Our discussion has veered a bit from the 'What camera for night scenes' question (your last sentence notwithstanding), but I don't think OP will mind much.

Brian, what you are lamenting is clearly a consequence of a globalised economy. Detroit stopped being the 'Hollywood' of auto industry a long time ago, back when Japan and Korea started making better cars for less. There is some heavy irony when Levi's jeans proclaim on their label 'an American Original' (Levi's closed up last US plant seven years ago). Apple's Macs, iPods, iPads and iPhones are all made in China (every single one of them).

So, yes, the realities are such, and you deal with them however you can. The problem, as it pertains to the passion of participants of this forum (filmmaking) is how do we pursue that passion. The simple, one word, soundbite answer is: pragmatically. As you suggested, do the one-man-crew thing to the extent needed to get what you want on film/tape/memory card, and hope to find motivated, gifted and as skilled people as possible to fill the gaps. More often than not, that would usually also mean acquiring whatever equipment you possibly can. When your primary challenge is to find competent and motivated people, the chances of finding the ones that come with decent equipment rapidly start approaching zero.

Folks outside of the 'movie world' zones (NY and LA) have very limited choices. Those outside of USA even fewer. If all someone has is $4,000, and they want to make a movie, and they are NOT in LA (nor NY), perhaps not even in the USA, how do they spend those $4,000? My choice would be DIY (Do It Yourself) for everything that can be done with simple tools (lights, dollies, stabilizers, bounce boards, flags, a clapperboard, etc.) and spend money on a camera and audio. $4,000 can only get you so far, but when choices are so limited, you do what you need to do in order to pursue your passion.

Woah! I wasn't able to check the forum for two days and I come back to find it has exploded. Love the conversation, as it touches upon the many subjects that a modern aspiring filmmaker faces as he decides to finally embark upon this unstable and many times thankless career.

There is too many points to touch upon but perhaps it is better to speak a bit more about my personal situation, as it might shed a light on some aspects of the conversation. I am based out of Miami, where there has been a slow growth of a film industry as in most other places. Although you can find scattered pockets of passionate individuals, it is not nearly to the degree of the meccas or the almost meccas of this world.

Nevertheless, this is where I begin to differ a bit from others. I was born and raised in Cuba...have a lot of family there and still visit, although I have resided in the U.S. for the past 11 years. The idea of filming something in my birthplace has always interested me, although it had never materialized, mainly due to the political situation in the island. However, last year I took a trip to the island and while there, I met with a wide array of individuals that possessed a profound passion for film making and art equivalent to my own. They were strewn about many fields, as I met actors, photographers, musicians, etc. All of them also had one thing in common, which was their desire to collectively collaborate on a project. This became my catalyst for forgoing law school and to dive back into this world, as I saw it as a golden opportunity to make something special.

Now, ideally, I would love to concentrate and develop my career in the United States, and I truly hope that is the case in the future. But, for a person like me, with no film school experience, living in Miami where there isn't an established infrastructure for film, and lacking vast amounts of money, my options are very limited. If there is one thing that Miami does have, is a connection to the Spanish speaking world, and I am hoping that this is the way with which I can at least take the first steps.

Again, I greatly appreciate this conversation, as it provides me with thoughtful opinions and it is the only platform I have found in the internet for such discussion.