Ok, I know you've probably heard it (and answered it) before, but if you could just forgive me for a moment and give me some pointers that would be greatly appreciated.
A friend and I are going to...gasp...MAKE A MOVIE!!! We've been talking about collaborating on a low budget horror film for over a decade now (our plans were stalled when I took time out to have a family - a wife, a mortgage, four kids, two dogs, and a vasectomy later we've come back to the horror film). We have a completed script and are in the process of storyboarding it now. Back then, super 8 and super 16 seemed the way to go but now we are in the digital age and every bit of our research seems to have pointed us in the direction of digital. We have scrounged together $2k to buy a suitable camera. We plan on purchasing a boom mic and some studio lights from a friend at cost, but we are in need of a good camera. We are really looking for a 3 CCD camera that will shoot well in low light situations, has manual iris, white balance, fstop, zebra pattern, etc., as well as a camera that can shoot in 24p and 30p and 16:9 native. We are also looking for something that has built in XLR inputs. I'm not sure if HD is absolutely neccesary, but I guess it can't hurt either. In general, we're looking for a prosumer camera that was manafactured with filmmaking in mind.
Now, I know nothing like this can likely be bought at retail for under $2k, but there's always Ebay :?) and we are both very dilligent Ebayers.
Now don't get me wrong. We have NO illusions of being the next John Carpenter or Tobe Hooper and are not expecting to enter this film into a festival. We are just looking to make a movie our way and have fun with it. If it's as much fun as we believe it will be, we'll make another, and then maybe another. Who knows, but we will require a solid camera that will do the job for several years to come.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I made a comment on your other post:
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10097
As for the best "under 2K" camera, I'll leave that to someone else.
www.midnightsunent.com
www.midnightsunent.com
I also read your other post, but I'd like to answer here:
Shooting on 16mm will without a doubt look more "film-like" than if you shoot on HD-video-- unless you were to go for shooting on RED, which is expensive.
That said, it doesn't sound like you really want to go in this direction, as costs would be prohibitive. (You would have to buy the film stock and develop it, which will probably cost about 180 dollars for 10 minutes, if you get a good deal. Then there's the video transfer to edit, etc).
Why don't you consider a DSLR camera? They shoot HD-video that looks very good, and does well in low-light situations.
I would also look into the possibility of renting some of your gear, rather than buying- especially in regards to your lights, which you might be able to get a deal on.
On my latest film, I Arri lighting gave me a 10k generator, a 4.5k hmi, a 2.5k hmi, and two 800w dedos, plus a load of screens, flags, etc, for 600 dollars for four days rental. Now, that's a lot of gear that you won't need (I was shooting on celluloid, so I needed it). Just go into some of these rental houses and tell them straight up-- you're very independent, and you just need this for a few days, you have XXX money, can they cut you a deal? Most of them will be glad to help, if they can. (This does, however, mean you have to plan out very specifically when you will shoot what).
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www.mazinpower.com
Read my Production Blog!
www.mazinpower.com
quote:
Originally posted by mazin_power
Shooting on 16mm will without a doubt look more "film-like" than if you shoot on HD-video-- unless you were to go for shooting on RED, which is expensive.
Though the Scarlet is supposed to be out in a few months, which would reduce the cost of a basic Red camera to around $4k; then again, it's been supposed to be out in a few months for the last year or two :).
