PAINFUL DESTINY

Mungai Kiroga · October 7, 2008

I am working as a script editor for a company called Balozi Productions L.T.D. We have a grand plan to produce low budget, straight-to-DVD movies for the mass market. Latter this month we will film our third project, "Painful Destiny".

Its a dramatic film that traces the life of a young couple from engagement to five years in the marriage. They go through several challenges from the man's low sperm count, to his best friend's criminal dealings, trouble with in-laws and other issues.

The story was written by a media student from one of our universities. I developed the plot and wrote the screenplay. I am also involved in production and will direct some scenes. (You know how it is with low-budget shoots, everyone does a little bit of everything but its often a bag of fun.)

The weapon of choice is a modest JVC HD 100. We will be shooting 720P with a simple lighting kit, a couple of blonds and red-heads.

We plan to shoot over a period of seven days spread over two weeks. We are all very excited about it.

Walter Graff · October 7, 2008

Sounds like fun. Nothing more rewarding (and often frustrating) as doing something for little money. But seeing the reward of what you love often outweighs anything else. How many of us haven't nearly burnt out our DVD player watching something over and over cause we are so proud of what we do. HDV is a great choice for direct to DVD as it is a direct MPEG to MPEG chain. Shoot as wide open as possible to maintain the sharpest resolution. And use a lonerr lens length to help give you more of a feeling of shallower DoF. Also if you have the budget, use HMIs as they will make for a more pleasing picture. All the best!

Michael Collier · October 7, 2008

The JVC is a decent cam. My last short was on a 110 and I couldn't be happier with the end result. I will warn you though, its chip is made of black velvet....meaning its very very slow. I rated between 200 and 160 depending on the scene, so Graffs excelent advice will be easy to follow. I would caution against true wide open, since the lens that comes stock (I assume the same fujinon the 110 has) is not very plesent wide open. But its measured in fstops so in my experience there seemed to be only a 1/2 stop difference between f1.4 and f2. Check that the markings on the barrel are relatively accurate and pull focus from measurements, both the LCD and viewfinder are under-ressed to pull focus from directly. Alternatively zoom in and grab focus marks prior to shooting, or get a high res HD on set monitor and pull from that.

Good luck and don't forget to have fun.