Indie Film Camera Help

T

Tyler Valdal

Hello everyone so i have a few questions. I am in the process of developing a indie outline to be shot for sometime in the spring.The budget will be super low around $1000-$2500.It will be found footage . I am looking to spend the budget on renting the camera out, getting a D.P with his own or outright buying it.

I am wondering what is the best camera to shoot my micro budget film with.

The Canon XH-A1 Seem to be best for hand held shot, something i want to do. It was used in Crank 2 High Voltage and looks amazing.

Canon 5D Mark iii , it has ripped the indie filmmaking scene by storm the past 3 years.. Is it a better resolution then the XH-A1 for hand held shots?
 
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The camera itself, really, is less important that how it's used. Sure there are differences between ergonomics, dynamic range, light sensitivity, resolution, etc...

But when it comes down to it, even the fanciest most whizz-bang camera in the world won't magically make something awesome if it's otherwise crap.

What, specifically, is your budget for? Are you looking to buy or rent a camera? Hire someone to shoot it for you?... there's really nowhere near enough information here to give you any kind of informed answer.

But I'll stand by my original statement. Make your story as solid as possible. Plan your shooting schedule, shoot it intelligently so that you capture the best quality footage possible (regardless of the camera). Otherwise, it's really all for naught if you blow your wad on a fancy camera only to produce a crap film.

Oh, and please PLEASE don't forget about sound!
 
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Will Vincent said:
The camera itself, really, is less important that how it's used. Sure there are differences between ergonomics, dynamic range, light sensitivity, resolution, etc...

But when it comes down to it, even the fanciest most whizz-bang camera in the world won't magically make something awesome if it's otherwise crap.

What, specifically, is your budget for? Are you looking to buy or rent a camera? Hire someone to shoot it for you?... there's really nowhere near enough information here to give you any kind of informed answer.

But I'll stand by my original statement. Make your story as solid as possible. Plan your shooting schedule, shoot it intelligently so that you capture the best quality footage possible (regardless of the camera). Otherwise, it's really all for naught if you blow your wad on a fancy camera only to produce a crap film.

Oh, and please PLEASE don't forget about sound!
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My budget is for the whole film.. I have the location locked down for free, and being found footage i only have to write a outline for the script as most of the dialogue will be improv from the actors . I am looking to buy or rent it depending on the price and if it is worth it to just purchase it outright
 
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If that's the whole budget for all the gear and everything, you'd better look at either renting or begging someone who already owns the gear to help. A camera purchase on its own is going to eat up most/all/more than that budget. Not to mention all the other associated gear necessary for a solid production. Sound, lighting, food (at the very least) for your cast/crew..
 
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Will Vincent said:
If that's the whole budget for all the gear and everything, you'd better look at either renting or begging someone who already owns the gear to help. A camera purchase on its own is going to eat up most/all/more than that budget. Not to mention all the other associated gear necessary for a solid production. Sound, lighting, food (at the very least) for your cast/crew..
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I agree.. but again it will be shot on once location at a cottage, which is in my family.. food with be given to the crew.. and most crew positions will be feed and get a copy of the final film.

The budget which i do not have yet will go towards rather the camera or other things... just in the information gathering stage right now
 
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So location is covered.. food will cost something, but pizza and cold cut platters are fairly cheap..

you need:
  • Lighting gear (and preferably someone competent to set it up and whatnot)
    Including lights, stands, bounce cards, etc. Whether these are pro items on loan or that come with your crew person, or cheap stuff from Home Depot and walmart..
  • Camera
  • Recording media
  • Batteries
  • Tripod (dear god, PLEASE)
  • Audio gear (and someone competent to set it up and use it)
    Including at a minimum, boom pole (with operator) decent quality shotgun mic, potentially some lav mics, mixer, recording device, probably want a slate/clapboard for audio & picture sync..

You could simplify the audio setup somewhat with a camera that has decent audio inputs.. and by simplify I mean omit the recording device and slate.. :)

Rental and beg/borrow people and gear sounds like a good course of action for you.

Just because it's a "found-footage" project, which tend to have pretty terrible quality imagery and audio, don't skimp on the essentials otherwise you're really just pissing your money away, in which case I will gladly take a donation. :lol:
 
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Will Vincent said:
So location is covered.. food will cost something, but pizza and cold cut platters are fairly cheap..

you need:
  • Lighting gear (and preferably someone competent to set it up and whatnot)
    Including lights, stands, bounce cards, etc. Whether these are pro items on loan or that come with your crew person, or cheap stuff from Home Depot and walmart..
  • Camera
  • Recording media
  • Batteries
  • Tripod (dear god, PLEASE)
  • Audio gear (and someone competent to set it up and use it)
    Including at a minimum, boom pole (with operator) decent quality shotgun mic, potentially some lav mics, mixer, recording device, probably want a slate/clapboard for audio & picture sync..

You could simplify the audio setup somewhat with a camera that has decent audio inputs.. and by simplify I mean omit the recording device and slate.. :)

Rental and beg/borrow people and gear sounds like a good course of action for you.

Just because it's a "found-footage" project, which tend to have pretty terrible quality imagery and audio, don't skimp on the essentials otherwise you're really just pissing your money away, in which case I will gladly take a donation. :lol:
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WOW. You just answered all my questions i had in one post. Thank you very much.

So is a tripod really needed for a indie film of my magnitude? i thought tripods are barely used.If so then i will definitely invest in one with my rig, or ask my DOP if he has one( Which he may have )

Again i am a novice when it comes to filmmaking so i am not to familiar with the clap board.. I do know with a XLR audio outport of many of the cameras i am looking at. You can stick in a shot gun mike attached to a boom pole. Other then that i am not to familiar with the audio aspect.Or recording
 
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i thought tripods are barely used.
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Unfortunately they are barely used by some, but they are a necessity.

I know someone who owns a Red Epic kit but he doesn't own a Tripod. True story.

As for sound, take a look at a lot of videos posted on this forum and pay particular attention to the sound (and while you're at it, story). You'll find that the films that keep your attention have a great balance and pay attention to all the important areas. Sound is a very important part of it, and once you have your film in the can, at your budget, it's something you're not going to be able to fix afterwards.

The importance on the shoot for me is usually along the lines of:
People
Script
Lighting
Sound
Camera

Have fun!
 
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Sweetie said:
I know someone who owns a Red Epic kit but he doesn't own a Tripod. True story
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Ha! As do I. Although I will say owning a Red and not a tripod is a bit different to owning say a DSLR and not a tripod. The person I know simply hires one for stuff they shoot that isn't primarily handheld.

It's potentially a smarter decision and makes some fiscal sense - $200/day for hi-legs, Lo-legs, hi-hat package means you can hire for 50 days before approaching the same cost as just the head, let alone legs. And given most rental houses will do you a 3-day week and 8-day month, it ends up much cheaper.

A couple years ago I pitched a Director to shoot a TV pilot for him. I told him I'd be happy to work within any budget - that I'd prefer to have lights over a better camera - there's plenty of stuff on TV shot only on a 5D.

After a couple of days he came back to me and told me that he was going to go with his friend because the friend owned a RED.
He asked me if I'd be interested in ACing instead at a heavily reduced rate as 'we need someone who knows how to light and use the camera to help him out - he doesn't know how to use it'.

I politely declined.
 
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I'll have to disagree with a lot of the advice here. Considering you want to make a found footage film, you definitely do not need a tripod. Just about every shot should be handheld, unless it serves the plot... why would your characters be using a tripod the entire film? Makes no sense. Just make sure you are doing your best to keep it steady and not making it shaky as an artistic choice.

Also, using a camcorder is a bad idea unless your film takes place in the past. If it's a modern film, you'll want to use a cheap DSLR because that is what everybody has and that is what will make sense for your characters.

Don't buy/use lights, that's also ridiculous. Available light is more preferable in found footage for aesthetic and practical reasons.

Lastly, considering your budget is EXTREMELY low, buying or renting a camera is not even an option in my opinion. Find literally ANYBODY else that already has a camera to help make your film. Audio gear is usually tougher to find. You'll probably blow your whole budget on this if you can't find someone else with the gear.

Another option is to buy a camera and/or sound equipment, shoot your film in less than a month, hope you don't get any scratches, then return the camera. Any budget left over will be completely eaten up by food/gas for cast and crew, and maybe some props.

Good luck!
 
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I can respect your decision to bow out but I'm not done here :)

Can anybody name a found footage film that used a tripod? Off the top of my head all the most successful ones did not: Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, Blair Witch, V/H/S, Chronicle, etc. It's kind of the POINT to not have one, so why would you tell the OP to use a tripod?
 
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moonshieldmedia said:
why would you tell the OP to use a tripod?
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I'm of the opinion that 'found footage' is abused as a vehicle to make terrible "films" that are generally rather unwatchable. It's a fad I'll be happy to see go by the wayside.

However.. that opinion aside.. a good tripod is a very good piece of equipment to have. And, there certainly are "found footage" films where tripods are used, even visibly in the film. Paranormal Activity immediately comes to mind.

Not to mention advising against budgeting for acquiring of lighting, audio, camera mounting/support/misc accessories isn't terribly great advice. I'd assume that not every project would be this hand-held shake fest camera kind.. and if so, why bother pissing away a couple grand on a nice camera that's already going to be somewhat cumbersome to hand-hold? That's like buying a $100,000 car and never putting air in the tires, or ignoring oil changes, or never actually filling it with gas and taking it out for a cruise.

Even in a so-called found footage flick, there are going to be times when something more stable than the camera operators tired arms will be desirable. Hell, a monopod if not a tripod, and use it as a poor-mans steady cam.

Anyway. I've answered your question.. and now, out.
 
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moonshieldmedia said:
Also, using a camcorder is a bad idea unless your film takes place in the past. If it's a modern film, you'll want to use a cheap DSLR because that is what everybody has and that is what will make sense for your characters.
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Really? I mean, assuming this isn't a found footage film about low-budget indie filmmakers, how many normal people do you know that go around filming everyday stuff they do with a DSLR? In reality it would make a lot more sense for your characters to be filming with cell phones than anything else.

Don't buy/use lights, that's also ridiculous. Available light is more preferable in found footage for aesthetic and practical reasons.
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Again, bad advice. The appearance of available light is preferable - there's a big difference between that and actual available light. Even if you're just using practicals you're going to want to account for the cost of swapping in high-wattage bulbs, and you'll likely want to add more lighting fixtures to your set than you'd have in everyday life.
 
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