Semi-newbie (30s, male, Philly area) - looking for friends & advice

[themixtape]

Hi guys! My name is Chris. Day job titles me as a music instructor... my main thing is music and film (and trying still to get into doing some indie film stuff).

Here's a list of gear I have/will eventually use, and below that are some questions I have about gear and such...

- Canon T3i with kit lens, and the "Nifty Fifty" prime (handful of batteries / 16GB and 32GB cards)
- three shoulder rigs of various configs (mainly the Cowboystudio rig, customized with rails (like Caleb Pike has from DSLR Video Shooter), and then the much-loved Polaroid rig
- Kamerar FF-3 follow focus for my main Cowboystudio rig (need some good, used lenses with wide focus rings)
- Zoom H2 (probably upgraqding to H4N)
- three lavs (the $20 Audio Technicas, and an Azden EX503)
- Y cable to run two lavs into Zoom (L and R channel) for dialogue scenes
- a motorized camera slider, which also has a motorized pan (bought from some guy on YouTube... a work of art!)
- Variable ND filter for my "Nifty Fifty" (always attached)
- 9' tripod (surveying tripod)
- Toshiba Thrive 10" tablet with DSLR Controller app for a monitor (LOVE that thing)... mounted on its own tripod
- Sunpak tripod (very decent $25 one from amazon) with an iphone 5s holder (iphone great for wide shots!)
- ephoto/Fancier lighting kit (CFL) 2600-watt, on two adjustable stands

stuff I will eventually get:
- good, cheap, used lenses (FD, or Olympus, etc - 70s/80s/90s stuff)... cheap, and the best way to expand your lens collection, from my research
Zoom H4N and a good shotgun mic (Rode NTG-2?)
possibly Rode Videomic pro
Carryspeed VF-4 LCD viewfinder, or the "Perfect" VF on ebay & amazon
possibly a second T3i

--------
Questions:

1. Can a shotgun mic be placed between two actors (if you're short crew members) doing a 2-person dialogue? Of course, depending on distance...

2. Better to use lavs for dialogue scenes? If so... how and where to hide them (also so they don't make noise), and how to shoot? Always close-ups? Might be awkward, visually... also hiding the wires, if I'm shooting a somewhat wide scene of people talking...

3. How to light room scenes so I can run at better (100-200) ISOs? How many lighting kits/wattage needed?

4. Should I mainly focus on shooting scenes with a 50mm prime (which is actually 100mm, with the T3i crop factor)? Should I consider a 28mm prime to get actual 50-ish-mm focal length? Everyone seems to say "always use your primes for narrative filmmaking" - I understand you get a much shallower depth-of-field and great low-light performance... I'm guessing these are the two main reasons. Tough to shoot a conversation indoors, though... or at least that's my guess...

5. Can a no-budget indie film be made with a very minimal crew? As in, cameraman (writer/score/film music/miking/lighting/editing), and cameraman (director/audio guy/lighting/editing)... or vice-versa? Seems like Ed Burns did this sometimes with Sidewalks of New York. Actors of course... we have friends and other people who do local acting, but have no need for being paid (though we offered free food, music hookups, etc)... SOMEthing for their time and effort...

6. How's the indie film community in Philly (for those of you who live in the area.. city, or surrounding burbs (Montco, Bucks, etc)?

7. Favorite books on indie filmmaking? Favorite sites? (I actually was a technical editor for Michael W. Dean's best-selling book $30 Film School about ten years ago... and had a couple short films on the accompanying DVD).

That's about it for now... I am sure I will be posting more. I like this forum because you guys don't seem like asshole film snobs... like certain other forums. Seems like everyone's friendly & helpful, here.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to speaking more with you guys (and girls)!

-Chris

 

[Will Vincent]

Hey Chris!

Can a shotgun mic be placed between two actors (if you're short crew members) doing a 2-person dialogue? Of course, depending on distance...

Yes, but you wouldn't just want to hang it there.. throw that bad boy on a boom, and have a competent boom operator move it between the two so that the pickup angle is directed at the character currently speaking, then change to the other character, and so on.

2. Better to use lavs for dialogue scenes? If so... how and where to hide them (also so they don't make noise), and how to shoot? Always close-ups? Might be awkward, visually... also hiding the wires, if I'm shooting a somewhat wide scene of people talking...

Depends. Better for wider shots than closeups since with a closeup you've got a lot of room to get another mic close, but on a wide/master/etc you can only get your boom so close.

3. How to light room scenes so I can run at better (100-200) ISOs? How many lighting kits/wattage needed?

It's really going to depend on the scene, one of the lighting gurus will give you a better answer, but without knowing particulars there's really no way to answer this...

4. Should I mainly focus on shooting scenes with a 50mm prime (which is actually 100mm, with the T3i crop factor)? Should I consider a 28mm prime to get actual 50-ish-mm focal length? Everyone seems to say "always use your primes for narrative filmmaking" - I understand you get a much shallower depth-of-field and great low-light performance... I'm guessing these are the two main reasons. Tough to shoot a conversation indoors, though... or at least that's my guess...

Work with what you've got, for now.. but eventually you'll want to have more options to choose from so you can pick the lens that best serves the shot, mood, etc. The primary reason people say to use primes is that they tend to be faster and sharper than zoom lenses.

5. Can a no-budget indie film be made with a very minimal crew? As in, cameraman (writer/score/film music/miking/lighting/editing), and cameraman (director/audio guy/lighting/editing)... or vice-versa? Seems like Ed Burns did this sometimes with Sidewalks of New York. Actors of course... we have friends and other people who do local acting, but have no need for being paid (though we offered free food, music hookups, etc)... SOMEthing for their time and effort...

Sure. Just don't skimp on the work that needs to go into a polished result because you're short on people. In otherwords, realistically expect things to take significantly longer, or resign yourself to lesser quality end products (please don't do that. There's already lots of crap on youtube..

6. How's the indie film community in Philly (for those of you who live in the area.. city, or surrounding burbs (Montco, Bucks, etc)?

I'm not in Philly, so I can't comment, though I believe we've got several members from that area on the forum.

7. Favorite books on indie filmmaking? Favorite sites? (I actually was a technical editor for Michael W. Dean's best-selling book $30 Film School about ten years ago... and had a couple short films on the accompanying DVD).

This is a potentially LONG list... start by searching, there are several historical posts here with lists of books and whatnot.

That's about it for now... I am sure I will be posting more. I like this forum because you guys don't seem like asshole film snobs... like certain other forums. Seems like everyone's friendly & helpful, here.

Even when we are channeling our inner "asshole film snobs" it's (usually) intended to be helpful.

 

[sfoster]

For books.. i suggest avoiding generic filmmaking books.
They will cover everything but not a single thing in detail.

get a specific book on editing, a book on lighting, a book on directing actors, a book on cinematography.. you get the point

 

[joejohn123]

30
male
Are you ARYAN ?

aRE YOU CHRISTIAN ?
IF YES , CATHOLIC /PROTESTANT ?

iF NOT aTHEIST ?

lOOSELY STATE YOUR LOCATION, NO PROBLEM.
aNYTHING ELSE IS UNNECESSARY.

 

[themixtape]

Thanks for the warm greetings, all. If anyone else wants to chip in with advice on vintage lenses, please feel free!