Jeremiah Foster

Yep the GL2 is not 24p but I could fix that in post as well using either Magic Bullet or DVFilm Maker. How about the HVR-A1U, it seems like a great value right now at B&H? With the right lighting it can look really good from what I've seen in sample footage. it's just so hard to choose without being able to check out the camera.

I didn't even think about the Universities. I will have to check to see if any of my buddies have access to the equipment at UAA. Thank you for the idea. As for UAF, unfortunally I live in Anchorage. All of the main film/video creation equipment is on the main UAF campus in Fairbanks about 350 miles away. So just to drive there would be like driving from Seattle to Northern California, or for you Chris from Dallas, TX to Wichita KS. O and Chris, just to add fuel to the jealousy, there is no sales tax or income tax in Alaska and we get a dividend to live here that is normally around $1k per year per person. You just have to suffer in the cold. And the magic hour I was talking about, during the longest part of summer can last for hours. As for the vx2100's how do you feel about them for a low-cost lowlight DV camera. I hate that they are 4:3 but I could take care of that in post. I have also looked at the Canon GL2, the Sony HVR-A1U and the XL2 (used) as they all fall in my price range. The hard part about shopping up here is that don't have great access to prosumer gear. We have a Bestbuy and CompUSA and that's about it. Neither of them carry anything along the lines I am looking for. There are a few camera shops here in Anchorage but they make you buy the camera before they will order it, so in store tryout is out of the question. Sadly I am left researching forums like this one to try and get a feel for what camera to get. This place is the best, thanks for all the help.

I truly want to thank each of you for the input. I also see that I need to shed some more light on my project. The $4k is for lights, camera and location sound equipment only. This is a hard number that can not be exceeded. I also have a budget for cast and crew needs including food. A budget for wardrobe and special effects even though they will be very minimal. A budget for editing including sound and hardware/software upgrades. Finally there is a budget for lawyers expensive to review contracts and legal documentations. I would love to shoot on film, however, I see it as too complicated do to my circumstances. You see, I live in Alaska and the processing is ungodly expensive up here. Even if I were to ship it out of state for processing the cost of shipping alone will raise the production budget several hundred dollars and would create a liability that would to be a nightmare. Think about it, you just finished shooting only to have your stock lost, stolen or crushed in the mail. Not to mention access to equipment for editing or for digital transfer is nearly nonexistent. Also I hope to repurpose this equipment after the shoot for a few other projects with as little additional cost as possible. The script is properly formatted, it has been storyboarded and a shot schedule has been created. Trust me I have planned for a lot more then 1 weekend. I have a small production crew that consists of: Myself who will be working as the Director/Camera Man A Casting Director/Lead Actor with a B.A. in Theater and almost 20 years experience. A professional sound man who has his own studio equipment and over 25 years working in stage and sound system installation, planning and design. He is willing to let us use his studio equipment for mixing and ADR but not in the field. Hence the need for location sound gear. An Associate Producer/Production Supervisor who is one of the savviest businessman I know and who shares a love for the genre. An Assistant camera man who I trust to get the shots while I am wearing my directors hat. And a makeup artist/wardrobe person with a few impressive stage productions under her belt. No I did not forget about the cast, we are planning on holding auditions in March. I have a few connections in the local thespian circles with quite a few interested parties willing to participate. You see this is not a wake up one day and say to my self I wan to make a movie. Instead it is a project that has been long in the making and has just started to reach the true pre-production phase. The last time the crew and I were reviewing details it was determined that we should post the question here to see what the response would be This brings us full circle to the original question: "If you has $4k to spend on a DV Camera, Lights and location sound equipment what would you buy?"

Yes have a 25 page script, it was written 5 years ago and revised several times. It is a single location 5 person script specifically written for a low budget production.

Hello all, First some background, I have been involved in still photography for many years but never really made the transition to video until now. I am not inexperienced when it comes to video cameras as I have helped my cinematographer friend on many wedding shoots. Typically I will shoot the stills and he will shot the video until the reception when we both go to handhelds. I have experience with the vx2000 and the pd170 however I typically lean towards canon for my still work. On to my question, I have managed to save $4K for equipment in order to produce a horror flick short that I have been thinking about for years. Here is a list of what I want to try and accomplish with the cash: Image: 1. I want to a film look, either shot in 24p or 60i converted to 24p using Magic Bullet or DVFilm Maker. 2. We will be shooting outdoors at magic hour to get that dark look and at night 3. I would like to capture great color, deep rich tones to help alleviate too much color correction. 4. I want to enter it in Short film festivals as well as burn to DVD. Sound: 1. I want good sound, on this shoot I will have an experienced boom handler but I don't know what mic to get (XLR preferred). 2. Should I go with something like an iRiver and ADR the sound later, try and shotgun mic the sound on set or both. With all of that what lights, camera and sound equipment would you buy to try and achieve these goals? One finally note, I will be using either Vegas 6 or FCP to edit the film. This is not included in the $4k as I already own both systems.