First off I'd like to say welcome to the film making scene.

I'll try and answer a few of your questions and let some others have a turn with the rest (I don't want to be greedy).

The quality of your picture is going to depend largely on your lighting. Good lighting will help create good picture. (A good camera helps to but we all understand that you have to work with what you have).

I don't really know what types of shots your doing so I really can't say what kind of equipment your going to need. If you stick with pretty basic camera movements then you're going to need a tripod and practice. Practice is your most important tool right now. Trial and fail till you A)figure it out B)run out of ways to try.

I personally use Premiere Pro 1.5 to edit. The program is expensive and you may want to download a trial version to see if you would be up to paying for the real thing. Others like Final Cut or Avid. Seeing as this is your first project you may want to get a copy of some free video software to see if you enjoy this kind of thing.

--QD Jones

Thanks for the help!

To add. The scenes will be mostly outdoors and in a small cave involving chases and some combat sequences. Id like to have good angles on the action as well.

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1) We have a digital camcorder, it is a farely good one. But how good of quality can i expect out of a digital camera? Will I be able to make it into a dvd?

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As Knotty said, lighting is more important than the camera. With some care you can get a very good picture out of a digital camera.

Yes. You will be able to make it into a DVD

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2) What tools will I need to make the movie good looking and good sounding? Railed camera mounters and stuff like that?

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Good lighting and a good microphone will go a long way to making your movie look and sound good. A good tripod is essential.

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Are there any particular programs for editing that will help enhance the quality of the project? what programs can i use to add sound effects/and visual effects?

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Final Cut Pro is a good program, but you really can't rely on an editing program to enhance the quality. If you don't shoot a quality image there isn't much you can do later. Sound effects can be added using Final Cut.

Most people use After Effects to add visual effects.

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3) Anything to get me started, like working with camera. Where are the best places to find how to make/buy/rent props.

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Working with the camera is best learned by working with the camera. Messageboard suggestions can only go so far - there is nothing better than taking the camera out and working with it.

The "best" place to buy or rent props? Are you sure you need the "best" place? You say you have a limited budget - maybe it's cheaper to rent or buy props close to where you live. The "best" places are going to be in the big production areas: Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago.

In my opinion the very best place to rent props is Omega Cinema Props and The Hand Prop Room. But they aren't cheap.

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4) What would be the easiest way to do firearms that is not expensive?

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Actual firearms that shoot? Or props that don't fire?

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

well i would like to know which is better..blank firing guns or using gas blowback airsoft pistols and then dubbing in flash and gunshot sounds.

also were can i buy things such as microphones you can hang over the shot and lighting stuff.

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Originally posted by smythej

well i would like to know which is better..blank firing guns or using gas blowback airsoft pistols and then dubbing in flash and gunshot sounds.

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Neither is better. They are just different. I know that's not what you want to hear, but even with blanks you're going to have to dub in the sound, and veru often the flash isn't exactly as you want it to be.

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also were can i buy things such as microphones you can hang over the shot and lighting stuff.

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Just to clarify: Some people are confused about a "boom mic". The "boom" is a piece of equipment - most often a pole of some kind - that the microphone is attached to.

What you're looking for is a good shotgun mic. That in itself is a generic term that means any long barreled mic. You want a good condenser (externally powered) mic with a ?lobar? pick up pattern to put on your boom pole. Lobar pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick up to a narrow area. This is why you want to use a boom pole to get the mic as close the the actor as possible - you?ll get clean dialogue tracks with less ambient noise.

There are three main suppliers of shotgun mics:
?url? http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/?/url?
Sennheiser is the mic most used by professional sound recordists. They are expensive and worth it. Check out the ME-66 and the ME-67.
?url? http://www.audio-technica.com/?/url?
Audio-Technica makes great mic?s and they?re cheaper. Check out the AT835b.
?url? http://www.azdencorp.com/?/url?
I?ve never used Azden mic?s. They?re inexpensive but I?ve don?t hear too many good things about them.

A good mic is an investment. It will last longer than your camera - why skimp?

The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher the volume needs to be. The higher the volume, the more ?noise? you get. Your goal is to have a very high signal to noise ratio - more signal (the dialogue) less noise (the background). Even a very good, expensive Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up a lot of background ambiance because it?s far away from the actors.

So you need a boom pole. This can be as simple as a painters pole with a microphone shock mount on it - or a 3 or 4 section, expandable Carbon Fiber, Graphite Fiber or Aluminum boom pole. The lighter the pole the better. Expandable is also very convenient. A pole that?s a fixed six or eight feet (painters pole) can pose problems if you?re shooting in a small space like a bathroom or small apartment or if the boom operator needs to be twelve to fifteen feet away to be out the the lights.

A good Graphite, five section boom will be light, range from two feet to nine feet and cost $500 or so. A pro boom-op will invest in a good pole. No need to spend that kind of money if you?re making one or two shorts a year.

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

if you can get your hands on something that lets you do smooth tracking shots. If you can find a wheel chais that would work fine. Or if you want you can try to build a dolly. But because you are just starting out i would suggest sticking to hand held and tripod shots.

As for the firearms, i always will suggest a blank firing gun over an airsoft gun. Having said that i started out using airsoft becuase its so much cheaper. A blank firing gun can be about $300 dollars. That just the gun, blank ammo is expensive as well. So i would suggest starting with airsoft. Airsoft gun work fine and look great on screen.

All the certified gave you are 100% great. Good luck.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick