JaredSmith

Thanks for the above response. My friend has now told me that we have 2 500 watt LED lights to work with... any other suggestions?

I second the kick starter idea. Get a solid fan following on YouTube from any of your short films you have made (or better yet create a blog and get an e-mail list of thousands of people) and then set-up a kick starter project. This sounds simple, but I know a filmmaker who gets around a million individual website hits from his near-famous filmmaking blog and is well-known across the internet community who spent 1-2 years creating a following and acquired nearly 100,000 e-mail accounts before just barley raising his goal of $115,000 - he worked hard at this task every day (making hardly any money from the cause). Sorry for the run-on sentence, but this is all true: becoming a filmmaker isn't hard at all. Becoming a successful filmmaker is extremely hard (but without a slight doubt, incredibly possible). If you want more information, PM me and I'll send you a number of links that if you follow closely will all, but guarantee success. (Keep in mind this strategy is for a low-budget independent project).

Hello, I offered to help a close friend who is directing an exercise video. Originally I did not intend on being paid, then he told me I could get a paying position as part of the crew and now he is telling me he'll give me half a grand for the job. For the budget that is involved... this is a lot of money (that I was not intending on receiving). So now the pressure is on... I am supposed to act as the gaffer and figure out what I want to do in lighting the video. The DoP is also a friend of mine and he'll have a good bit to say about lighting the video as well. I don't have much experience at all doing this, so any suggestions on lighting would be helpful along w/ me doing my own research on the side. Thanks in advance, Jared S.

Alright there's a good chance this has already been covered, but I every time I read a forum discussion on the topic of aspect ratios I am completely oblivious to what is being said. Can someone(s) explain to me what all I need to know about aspect ratios (as a director or anyone else involved in filmmaking)... or do I really have to read a 10 page online guide to Understanding Aspect Ratios? Thanks, Jared S.

Hey guys, thanks for the input! When I was talking about the speakers (in my question) I was talking about the people who speak, but I think my question has been answered. However, I still would like any one's opinion on what the best (or industry standard) lav mic is...

On an indie feature film is it a good idea to have a boom and a lavalier mic for each speaker? If so what is the best or industry standard lavalier mic?

Okay ignore that last post - something went wrong in replying and I can't edit it either. I am sort of puzzled right now... are you saying on some cameras I cannot film completely dark areas (why not if the result I'm looking for is a completely black image?)? The camera I'll be shooting with is a Arriflex - S 16 mm and I'm not having much luck finding information about their sensor capabilities (somewhat due to the fact that I don't really understand what the sensor is and what it does).

Thanks again, that will be a big help because now that you mention it, I do have access to a gobo arm as well. So if I set the c-clamp and the gobo arm up to light the smoke I was thinking: would that be enough light to show the smoker himself? I would guess so (I will have plenty of time to play around). And one more question: is there anything I should know beforehand when using a light meter? There are some things I want completely dark... and I was just wanting to know if there's anything extra to say about f-stops and what not.

Thanks a lot for posting - Since he would be smoking close to a wall (with little area to have a backlight) what position do you think I could put the light?

Hi there, I am a student at NYFA and I have an upcoming mise-en-scene project. My idea was to have a man in an apartment with an unlit cigarette in his mouth washing off a gun as the camera sort of pans and tilts just a tad right to reveal one bloody mess of a bath tub (where the shooting obviously would have occurred). As the man exits he would then have the camera follow him from behind his left shoulder then come in front of him as he lights his cigarette then exhales a deep breath of smoke and relief. I have the idea down and I know it's a little complicated for one of my more simpler assignments, but I'd love to do it. I want a film noir look to it so my only questions are: 1. Any advice on how to set up lights in such a small place? 2. How do I light the hallway of the apt. building (when he exits to smoke)... when there is a hallway light already on? 3. Any advice on where I should put the lighting (equipment listed below)? equipment: 1. 2 VIP lights 500w 2. 1 Pro light 250w 3. black foil 4. c-clamp 5. umbrella 6. diffusion paper Thank you for reading and responding in advance and just to let you know I am also trying to do a lot of independent research on my own (regarding lighting, so please don't feel like you are doing my job)...

This website is a great resource when it comes to learning about cinematography but I was wondering if any one has any suggestions on where to find a really good website on directing (i.e. it might have interesting forums or detailed articles)?

Hi, I've been starting to approach the idea of making a movie just so I can get a small taste of how to produce and jump start the filmmaking process along with figuring out how big a budget could/should/would be on my first project (sorting out budgets for camera, grip, audio and lighting rentals as a start)... That being said I am now trying to figure out the audio portion of the budget. Let's just say I have a MKH416 (for example) and I want to sync the sound later in the post. WHAT ALL DO I NEED TO RECORD SOUND WITH IT? - basic equipment: module? windscreen? boom pole? - preamp? mixer? (or do most mixers have built in preamps?) ANY EXTRA CABLES? If there are any suggestions on the specific equipment that would be appreciated. I'm basically trying to figure out what indie filmmakers use to record audio, that sounds just as professional as hollywood filmmakers.

Thank you for your reply. I think I'll get an H4n and sync it later in the post for future projects (my plan is still to get an external mic though).

I recently got a Canon 60D and to no surprise, the audio recordings are painful to listen to... I plan on eventually getting an external mic in the form of a sennheiser shotgun, but for right now my budget isn't big enough. I'm just wondering if I was to get a Zoom H4n, would I need any other accessories to make it fully operational (and to have good sound quality) i.e. a windscreen, any sort of pre-amp, any extra wiring... etc.? Thanks in advance...