Technical Question

Aphix · June 11, 2005

Hey I really interested in the movie biz and decided I would go for it. I wanna know what I need to make short films? The equpment and stuff. I plan on using a film camera first off and Im running on a really tight budget. :( Ebay would be best for buying. Thanks in advance.

June 12, 2005

Hey again Aphix,

Depends what kinds of short films you want to make and what kind of budget you have.

Do you have a computer?

A computer-based editing system? (Final Cut, Premiere, iMovie, MS Moviemaker?)

Do you have firewire or a video composite capture card?

How much money can you throw into this?

How big is your crew? (you can still do pretty complex stuff even with just a crew of 1) ;)

Also, is going to film school an option?

Nao

Aphix · June 12, 2005

1.Yea and I have access to alot of hardware and knowledge about them.

2.Adobe Premier

3.Im going to buy a PCI capture card off of ebay soon.

4.Not much at all. I have about $50 a week for spending room.

5.I have tons of friends who can help me.

6.Im 16 right now so it may be a couple of years.

Just for a heads up my first film is going to be on sprint car racing. I work at the only racetrack in a 100 mile radius and I thought maybe I could do a film on how much the drivers put into their cars and the time they spend to race. Most people dont realize that they spend the whole week working on their car for a small chance at winning a little prize money. It wouldnt be a movie really more like a documentary or entertaining infomercial.

Aphix · June 12, 2005

Can you digitally change things in film uploaded using a capture card?

Can you use a green/blue screen?

Brian Wells · June 12, 2005

my first film is going to be on sprint car racing... I thought maybe I could do a film on how much the drivers put into their cars and the time they spend to race. Most people dont realize that they spend the whole week working on their car for a small chance at winning a little prize money. It wouldnt be a movie really more like a documentary or entertaining infomercial.

Awesome. You actually have a project. That's good. A while back I saw a documentary about professional bull riders called "Behind The Chutes" It talked about how they work relentlessly traveling on borrowed money to events all of the country for a chance at winning the national finals--which even if they win, they barely cover their expenses for the year. For everyone else, it is a losing battle. They all do it for the love of the sport. Very interesting little part of society, indeed. Documentaries help expose us outsiders to worlds we've never seen and it sounds like yours would be of particular interest to many folks, perhaps even outside your 100 mile community.

Sfa chroma key that would be determined by the software. A simple home product like Windows Movie Maker probably doesn't have any keying effects. The entry-level versions of Vegas Movie Studio or Premier Elements both likely have a chroma keyer and probably other types of keyers as well. I would fact check that with the manufactures websites, though.

This forum is basically for the exchange of cinematography (lighting + camera) information and not so much for video editing. Whilst it's okay to inquire about unrelated-to-cinematography subjects, especially as a first time filmaker, you'll likely find access to more persons with the same questions (and answers) on another forum geared for that sort of thing, like dvinfo.net or 2pop.com, for example. There are many others.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Aphix · June 13, 2005

Cool, that documentary sounds alot like what I want to do. Thanx for the help too this is helping alot!

Robert Hughes · June 13, 2005

"I plan on using a film camera first off and Im running on a really tight budget."

Well it seems you are dead set on fitting between a rock and a hard place. Film gets expensive fast. Even Super 8 becomes very pricey if you intend on a pro-level telecine transfer to video.

But if that's what you're gonna to do, welcome to the club. You'll want a Super 8 camera with a few good features such as 18/24fps and high speed (48-60fps) shooting, automatic and manually adjustable exposure, and a decent zoom lens. Look for a Canon, Nikon, Nizo, Bauer, Beaulieu, Chinon, Elmo, or other camera in the ~$100 range on eBay. Find a decent Super8 projector. Shoot reversal film to keep your costs down. Project your film on the wall and videotape it to eliminate telecine costs.

Consider mixed format production. Shoot both film and video. If your project combines action and interviews, shoot the action in film and interviews in video - usually you throw away nine tenths of interview material anyway, so why waste good film?

Good luck.