a bomb to catch the actors voices, and a couple of fernels with umbrellas to get my lighting right. That gear I think I will buy. It is on the cheaper end of things, and it runs in what seems to be a similar range as buying it would be. My biggest question is about cameras, and whether to go hd or to go 35mm what are good places to rent, and how hard is it to edit 35mm. What challenges are likely to be their in the technical aspects, and is anyone here in the Seattle area of Washington that could possibly help look at this or let me help on some of their projects to get an idea of what I am doing. I am not new to being on a set I am an actor, but this end has always caught my interest a bit more. Thank you for your time.
Hello
- Thread starter Justin Dielmann
- Start date
As far as what camera and format you want to go with, I think it depends on the story, how its being told, and what your budget is.
I feel that I can definitely speak for the Canon XH-A1 and think that for it's price, it's one of the best out there. I own a Canon XH-A1 and I love it. I completed a short film called "We'll Inspect Your House" with it and was very happy with the results considering I couldn't budget very much for lighting, other than work lights and scoop lights from lowes and home depot. It's on Youtube if you want to check it out; be sure to click to watch it in high quality. Although even with youtube's high quality setting it still looks nothing like it looks on a high def. screen. But that's the price you pay for convenient and free web hosting.
I think I would probably use my Canon XH-A1 on just about every script idea I could think of. It shoots in native 16:9 and has 24 Frames a second setting, and does HDV and standard definition as well. I'm not sure how much it is to rent this camera, but as far as buying, it runs close to 4 thousand.
However, like I said it depends on story in many ways. I'm working on a comedy right now with the canon Xh-A1 and we have been pleased again. However, i have a drama script that I want to shoot sometime in the next couple years and I think I'd want to upgrade to something better for that production, perhaps even 16mm or 35mm film..but that's much further down the road.
Other cameras that I like are anything in the JVC HD series, Panasonic's AG-DVX 100. Hope this helps somewhat.
I feel that I can definitely speak for the Canon XH-A1 and think that for it's price, it's one of the best out there. I own a Canon XH-A1 and I love it. I completed a short film called "We'll Inspect Your House" with it and was very happy with the results considering I couldn't budget very much for lighting, other than work lights and scoop lights from lowes and home depot. It's on Youtube if you want to check it out; be sure to click to watch it in high quality. Although even with youtube's high quality setting it still looks nothing like it looks on a high def. screen. But that's the price you pay for convenient and free web hosting.
I think I would probably use my Canon XH-A1 on just about every script idea I could think of. It shoots in native 16:9 and has 24 Frames a second setting, and does HDV and standard definition as well. I'm not sure how much it is to rent this camera, but as far as buying, it runs close to 4 thousand.
However, like I said it depends on story in many ways. I'm working on a comedy right now with the canon Xh-A1 and we have been pleased again. However, i have a drama script that I want to shoot sometime in the next couple years and I think I'd want to upgrade to something better for that production, perhaps even 16mm or 35mm film..but that's much further down the road.
Other cameras that I like are anything in the JVC HD series, Panasonic's AG-DVX 100. Hope this helps somewhat.
At your experience level I don’t think using a RED camera or
anything at that level lit by a couple Fresnel's and umbrellas is
a viable option. Getting a professional look has more to do with
the lighting than the camera.
You have the right idea when you say shooting your first short
will give you a good feel for how to tell a story using this type
of media. My suggestion would be to start a little smaller. You
don’t jump on a Harley-Davidson if you have never ridden a
bicycle to get a feel for the road.
No need to shoot your first short on 35mm or even HD. Make five on
HDV or even SD before you rent a RED or go to 35mm. Learn how to
light with more than just a couple of Fresnel's, learn about
camera placement, about cutting, about scheduling, about post
audio before you take on the professional cameras. Then when you
have more of the technical knowledge of filmmaking you can rent a
high end camera.
If you are set on using a high end camera have you considered
hiring an owner/operator?
anything at that level lit by a couple Fresnel's and umbrellas is
a viable option. Getting a professional look has more to do with
the lighting than the camera.
You have the right idea when you say shooting your first short
will give you a good feel for how to tell a story using this type
of media. My suggestion would be to start a little smaller. You
don’t jump on a Harley-Davidson if you have never ridden a
bicycle to get a feel for the road.
No need to shoot your first short on 35mm or even HD. Make five on
HDV or even SD before you rent a RED or go to 35mm. Learn how to
light with more than just a couple of Fresnel's, learn about
camera placement, about cutting, about scheduling, about post
audio before you take on the professional cameras. Then when you
have more of the technical knowledge of filmmaking you can rent a
high end camera.
If you are set on using a high end camera have you considered
hiring an owner/operator?
, well honestly I had yet to really look into cameras because I know so little about them. I have been looking for an owner operator of a better camera to work with, but one has yet to fall into my lap. So what should I look for in a camera that will allow me to learn the technique to use high end gear. I do not want to have to scratch everything I know when I switch to a better camera. I know that I want xlr input for sound on it, but what else?
Which is why I made my suggestion. Sometimes it's better to look into
your options before you jump in.
The good news is, you won't have to scratch anything you learn with a
cheaper camera when you upgrade. Composition, lighting, camera movement,
coverage, stays the same with a $500 camera and a $300,000 camera.
In fact, some things that are difficult to achieve with a consumer camera are
much easier with a professional camera.
There are three things that are VERY important when getting a camera:
Three CCD’s or CMOS
Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance.
A microphone input.
In the $1,000 - $1,500 range:
The JVC GZ-MG505 is in the $800 range. It has a mic input and records to
a 30GB HHD. The downside is the MPEG-2 compression. This high compression
is lower quality than MiniDV and most editing software don’t work well this
this compressed video.
I like the new JVC GZ-HD7. I’ve seen these on line for as little as $1,200. A
really nice Fujinon lens makes a huge difference and full manual controls is
important. Three 1/5’ 16:9 progressive scan CCD’s are pretty impressive for
a camera in this price range. It records directly to a built in 60GB hard drive.
It has manual controls, a mic input and an excellent focus ring which is
surprisingly rare on small cameras.
Both the JVC HD5 and HD6 have a mic input and both record to HDD - the
HD6 can record 1080/60p through HDMI - pretty impressive.
The Panasonic HDC-SD100 uses a 3-CMOS array and records 1920 x 1080
video in the AVCHD format to SD and SDHC memory cards. I like the ring
on the lens that controls zoom, focus, white balance, shutter speed, and iris
and it actually has a viewfinder in addition to the LCD screen. Very important
it has both a mic and headphone jack. I found it difficult to handle with all
the cables attached (mic, headphones and monitor) but it’s a camera with
all the basics.
Close is the Canon HV20. It records in HDV (1080i) and 24p (60i), has a mic
input and manual controls of white balance and focus but it uses one 1/2.7”
CMOS sensor rather than 3 CCD’s. And it’s so small the handling is difficult.
The HV30 adds a 30f (Canon’s “frame mode”) in addition to 24p.
The Sony HDR-SR12 has a mic input and a good sized 120GB HDD. It uses
a 1/3” CMOS chip and like the Canon is really small. Because of the input
placement, the mic cable kept getting in my way. The HR9 (which records
to tape) is also a nice, very small, camera with the essentials. Again the mic
input is just below the lens which is rather poor placement, in my opinion.
One more thing - a camera owner who is willing to work on new projects
won't just fall into you lap. You need to actively look for one.
your options before you jump in.
The good news is, you won't have to scratch anything you learn with a
cheaper camera when you upgrade. Composition, lighting, camera movement,
coverage, stays the same with a $500 camera and a $300,000 camera.
In fact, some things that are difficult to achieve with a consumer camera are
much easier with a professional camera.
There are three things that are VERY important when getting a camera:
Three CCD’s or CMOS
Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance.
A microphone input.
In the $1,000 - $1,500 range:
The JVC GZ-MG505 is in the $800 range. It has a mic input and records to
a 30GB HHD. The downside is the MPEG-2 compression. This high compression
is lower quality than MiniDV and most editing software don’t work well this
this compressed video.
I like the new JVC GZ-HD7. I’ve seen these on line for as little as $1,200. A
really nice Fujinon lens makes a huge difference and full manual controls is
important. Three 1/5’ 16:9 progressive scan CCD’s are pretty impressive for
a camera in this price range. It records directly to a built in 60GB hard drive.
It has manual controls, a mic input and an excellent focus ring which is
surprisingly rare on small cameras.
Both the JVC HD5 and HD6 have a mic input and both record to HDD - the
HD6 can record 1080/60p through HDMI - pretty impressive.
The Panasonic HDC-SD100 uses a 3-CMOS array and records 1920 x 1080
video in the AVCHD format to SD and SDHC memory cards. I like the ring
on the lens that controls zoom, focus, white balance, shutter speed, and iris
and it actually has a viewfinder in addition to the LCD screen. Very important
it has both a mic and headphone jack. I found it difficult to handle with all
the cables attached (mic, headphones and monitor) but it’s a camera with
all the basics.
Close is the Canon HV20. It records in HDV (1080i) and 24p (60i), has a mic
input and manual controls of white balance and focus but it uses one 1/2.7”
CMOS sensor rather than 3 CCD’s. And it’s so small the handling is difficult.
The HV30 adds a 30f (Canon’s “frame mode”) in addition to 24p.
The Sony HDR-SR12 has a mic input and a good sized 120GB HDD. It uses
a 1/3” CMOS chip and like the Canon is really small. Because of the input
placement, the mic cable kept getting in my way. The HR9 (which records
to tape) is also a nice, very small, camera with the essentials. Again the mic
input is just below the lens which is rather poor placement, in my opinion.
One more thing - a camera owner who is willing to work on new projects
won't just fall into you lap. You need to actively look for one.
Thank you, that is a lot of information to process. I will be checking out the cameras you suggested, and I will continue my search for a camera operator with gear. It seems like things are coming together rather smoothly at this point, and I hope to start filming my first short in the next few months, gods willing. I am in the middle of transferring my script to Rough Draft (to cheap for final draft), and after that I can host it on the web if anyone would like to take a look at it, and give me some pointers. The lines seem a bit off in places to me, but I wrote it to be a natural style with similar vocal patterns to what the actors use in order to give me more time in this early phase to hammer out the problems I will have with telling my story visually, and seeing as they have no camera experience (I figured I am new I will give some new actors a chance to work with the medium of film) it will make the filming itself easier giving them a chance to learn how to do what they need to in this context, without having to worry about characters that challenge them to much.
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