Hey, I'm very new to all of this. I've recently realized that my passions for music, writing, and storytelling are all wrapped up in one medium... film. I don't know why the realization never struck me so hard until now, but I have to tell you, I am so happy to finally know what I want to do in life. I don't even have a camera yet, but I plan on working my ass off for the next year to save up for a good camera (I'm thinking Canon XL2 because of the interchangeable lenses as well as the manual controls - feel free to tell me if it's actually worth the money or not), and a high end computer to do my editing on.
What's the point, you ask? I live in Canada, and I have heard that there are government grants you can get for film making here. I'm just curious if anyone else on these forums has used such grants, and if so, how do you go about getting one. Also, I live in a relatively small city, and I can't say that I have a whole host of film making friends, so if there are any fellow Canadian film makers here feel free to email me (should be listed on my profile). Thanks a lot! (and sorry for the lengthy post)
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
Welcome to the world of filmmaking and filmmaking.net!
You'll get a lot of different advice on cameras here. Each owner is happy with their choice and will champion their cameras excellence.
I'm not a fan of the Canon cameras. Doesn't mean they aren't fine cameras. I don't like the control interface or the stock lens among other things. I like the JVC pro cameras. The DV5000 and the new HD100U. Great stock lens (Fujinon) and truly professional manual controls.
There are Panasonic ans Sony useres here who love their cameras. I'm sure they'll chime in. I've use all of them and choose JVC. My advice: get what you can afford and start making movies!
Check these threads:
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4527
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4479
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4183
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4555
http://www.filmmaking.net/fnetforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4586
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Ah, lies! The Canon website said they were the only dv cams with interchangeable lenses. Rotten liars. I checked out the HD100U on froogle.com and it looks like I could get it for just an extra thousand dollars, when compared to the XL2. I was also considering the Canon because they provided a hard disk based solution, as well as tape... and, it would appear, so does JVC. That, my friend, is wonderful. This camera also records in High Definition (correct me if I'm wrong) whereas, as far as I know, the XL2 does not. I can't, however, find out the light rating on this one. Apparently, the other camera you mentioned has a light rating of .4 lux I think. Anyway, I appreciate the opinion, because this definitely looks much better (although a bit more expensive) than the Canon cameras. And I presume there are widescreen anamorphic lenses available for the unit. I wish I didn't have to work today... I could just sit here and read about it for hours.
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
Hey Word,
I'm a Canadian filmmaker myself. I've applied for and received the kinds of grants you're talking about. Ironically enough, I believe that in many respects the Canadian grant system actually hurts our ability to make films up here. US filmmakers reading this (I grew up in the States and got my first paying film gigs there) will say "what?! but it's like free money to make movies!" Yes, but only for certain people and for certain kinds of films, and it's a huge waiting process and all kinds of things I could go into forever.
If you want to know more, email me privately and I can make some suggestions.
If you want to make movies, MAKE MOVIES. Shoot RIGHT NOW. Depending on your age, sometimes it makes sense to go out there and get a job on set and learn some things that way, but don't let that turn into a full time thing where you end up never making your own. I work full time in the industry now (as a lighting tech) and it's very hard for me to break away and do my own stuff.
Hal - I'm a US filmmaker who agrees with you. I've talked and corresponded with many filmmakers in Canada and the UK. It seems that since the government often pays for movie production and offers a lot of grants, individuals are less likely to invest. Here we have few government grants and the private and corporate grants are hard to come by. But there are a lot of individuals and groups that invest in movies.
Word - the JVC records HDV which is very different than HD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV
The only under $8,000 camera that records HD is is the Panasonic HVX200 and it records DVCPRO50 HD to P2 cards which are very expensive. I have some major issues with that camera, but many people like it.
Since you are just starting out, and the technology is changing rapidly my suggestion is to start with SD. You'll find the post production easier and you can get a great image with proper lighting and color correction. I recently had a movie I shot in SD with the JVC DV5000 shown at the famous Chinese theater - it looked pretty good.
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
It's also arguable as to whether the HVX200 really records HD anyway, given it has small CCDs and a lower resolution than the HDV cameras. Not much point worrying about the compression format if the data isn't there in the first place.
Hey Certified,
I know that HDV differs in that it compresses data differently, but it's still true that it looks much better than standard definition, at least from the screenshots that I've seen. I'm not too worried about that, and the computer system I intend to build won't have a problem with handling the editing. I've done research into just about every higher end consumer/prosumer camera that I can find, and the HD100U which you suggested to me seems to be the best choice for what I want. There may be something better out there by the time I do get the money rounded up, and if so, I'll check into that. But for now, the JVC is the main contender.
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
Well, I really like that camera. If HDV is good for you and your projects then go for it. I have found the JVC codec better than Canon - after all JVC developed it - but I have had trouble doing color correction with HDV even using da Vnci on a very powerful system. More trouble than with SD. Each person is going to shoot what's best for them.
On a side note: I saw Inland Empire last night (Nov 6) in Hollywood on the Cinerama Dome's 86 foot screen. It was shot in SD on the Sony PD-150 and transferred to 35mm - it looked great.
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
If you don't mind me asking, what are the specs on the computer you're using when you edit HDV? I'm just curious as to what kind of beast I'm going to have to put together to do my editing. Also, the reason that I like the JVC and the idea of HDV is because I can shoot in either SD, or in HDV (which I believe all HDV cameras do). So even if I start off shooting SD, I still have the option of upping the resolution for certain projects, or even as computer systems get more and more powerful and can handle the load easier.
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
quote:
If you don't mind me asking, what are the specs on the computer you're using when you edit HDV?
P4-3.06/hyperthreading, 1GB RAM, Avid Xpress Pro.
Do you think I'll have problems editing HDV with a dual core 3Ghz, with 4GB of RAM? And I'm hoping to have about a terabyte of hard drive space to go along with it lol. And do you prefer Avid over Adobe Premiere Pro? Sorry for all these questions lol.
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
Doubt you'll have a problem on a system that's twice as fast as mine :). One of the benefits of Avid is that it edits MPEG-2 natively, whereas I believe Premiere converts HDV to its own codec, which eats up a lot more disk space.
As for space, it depends on what you're editing; I have about a terabyte and have to keep deleting old projects to make room.
I use an off the shelf 20" iMac with an extra 1.5GB of RAM running Final Cut 5. I use a 300GB external drive for each feature which so far has been enough. In my experience the problems editing HDV isn't the power of the system, it's the mpeg-2 compression. Screen shots look great, right out of the camera it looks great, but as soon as I start manipulating the image (contrast, gamma, color) the highly compressed image shows too much artifacting.
Sounds like Avid is the answer to HDV. But I hear FCP will use mpeg-2 natively in the next version.
Mark - have you had any trouble in color correction when using Avid and HDV?
=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
This is amazing. You guys are awesome. Another question here... Does Avid give me the ability to mix in surround sound as well? I know that Premiere does allow this, but couldn't find that info on the Avid site. This is turning into a Post Production issue lol. Anyway, do you do your editing from an external drive, or do you edit on an internal first and then move it to the external. I figured that the speed transfers of an external drive would cause problems in the editing process. Also, will I require any separate software aside from Avid to mix the audio, or is it all done in the one program? I really appreciate the help, guys.
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
'In the life that man creates for himself, he too, creates his demise... and his legacy.'
No, Avid is stereo only. External drives are fine for DV, so should be for HDV.
quote:
Mark - have you had any trouble in color correction when using Avid and HDV?
Only with large areas of solid color (e.g. white walls). I think the MPEG-2 compression is throwing away most of the detail so you get a lot of banding if you try to push the grading much in those areas.
