Film or Video?

[Danny]

turns out the teacher was jsut thick and blu ray ones dont exist, were using panasonic ones, probably the ones above.

[PJoseph]

I'm a big fan of the HVX - it would be my choice. Love the DVX100 (used to own one), so I could either way. pJ

[C5NOTLD]

I need some advice on what to do about which type of filming medium I should use: Standard film or digital video? Obviously most independent, small film makers use digital video cameras or camcorders to make their films. Unfortunately, regardless of the quality of the material, to me the films don't look quite right because they have that "home movie" look that theatrical films have. I feel it automatically takes me out of the believability of the film's atmosphere. I used to think that film had to go through a special process in the studio to make it look like a theatrical film does, but now I know that the nature of 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film grain makes it look like a movie (and also the speed it's played at helps too). Trouble is...movie cameras that use regular film are really hard to find, and most people resort to using cheaper and easier digital cameras for their no/low-budget productions. Now, this brings me to my question - what would be better: Buy or rent a regular film camera and film my movie, then take it to a shop to get it processed into digital so I can then edit it on my computer... OR Get one of the newer expensive HD film cameras (like the Canon XLS series) and film on that and try to find ways in post to trick the eye into thinking it was filmed on regular film? Does anybody have any experience with high-quality film production that could offer some advice as to which route I should take? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Depends on what you can afford. Budget and compare your project as film and as digital video and see what fits you better as film will be more expensive. Most of the time the films won't look or feel quite right when shot on video because of poor lighting technique and poor sound. I've seen movies shot on film which look terrible because of poor lighting. Having a film camera isn't a guarantee that you will have a great looking or even professional looking movie. You can create beautiful visuals in either format (film/digital video) just depends on the time and trouble you personally take to create the images. My suggestion is to save the money from shooting on film and shoot digital but invest in a good lighting package. Then you can perfect the look on your movies shooting digital and can always move up to film later on if so desired. The canon cameras are good even going back to the non HD, XL1S (with the XL1S you really need the 16x manual zoom lense and the ma-200 attachment which brings XLR inputs for sound to the camera). It works great in low light and has the frame movie mode which is similar to film look. Nice aspect about the canon cameras are that the lenses are interchangeable with other professional lenses similar to a film camera. Throw a matte box on it and you would be all set. http://syndicate.sellpoint.net/canon...3DModelInfoAct

[DjfunkmasterG]

I have a clip from my film TRAPPED going online today and I am using DVX100B's. During our shoot we have at times had four cameras rolling and the footage looks stellar as long as you know your settings. FInd a good DP who knows the DVX and you will be amazed at the images it can produce.

[Kadath]

Thank you everyone for your wonderfully detailed responses! It seems most people recommend the DVX series, so I will look into that. My concerns about using digital video are fairly alleviated after reading what everyone has to say about it. Thanks again!

[DjfunkmasterG]

Forget reading... just watch footage from our DVX100's, that should be enough to sell you on it. http://www.artheldhostage.com/trapped.html (FYI - the cameras visual settings have been tweaked to achieve the look)

[MinionZombie]

Forget reading... just watch footage from our DVX100's, that should be enough to sell you on it. http://www.artheldhostage.com/trapped.html (FYI - the cameras visual settings have been tweaked to achieve the look) For the DVX nerds out there, what settings were used when you were filming?

[C5NOTLD]

Thank you everyone for your wonderfully detailed responses! It seems most people recommend the DVX series, so I will look into that. My concerns about using digital video are fairly alleviated after reading what everyone has to say about it. Thanks again! Once you decide on a camera you should rent one over a weekend to try it out. Then you can see first hand what you like or dislike about a particular model.

[DjfunkmasterG]

For the DVX nerds out there, what settings were used when you were filming? We modified the F3 setting on the camera. Normally, the factory default F3 ont he NTSC version is 30fps, but we changed it to 24FPS Advanced and the Master Ped is turned down to minus -12. The clips of the group of survivors talking about their situation was shot with those settings, we then used 2k lights to fill the scene.

[GingeUK]

Personally, I would go for whichever is cheaper and spend the rest of the money on set decoration and hiring decent actors. As for what camera to use. You could have the best camera in the world, but if the person behind it doesn't know how to use it then it's worthless. I have used a wide range of camera's from DVC 30's, through to XL2's and Z1's but my favourite camera to date has to be the Canon XM2. It doesn't have a whole host of bells and whistles. It has what you need, manual exposure, focus, shutter speed and zoom. I honestly feel less constrained with this camera that any of the others that have been mentioned. Besides, this is all relative. If the story is not up to snuff then it doesn't matter what you shoot on. It will come out bad.

[Derek]

Hi there, I think the main thing is down to personal taste. Some people prefer film but it can be very expensive. "The Raindance Producers Lab" by Eliot Grove has a wicked chapter on where and how to get cheap/free film stock. Definately worth picking up (or at least flicking through if you're passing a bookshop). I wouldn't rule out digital formats altogether though. Some segments of Once Upon A Time in Mexico were shot on HD and all of Wolf Creek was HD. Once you add the grading/filters/etc digital formats can look quite nice. Here's a clip from my crappy zombie film. It was shot on a cheap=ass camcorder: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oid=2027902820 Hopefully it won't look too cheap, but we decided to shoot on a camcorder because any money spent we wanted to go on the make-up effects and not buying/developing film.

[MinionZombie]

Erm, I think Rodriguez shot all of "...Mexico" in HD, didn't he?

[PJoseph]

Once Upon A Time In Mexico was completely HD - according to the behind the scenes on the DVD. I can't imagine he would have mixed any of it with 35mm. pJ

[DjfunkmasterG]

Didn't Rodriguez start shooting HD with Spy Kids 2? I remember reading or seeing in a documentary he won't use anything else.

[MinionZombie]

Didn't Rodriguez start shooting HD with Spy Kids 2? I remember reading or seeing in a documentary he won't use anything else. Nope, Once Upon A Time In Mexico was boshed out prior to Spy Kids 2, they wanted to test the tech out a bit before using it on SK2, that's what he said on the Mexico DVD.