Well if you are planning on selling your film then there are alot of legal issues. I'm not sure what the law is, but think that without to rights to music, you can only use like thirty seconds of it. Also if you make Fan films like I do, which are films about other movies or concepts then you can't sell them either without rights to them. So, you have to make sure that your work is original and all legal. You should try doing a google search for rules and regulations. Then, when you are ready to show off your work, you can join a film website or some type of media site that will allow you to upload your work. Artuproar.com allows you to upload and sell your films and any other type of art. Or, you may decide to be like us later and make films for the pure fun of it, then you can do what ever you want. Either way let me know when you are finished I would love to promote your film on my website.

White Tiger Films

Hello,

I wish you luck on your film. I would never say wait until you have the right equipment to begin, but you say you're going to do it with 8mm instead of MiniDV. Make sure you answer this question before you start: How are you going to edit your film?

MiniDV has the huge advantage of being able to dump into a computer and edit with Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, or any number of simpler packages. Without MiniDV, you'll have to get some digitizer card (most of the low end cards are horrible) for about $100 and then load in your footage and then edit. That $100 could go toward a MiniDV camcorder.

I would recommend that you shoot test footage with your Handy-cam, but then put together the money and get a MiniDV for your actual shoot. I saw at Target the other day they had a Samsung MiniDV for around $240. I have no idea the quality, but it's pretty amazing you can get in that cheap. I would think you'd save yourself many headaches that way.

Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"
http://www.cvisual.com

nodoze - the first thing you need to consider when you offer your movie for sale is, ?Is it sellable??

Sounds deceptively simple. But it?s very important. You need to take a step back from your own enthusiasm and look at you movie from an outsiders perspective. Someone who doesn?t know you - someone who has never heard of you or the actors in your movie.

Then take a look at the movies you buy, rent and see in the theaters. How many short film have you bought? How many short films do you rent each month? Since you?re a filmmaker who is interested in making short films you probably buy or rent more than the average person.

So the next thing you need to do is ask your friends. Not the ones into filmmaking, but the average movie renter/goer. Ask them how many short films they see (buy or rent) in a month. AND (very important) what short films they like.

This will give you a good idea of your market.

Distribution: I suggest starting with your collection and/or rental store. Check the box on the short film collections you own (or rent) for the name of the distribution company.

Also, remember the name of the short films you see at festivals or in the theater and look them up on IMDb. Sometimes the distribution company is listed.

Some of the PBS and cable stations show short films. You might want to call your local stations and ask who they buy the license from.

quote:

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Originally posted by nodoze
we're trying to keep the budget under $100, so we're using my sony 8mm handi-cam, cant remember the model number off the top of my head.

i have 2 questions, first, do you guys think we can get any kind of watchable quality out of 8mm? i keep reading on sites like this about DV, and we would like to upgrade to that eventually, but it is out of the question at this time.

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First, if you could take a sec and check out the model of the camera there are some very knowledgeable people on the boards who can tell you a lot of info.

More important than visual quality is a good story, good acting, great lighting and perfect sound. If your movie has all of these things shooting on 8mm won't be such a big deal. But yes, I know you can get a watchable quality using a Sony 8mm. Good lighting is the key.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

hey guys, thanks for the replies.

first off, we will be shooting with a sony ccd-tr818 handycam. i shot some footage of my son's birth on it, and edited it with a video capture card, which doesnt work anymore.

as far as editing, i've bought one of those "video-to-dvd" transfer kits. it comes with a little box that converts RCA jacks to USB. it also has some editing software with it, but i dont know if we're gonna use it or not.

the only ideas we've had for distribution so far have been to sell our friends and family a burnt cd or dvd for about $2-3 dollars apiece. we dont have any delusions of granduer, lol we just want to make our $100 budget back. if we could get enough, we will most deffinetly get a DV camera. I like the idea of tryin to get it on PBS tho, i hadn't thought of that.

so far, the movie hasnt felt like it needed any music, we hope to make a fairly claustrephobic(sp) movie, and it would seem that music would get in the way. if we need any music tho, the other guy whos doing this with me, his father in law can write some stuff.

also, one more question, because the sound quality sucks on the handycam, we are thinking about redubbing the whole things when done, what are some techniques for that? there will be just a small bit of dialouge and a few sound effects. would i need a dedicated sound editor, or would the movie editing software be enough?

again, thanks for the help guys, when we get it finished, i will deffinetly post it somewhere so you guys can see it.

thecampfireproject.com
wakeup.to/nodoze
kscx.blogspot.com