Starting a film club at my School. Suggestions on equipment and activities please

C

Conbadicus

Hi,
I have no experience when it comes to making films, so no I am not qualified to teach film making! But some students took it upon themselves to make a movie last semester (this is middle/high btw) and I couldn't help but notice a lot of things I felt I could help them improve on, that I feel are rather common sense to filming/acting. (not going to really elaborate on that stuff)
Anyway, I started a film making club. Firstly, we've only got access to some rather inexpensive camcorders.. and frankly I'm not sure they will cut it when it comes to filming. So I was wondering about some suggestions for cameras that we should look at purchasing. Mics too. Im hoping someone reads this and goes, "oh yeah totally, you're definitely going to need ____ because you will do ___ a lot, and also ____ because ___. Here are some low budget ____ that are good for beginners." etc.
Any help would be much appreciated,
Thank You
 
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Welcome to indietalk.

There are over 30 threads here about cameras, mics, audio gear, lighting
and other equipment. You don't have to read all of them, but clicking on
a few will help you understand more about cameras and other gear.

What you will see is that the first thing the good people here at indietalk
ask is, "What is your price range?" It's a realistic question: right now you
have access to "inexpensive camcorders". Do you want to purchase an
expensive camcorder? So a price range helps us point you in the right
direction. It would also help if you mentioned the inexpensive camcorders
you currently have access to. They might be just fine when it comes to
filming.

So how about telling us your total budget? Everything you can spend on
a camera and mic.

If you go for a DSLR you will need accessories to get it film ready and in
addition to a mic you will need an audio recorder. There are some nice
video cameras that have mic inputs so all you need is the camera, the
mic a cable and a boom pole.

Now for the lecture you don't want - so just pass this paragraph:
You can make a movie with the camera you have - and a good one. Audio
is important so you will need a mic and an audio recorder. I would suggest
you get those now and use the cameras you have access to. Lighting is
always the downfall of most beginning filmmakers. You get an exposed
image and you're happy. But in the end it's not a pleasing, professional
looking image. So use the camera you have and practice lighting. But the
most important thing is going to be your script, the talent of your actors
and the talent of the people behind the camera. Even with the lowest of
inexpensive camcorders you can end up with a great, watchable, enjoyable
professional looking and sounding movie if you have all that.

Lecture over - you can read the next paragraph.

It's so cool you're starting a film club. I did when I was in middle school and
it was great. We made a lot of really crappy movies and learned with each
one. We shot something every weekend and in a year we had built some
skills and started attracting interest form older, more experienced people.
And that made us even better. Now let's get to that camera question....
 
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Hi, thanks for the info. I have access for a Canon 60D actually, which is my own personal DSLR. It can take some decent video and I think you are right, I'm sure we can use the sony camcorders that we have. I think we'll just need some audio. So what I'm thinking is we'll need some kind of shotgun mic with a boom pole, but what do we run the mic to in terms of recording.
I've read some stuff regarding recorders... something about analog... sqn? I dunno, its all rather confusing, but in my mind I feel like we need some kind of dedicated sound recorder that we will link up with video during the editing process.
 
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