Ok, a couple of questions for the people who make GOOD QUALITY movies....

[LilMissScareAll]

I need to know what is some good affordable equipment to use? You can list a few different ones or just tell me what you use...
I need a good quality camera, not one of those that will make my film look like a "home movie" as so many independent movies do... Even if the camera is like $1,000-$1,500 or something, please tell me some good ones! A good quality camera makes a movie better, I don't care what anyone says.
Also...microphones & lighting... what kind do you use/how much are they/where can I find them?
And lastly...what's the best editing program for adding special effects? I've heard Adobe After Effects...are there any others, or is that one really the best?

Thanks to whoever replies! :)

[LilMissScareAll]

Since no one replied, does that mean nobody here makes good quality movies? :confused: :p

[Geddy]

The Canon HV20 is a pretty popular camera for low budget stuff. It shoots in 24p which is the same as a lot of regular films. It's fairly cheap as well, I don't know where your located, but in Canada they sell for around $650.00. It also has a mic input. There's footage of this camera here: http://exposureroom.com/search/?q=hv20

For audio I heard good things of The Audio Technica ATR55, which is a shotgun mic. You can find it on ebay for around $50.00: http://search.ebay.ca/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=AUDIO+TECHNICA+ATR+55&category0=

As for lighting, a lot of independent film makers I've talked to say they use clamp lights. Home hardware has them for something like $20.00, just buy some true colour bulbs.

[LilMissScareAll]

Thank you so much for the reply! Wow, the camera looks great and that's not a bad price! About $400 less than I expected to pay for a high quality camera. Hopefully I can find them for about that price here in the U.S. too.
And that mic & lighting is cheaper than what I expected too so thank you! :cool: :D

[LilMissScareAll]

What about video editing and/or special effects software? You seem to know where to find good stuff at cheaper prices so if you know anything about that please let me know too.

[MisterSadistro]

You can't go wrong with Sony Vegas for editing. Real simple and still my software of choice. I still have to use many others depending on client's demands, but I'll always go with Vegas when it's my choice. I've only recently begun delving into After Effects for fx, but I'm in love with it already. There is a mad tutorial from Creative Cow on doing greenscreen and such that I will recommend as well. Since this is a public forum, I shouldn't say you can download both from various file sharing sites (hint, hint).
I'd say keep an eye out for Panasonic DVX cameras on eBay. They are truly wonderful and people who own them are dropping them like flies to get the HVX model. The HVX is the same camera, but with HiDef capabilities via the PS2 chip (which cost roughly $1800 a pop). I'm using the Audio Technica ATR55 myself as well in lieu of the ultra priced Sennheiser models for microphones. As for lighting, you can always go with the Halogen models from your local Home Depot and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Just remember not to put the light directly on people or else way too bright. You'll see.
It sounds like you're actually paying attention to what you are doing (esp light and sound) so you should have no problems. Check your shutters and keep room above and below in your shots for widescreen depending on the camera you get. Other than that, don't ever put anyone in danger of actually getting hurt on set and be sure to feed people when they show up so they show up again. Personally, I have probably been waiting longer than anyone on HDC to see what you will do since you always ask the most. Do I need to say "good luck" again ? :D
CK

[LilMissScareAll]

Thanks for the reply! Actually someone I know who plans on doing my editing for me(because I don't have the patience for editing really. I can do the short films but it aggravates me--so I can only imagine a 90 minute film would be EXTREMELY aggravating. lol--I'm more of a writer & an actor than an editor--and I guess I'll be director too.) has tried to get the "free" versions of after effects and I think maybe sony vegas too but never had any luck in getting them to actually work right. :confused: :(
Yeah I know that sound & lighting can really make the movie better...I personally don't really like watching bad quality independent films with bad audio, bad lighting, etc... even if the movie could have actually been good if not for bad camera/bad lighting/bad audio...it just takes away from the movie, I think. And I saw a few independent films last weekend at the film fest I went to that were horrible quality and I didn't enjoy those. Couldn't get into them. But then I saw some that were actually made really well, almost professional quality...and I was alot more into them. I'd want my movie to be more like that instead of one of those that just looks like a home movie and the audience would probably be thinking "Wow. I could make a better movie than that!" <--cause that's what I think when watching some of those independent films. I know with the right equipment I could do a great job.
Also a question about ebay--I've never got anything from there myself...I'm a little scared to buy used stuff from random people like that. So if I bought a cam on there and it didn't work or didn't work nearly as well as they said it did or something... would I be able to send it back for a refund? Or would I be stuck with a junky camera that didn't work & be out alot of money for nothing? How does that work exactly? I'd be afraid unless I knew it was a guaranteed thing. Thanks again!

[MisterSadistro]

It changes from auction to auction so be sure to read the fine print. Some people have 'as is' and you're stuck with it, but most reputable people on there have a 7-10 day trial period on cameras for an problems. Whatever you do, do not buy from any place online with super low rates from Brooklyn, NY. There has been a "company" that goes by many different names that is now infamous for bait and switch tactics and flat out ripping people off entirely. I'll see if I can find the link about them. A Google search will likely do it.
CK

[sniped90]

be sure to come back and tell us how you get onv;)

[LilMissScareAll]

It changes from auction to auction so be sure to read the fine print. Some people have 'as is' and you're stuck with it, but most reputable people on there have a 7-10 day trial period on cameras for an problems. Whatever you do, do not buy from any place online with super low rates from Brooklyn, NY. There has been a "company" that goes by many different names that is now infamous for bait and switch tactics and flat out ripping people off entirely. I'll see if I can find the link about them. A Google search will likely do it.
CK


Ok thanks! I'd make sure i could send it back for a refund if i got anything on there. i'll most likely buy from a store though, ebay might be cheaper but i'd rather pay a bit more and feel safer about what i buy & KNOW for 100% sure that I can get a refund if the thing doesn't work. :p

[neverending]

With Ebay, just look at people's feedback rating- if it's close to 100% you're pretty safe buying from them. And like Sadistro said- read every word in the auction to see exactly what they're selling.

Buying online can be risky- ebay or otherwise. As long as you don't buy impulsively and research the company you'll be okay.

[LilMissScareAll]

With Ebay, just look at people's feedback rating- if it's close to 100% you're pretty safe buying from them. And like Sadistro said- read every word in the auction to see exactly what they're selling.

Buying online can be risky- ebay or otherwise. As long as you don't buy impulsively and research the company you'll be okay.


Thanks... I'll still most likely buy from an actual store--go and pick up the camera myself... I'm too paranoid & I prefer to buy at an actual store than online--I only order online if I have to or if it's such a good deal that I have to or something but that's about it(so if I found an EXTREMELY good deal on a camera I might buy it on ebay if it was from a good seller who had a money back guarantee or something, otherwise probably not). I have been ripped off online before. By Amazon.com actually...luckily it wasn't anything really expensive, but I still lost about $20 thanks to them. I never even got the item I bought. I was pissed...I guess they had somebody dishonest working for them who cashed my money order and then they kept saying they hadn't received my money order--yet SOMEBODY got the money from it and I never got what I ordered. :rolleyes: So I'm completely against amazon now...would never buy from there again!

[MisterSadistro]

Even though it's probably not "correct" for me to suggest it, there is some really REALLY cool looking software that can give your standard video camera footage a look that you shot it on film that I've been playing with a lot lately. Magic Bullet softens the edges of everything and anything in front of it. The trick is to softly put the backgrounds out of focus. You can accomplish this by pulling up to your subject matter as close as humanly possible when filming. No, it is definitely a not end all solution to making things look like they were shot on 35mm, but it's still a damn good look. Keep up on the lighting and sound work most importantly ! That always stands out on an indie by far. Even a little effort goes a long way in this digital age :o
CK

[sniped90]

Thanks... I'll still most likely buy from an actual store--go and pick up the camera myself... I'm too paranoid & I prefer to buy at an actual store than online--I only order online if I have to or if it's such a good deal that I have to or something but that's about it(so if I found an EXTREMELY good deal on a camera I might buy it on ebay if it was from a good seller who had a money back guarantee or something, otherwise probably not). I have been ripped off online before. By Amazon.com actually...luckily it wasn't anything really expensive, but I still lost about $20 thanks to them. I never even got the item I bought. I was pissed...I guess they had somebody dishonest working for them who cashed my money order and then they kept saying they hadn't received my money order--yet SOMEBODY got the money from it and I never got what I ordered. :rolleyes: So I'm completely against amazon now...would never buy from there again!

did you buy from a seller on their? if you did it didn't have anything to to with amazon it was between you and that seller..amazon only get involved if their is a problem..i tend to try to steer away from amazon marketplace sellers unless amazon isn't selling an item cheap enough and the sellers are..just a thought though!

[LilMissScareAll]

Even though it's probably not "correct" for me to suggest it, there is some really REALLY cool looking software that can give your standard video camera footage a look that you shot it on film that I've been playing with a lot lately. Magic Bullet softens the edges of everything and anything in front of it. The trick is to softly put the backgrounds out of focus. You can accomplish this by pulling up to your subject matter as close as humanly possible when filming. No, it is definitely a not end all solution to making things look like they were shot on 35mm, but it's still a damn good look. Keep up on the lighting and sound work most importantly ! That always stands out on an indie by far. Even a little effort goes a long way in this digital age :o
CK

Thank you! :cool:

[LilMissScareAll]

did you buy from a seller on their? if you did it didn't have anything to to with amazon it was between you and that seller..amazon only get involved if their is a problem..i tend to try to steer away from amazon marketplace sellers unless amazon isn't selling an item cheap enough and the sellers are..just a thought though!

No, it was directly from amazon so it was 100% their fault, but they wouldn't do anything about it. if it had been through a seller I probably wouldn't have ordered it in the first place.

[sniped90]

oh right..that's strange, amazon is usually good..

[LilMissScareAll]

I'll never see them as being a good company anymore, I'll always see them as being the biggest rip-off company in the world. :p

[MisterSadistro]

Make movies, MSA. Make movies because you WANT to make movies, MSA. You don't need a thousand people or a million dollars to do it. Use what you have and make the best use of anything and everything that is available to you. I personally say that filmmaking is a way of story telling. If you give 5 cameras to 5 people with the same outline, you will get back 5 different movies.
Anyhoooo anything you need that I can do is at your service.

[LilMissScareAll]

thanks...i might not need a million dollars to make a good movie...but i do need actors...and people are hard to find around here. even my family won't hardly help me out(aside from my mom & dad but even they wanna rush through things which you can't do if you wanna make a good movie)

guess i am definitely gonna have to bribe people to be in my full length film. "if you show up to every shoot you get something free" (and it'll have to be something cheap) ...apparently it's the only way when making a no budget film in a shitty town. Or I thought about doing a contest...if they show up EVERY time their name gets put in a drawing for a tv/dvd player or something. I'll have to come up with something because I know how people around here are--if there's nothing in it for them, they won't do shit.
I would like to hire one "real" actor/celebrity too(one that would work fairly cheap--I know someone who would work for $1,000--I'd guess that's about the cheapest you can get a celebrity to work? I'd want him to have a fairly big part--not the main character or anything but I'd wanna give him quite a few lines & have him in the film alot).... that also might convince more people to come.

[MisterSadistro]

One more suggestion: start with shorts and work your way up to a feature. It is an ongoing learning experience and jumping into the deep end before you can swim likely won't turn out well. I should know- been there and done that :D

[LilMissScareAll]

Ah thanks but I've already made a few short films. I'm ready to make a full length.