DVC PRO 50 for First Film

[Andy_Alderslade]

I know someone who made a feature for £12,000 about 14 years ago using a Bolex, but so far as making a saleable film at the present on this budget, I'd go for the spending the money on actors rather than film stock.

 

Well no film made for the budget discussed £15 000 - £20 000 is going to be a conventionally sale-able film, any success will be through festivals or some kind of release, DVD etc, all depending on a good story, good performances and generally a professional finish.

 

So your point about spending money on actors makes sense, but a proffesional finish is important too, like Richard Boddington said in film sales first question is 'Who's in it?' the second is 'What's it shot on?'

 

Sometimes good actors will be happier working on more professional formats too.

[Brian Drysdale]

Well no film made for the budget discussed £15 000 - £20 000 is going to be a conventionally sale-able film, any success will be through festivals or some kind of release, DVD etc, all depending on a good story, good performances and generally a professional finish.

 

So your point about spending money on actors makes sense, but a proffesional finish is important too, like Richard Boddington said in film sales first question is 'Who's in it?' the second is 'What's it shot on?'

 

Sometimes good actors will be happier working on more professional formats too.

 

At this budget level the most you can hope for is a story and characters the audience can engage with. With care, a minor name in the cast becomes possible (if only for a few days shooting), especially if they like the script.

 

The EX1 & EX3 cameras are pretty professional and should manage a pretty good look for DVD, especially if you spend some money on lighting. However, go for the Super 16 if your budget has covered the other costs.

[Walter Graff]

"Well no film made for the budget discussed £15 000 - £20 000 is going to be a conventionally sale-able film, any success will be through festivals or some kind of release, DVD etc, all depending on a good story, good performances and generally a professional finish... in film sales first question is 'Who's in it?"

This should be put on every box of every camera sold, and every piece of videotape just as cigarette warnings are placed on boxes. And everyone should be made to read this over and over:

 

http://www.indiewire.com/biz/2008/06/irst_person_fil.html

[Andy_Alderslade]

http://www.indiewire.com/biz/2008/06/irst_person_fil.html

 

Oh dear, its not good to hear, well welcome to how things are in UK, constantly....

[Alessandro Machi]

I know a dP who really liked the DVC Pro 50 format. It probably is the most "efficient" SD codec in terms of quality versus the amount of compression. Definitely better than mini-dv. I was under the impression that DVC-Pro 50 and Digi beta are similar in quality????

 

What you might like about DVC Pro 50 is that it should work on whatever editing program you are using, whereas

anything of higher quality may or may not work depending on the computer you are using and the software that is bundled with it.