My magliner cart. It was the first piece of gear I ever bought and it is the only thing I've kept all these years and use nearly every day. Having a CAREER is about longevity and this business will take a toll on you physically. Cases can be quite heavy so anything you can do to NOT carry more than you have to will be worth every dollar spent.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

Somehow, I have a feeling that our OP wasn't looking for (or expecting) that kind of an answer...

To be honest if he is expecting an answer then why is he asking the question?

In my experience I think most people tend to spend so much time focusing on the 'most important' things - such as camera, mic, etc that they forget the little things that make the job easier.

Such as a cart to transport equipment, maybe tape to fix any problems, spare batteries for any equipment and so on.

In order to answer your question, what sort of equipment do you have at the moment. Do you have lights and reflector boards?
I think a important thing to have is a decent mic setup, that means the actual mic as well as a decent boom and wind shield.

Often people disregard audio but bad audio is worse then bad picture IMO. It screams amateur production.

Rob - UK

quote:

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Originally posted by robmanu7To be honest if he is expecting an answer then why is he asking the question?

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What I meant was, the answer she was likely expecting was in the area of the substantive gear, rather than miscellaneous stuff.

For decades, I used to be a musician in a band. One of the first, and probably most used pieces of my gear was a rack-mount case that held my mixer, amp, equaliser, MIDI sound module, digital multi-effects processor and wireless mic receivers. All was hooked up in the back to the mixer and allowed for easy transportation. I don't think it would be in my answer though (I would probably say, Kawai KC20 portable keyboard, as it allowed me to move around the stage).

If you look at the original question, it even suggests answers (mics, lenses, tripods...), in other words, the stuff which you really need to make better movies.

For professionals who do this every day for a living, 'most important' often tends to be stuff that reduces the time spent doing non-creative or labour-intensive stuff. For beginners, amateurs and independent filmmakers, every hard-earned penny tends to be spent on stuff that will be visible (or audible) on their film. I have a feeling our OP was looking for that.

And I completely agree about your statement regarding audio. Mics are so cheap these days, and even the cheapest mic on a pole will sound infinitely better than any built-in camcorder mic. Not to mention that once you introduce a mic on a boom pole, you are also introducing a boom pole operator, and suddenly, your little production begins to look like a real movie shoot...

I disagree that things that are "offscreen" that aren't "creative" are not substantive.

Saving time and energy DOES translate to what is seen on the screen. Let's say two identical vans holding two identical sets of gear pull up to a location. One van is emptied by hand and all the gear is hand-carried across the street, one heavy case at a time.

The other van has a cart or two. The cases are placed on the cart(s) and wheeled to location.

In the latter situation, that crew is ready to shoot a good ten to twenty minutes before the former. No big deal? What's twenty minutes? That's easily at least one setup and quite possibly, the difference between getting a shot that perhaps depends upon something like the sun's position and not getting it.

And, there is labor and energy to take into account. In the former example, your crew has now done twice (at least) as much work as the latter crew which means that group A will tire earlier in the day than group B, which again, translates not only in the quantity of shots you can get, but quite possibly the quality.

It's the little things that make a difference.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

Brian, I wasn't trying to disagree with you; it just seemed to me that, having worked professionally in your field, you consider all that gear a given, and what means more is making your work day easier. Just like in my example, where the big rack-mount case consolidated a lot of my gear in one single box, not to mention eliminated 20 minutes of hooking up some 35 different cables; in the early years, none of that bothered me, but later on, that one piece of gear ended up about the most appreciated of all. It didn't add ANYTHING tangible to the ultimate quality of my (or anyone else's) performance at gigs, but it saved us time, letting me leave for gig 20 minutes later, and arrive home 20 minutes earlier. However, if I were asked the same question as above, my answer would have been that keyboard that finally let me move around the stage with the rest of the band (minus the drummer, of course). Even though it was a cheap instrument with limited features (compared to my other keyboards), with a wireless transmitter, it significantly improved our collective performance -- it raised the 'production value' of our band.

quote:

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Originally posted by Vasic

Brian, I wasn't trying to disagree with you; it just seemed to me that, having worked professionally in your field, you consider all that gear a given, and what means more is making your work day easier. Just like in my example, where the big rack-mount case consolidated a lot of my gear in one single box, not to mention eliminated 20 minutes of hooking up some 35 different cables; in the early years, none of that bothered me, but later on, that one piece of gear ended up about the most appreciated of all. It didn't add ANYTHING tangible to the ultimate quality of my (or anyone else's) performance at gigs, but it saved us time, letting me leave for gig 20 minutes later, and arrive home 20 minutes earlier. However, if I were asked the same question as above, my answer would have been that keyboard that finally let me move around the stage with the rest of the band (minus the drummer, of course). Even though it was a cheap instrument with limited features (compared to my other keyboards), with a wireless transmitter, it significantly improved our collective performance -- it raised the 'production value' of our band.

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I get what you're saying, but I still disagree that making the LABOR and LOGISTICS easier has nothing to do with the ultimate quality of the work for the day. I contend that it has EVERYTHING to do with it. Simple things like contractual turnarounds (the amount of time between wrap and when the next calltime can be) has immense amounts of impact on the quality of work that an Actor or crewmember ultimately turns out.

So too are the little things... labor saving devices like carts... that not only save energy, but make work go faster. A production day is finite either because of budget or daylight (day or night exteriors). A production with fifteen setups on the call sheet requires that a crew work as fast as possible or else they'll never make the day. So, as silly and intangible as a Magliner might sound, there is a reason that nearly ALL professional crew departments transport their gear on carts from the trucks to location. Hand carrying is just too time consuming and labor intensive when it doesn't have to be. And that directly impacts how many shots a production can achieve during the day and the quality of those shots.

I know that it's sexy to always think about the cool hardware involved in movie-making, like cameras and lights, but the simple things are just as important to getting all those shots done and done well. Camera technology is changing all the time, but the wheel (connected to metal that can carry large loads) is pretty basic and very useful to increase productivity.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

I have a feeling that we have lost the OP from this thread...

quote:

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Originally posted by Vasic

I have a feeling that we have lost the OP from this thread...

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haha i agree. I think all he wanted was a simple answer!
So... The ONE piece of equipment that I'm glad I invested in is:

a solid tripod

... and a reflector board

also a decent editing monitor... and a high quality shotgun mic

I'm sorry I just cant narrow it down!

Rob - UK

I wasn't looking for a specific answer...I actually gave examples - the first that popped into my head. I would never have thought of a cart actually but it would be something you never thought you would spend money on for the job...I wouldn't anyway...I wouldn't say 'I need to buy a cart to make a movie work better' however it does play a role (no pun).

Okay now a reflector board was something I forgot about! Gosh that darn light! Did you buy one or just try to use a white posterboard? Something you can just toss into the back of your car.

My big investment that I didn't think I would spend money on was a fair set of headsets...I paid 100 dollars for it...now if you told me that I would have spent that much on a headset I would have laughed at idea...because I would have been thinking - what is the difference between a 10 head set and a 100 headset? Well I guess hearing and judging audio would be the answer.

Anyway...thats me for now. Don't know if I will ever need a handtruck to tote anything around but I would say if I got to that point I would be doing rather well for myself in the business.

Now a portable keyboard would be something I would truly love to have but in truth I have no talent for music...in truth...0%...I wish I did and I wish I could create my own song without infriging on someone elses song...but I don't think I can (not now anyway).