my new camera

[ngm231]

i got a jvc mini dv camera for christmas from my parents. it cost around 300$. what is the chance that i could shoot a good quality film on one of these + what would i need to buy to do so.

[Danny]

basically if it looks a little hom movie-ish there aint much you can do except focussing on out of camera aspects like altering the lighting, im using a canon mv 900 mini dv camcorder, it does look home movie-ish but its about the size of a gameboy sp maybe a bit bigger and its good enough for now, and at £130 i think it was worth about the same, my advice is go the "minion zombie" route if you check otu his site:

http://www.geocities.com/deadshedproductions/

see he does what i do ,shoot short films, dont start off trying to make anything epic if you have even a half decent camera thats good enough (one note is get a tripod off ebay there around ten bucks on there and they are invaluable compared to shooting everything by handheld).

just start shooting short films, dont just make 1 or 2 and then expect to "be a film maker", ive been at it for a while and i aint a film maker yet, know your limits, with film making like everything else, the more you do something the better you get, so my advice is dont worry about looks, just try shooting simple pieces and short flicks before attempting a big hour and a half production.
cus then when you figure out for youself stuff like "hey i can use this piece of metal and this light to make that brighter" or something and develop your own film making style in your own time and your films will be that much better for it.


and the biggest piece of advice i can give is this:

FILMING A LOT OF FOOTAGE WITH THE CAMERA AT AN ANGLE IS NOT AN "ARTISTIC SHOT".

dont do that and your allready doing things uwe boll couldnt dream of.;)

[ngm231]

thanks for the advice

[MinionZombie]

*chuckles at "the MinionZombie route"* :)

(or for easy memory use - www.deadshed.com ... speaking of which, I must update the site sometime very soon!)

Anyway, aye, Hellsing's got it spot on there. Just make a lot of little shorts, just keep coming up with ideas and trying them out. I've been making shorts for years now, but it's been the past 4 to 5 years that it's really been moving, and then since leaving Uni it's really taken over and ramped up and up and up.

Each new short I do I look to improve all the key areas and try out new things and achieve what I'm looking for in new ways. I look to see how I can best streamline my efforts to achieve the best level of efficiency.

It's just about experimenting ... a lot.

A great thing to do is watch the films produced by your peers and analyse them, it's a useful benchmark a lot of the time and the rest of the time it shows you what other people are up to, it's inspiring.

Also, once you've made a short and you're going to do another one, review the last film you made and really, really, really critique it. Pour over it with a fine tooth comb and pinpoint all the areas you want to improve. Spot things you don't wanna do the next time. See if the pace is good - is it too short, or is it too long (it's always better to leave the viewer wanting more than wanting less).

Also - when writing, write using what you have at your disposal. If you have access to farm land with barns and out buildings and so forth - include it in the script, or perhaps hang your script around that setting. How many people can you rope in to help you out - however many it is, get them in the script (although, I like to keep my actors as low in number as possible - when making shorts at this level it helps because you don't have to synchronise a lot of people, so scheduling to film will be easier).

Then when you have your script, pour over it and try to visualise the film in your head (although when writing you'll have already visualised it to an extent in your head). But what I mean is, visualise the film and the actual process of shooting the film before you actually do it. Then you can pinpoint possible areas of difficulty and seek to avoid them.

Also - plan your shots, have an idea of how you want sequences to look - it helps to have a look around the area where you're filming first, but sometimes it's not always possible. For "I Am Zombie Man 2" (trailer now available) it was a mix of both - knowing the area and not knowing a new area.

In the case of not knowing an area, it helps to have a visual instinct - the ability to process your surroundings quickly and pick out visually interesting aspects for your framing compositions.

That last point there is helped by making documentaries (of any style), because it helps you identify shots which would look great in a very short space of time. I did this at Uni and then especially in the first half of this year when making short films/documentaries for BBC Local TV.

I'll shut up now, but just a list of tips off the top of my noggin' ... and there's nothing wrong with the odd "dutch angle" if it suits the script and visual theme of the film. :)

[Excessium]

Get the movie "El Mariachi". Just as point of reference for what can be done with NO budget. The movie did cost him $7000 to make, but 95% of that money was for 16mm film. He also has his multiple award winning short film, "Bedhead" included on the dvd. Just to point this out-this was his 1st feature film. He actually had no idea how to write to a feature film's length, so he wrote 3 short stories and merged them into 1. Also his book is a good read. It shows the things he used to pull off dolly shots(a wheel chair), crane shots( a ladder).

Like I said, It's a good movie to watch as reference.

[ngm231]

will do

[Mutineer]

Forget about the camera and the resolution and that jazz

Learn too tell a story through framing and editing. A film like Pieces of April or Open Water were shot on PD-150's and VX2000's and look at what they have accomplished

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Capturing proper sound is going to be a trick with your camera; but perhaps in post will you be able to tweak that up a bit. Poor audio in a film will sink your prject really quick

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Consider this the first step in your film career ! Now get out there and start learning how to shoot !