I am always curious about what other indie filmmakers are up to.

Some suggestions to solve your equipment dilemma or a quick and dirty guide to no-budget filmmaking.

The whole beg, barrow, and steal thing has worked for many people. If you're in school still (or know someone who is) there might be some equipment lying around you could use. Check with local community theaters (the stage play type) as they almost always have useful things like spare gels, gaff tape, and insightful information on where to find stuff. They might even have a few XLR cables and a mic or two. Out of work, no problem, you're an American put a little on a credit card. Assuming of course you get a job soon after production wraps to pay it off.

Talks to the folks at your local cable access channel or news station, chances are good that they have a camera you can use.

There is always someone willing to lend a hand you can find through the Film and TV Board and your local IFP chapter.

Be creative. Lighting can be done well, yet very cheaply. Some ECA 3200K balanced photoflood bulbs (looks like an average bulb, fits in a regular medium base socket) will give plenty of good light. At $3.50 a bulb (online) you really can't do it any cheaper. Your local hardware store has inexpensive work lamps (thin aluminum dome reflector with switched socket and zip cord) that work well w/ these bulbs and are less then $2.00 each. While your there get some C-47s (ordinary wood cloth pins you use to hold on gels), a box of nails, and some big pieces of white tag or poster board. Businesses are always looking to get rid of broken shipping pallets. This is your chance for free wood to construct light stands. Use the roll of gaffer tape you got from the theater to secure the lights. The white cards act as mirrors for reflecting or softening light (bounce card). Bleached cardboard pizza boxes also work.

I hope this information and the links below are helpful.

http://www.ifp.org/?chapter=3
http://www.cityofchicago.org/FilmOffice/about.html
http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/film/
http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ecart/catpages0527/15286.htm
http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ecart/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=ECT

You quit your ("day") job to do this?! Wow, that's pretty bold. Hope it works out for you.

If you have a complete development package already put together, you could always petition some rich/bored doctors. Do you really BELIEVE in your project? (Of course you do). Then start pitching it to people with money. If everyone is working for free then you only need to worry about equipment. But then there is marketing/promotion/distribution costs....

See, you really DO need a budget. A proper film budget. There are a zillion books on how to prepare one. And you should pay yourself and your crew. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve; is this a pure for-fun/passion project or are you seriously trying to break in and make a name? Forget making money - you've got more chance of winning 3 lotteries in a row than of making money at this point. But you're NOT doing it for the money, right? The money will come. It's true. You need a name and a reel under your arm, right now. Concentrate on getting this done. Convince people that this is a unique chance to get in on a great oppurtunity. The paradox is, if you could call it that, that you're trying to convince people with money to help you out, based on the assumption that they will see a significant return as a reward. Since we know that 99.999% of "home made" movies (no matter how muuch effort has gone into it) DON'T make money, you'll need to convice them that just being part of the process will be rewarding enough. A movie credit! 15 minutes of fame... all that stuff.

And most importantly, this film of yours is a stepping stone on your career. Don't be disheartened when/if this film isn't snatched up like Blair Witch or El Mariachi. But you WILL learn more than you ever would in film school simply by doing it and seeing it through. Plus you'll have the bonus of a reel under your arm!

Some say I'm too harsh. Hopefully, though, I'm just giving you a light-doseage reality check... but it sounds like you're well on your way. ?8D?

Good fortune to you...
S.

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I was looking for a camera myself, as I just got done casting for a short horror film I plan to shoot in the late summer. Anyway, I ran across this:

http://amphotoworld.com/product.asp?id=psagdvc7c

It's pretty cheap, but I'm not quite sure if it's a good camera or not. I was actually about to start a topic asking for opinions on this particular camera, but I saw your post and thought I would try and kill two birds with one stone. Anyway, I'm not sure this is a good camera (I'm a newbie to this stuff) for what you're wanting to shoot, and I would also like opinions toward this model. Thanks.

edit: I just read somewhere that it pretty much sucks, but still, I'd like another look or two at it.

Get yourself a credit card or two. Then make sure to buy a 24p camera. When the film is finished, get your job back so you can pay off your credit card bills until you sell your movie...which you'll only be able to do by winning a festival or two.

Best wishes

Make films to enhance the world http://www.lightmasters.net

I'm not sure I'd bother with a 24p camera myself: if you can afford to shoot anything other than NTSC DV then you can probably afford to shoot 16mm film if you bargain well.

As for distribution, even if you can't sell the film to a distributor, self-distribution is possible over the web if the movie is worth watching and you're a good publicist. Make up some DVDs, put up a web site, get the word out however you can and hope you sell enough to cover your costs so you can make your next movie.

Well... It's never too late to say thank you. 🙂 Thank you all for the advice. I ended up shooting the film with a digital 8 camera and tweaking the look of the picture with a post production program. 🙂 The final film came out kind of nice. I would love to share it with you all, but it's 22 minutes, and I don't have a host for such a large video. To make ends meet, I returned to my roots - freelance photography. All has been well.

I'm really sorry for not responding sooner. 🙁

Thank you all again,
Tony

Glad it helped :).

if you want to post it, you could host it on a website like zed.cbc.ca

it's a canadian website run by the CBC that lets you have up to 200meg to host short films.

www.maketradefair.com
www.thehungersite.com
www.oxfam.ca