hate to break it to but your not going to find a good shotgun mic for under $100. As far as I know you would be lucky to find any mic for under $100. Sorry, but you should be able to find one for like $125-$150.

as for the swords, i would spray paint them.

"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

In the future if you feel like useing swords you can pick up crates of them on ebay for about $50. I got a crate of 50 samurai swords from a dealer for $75. They may be cheap, but they serve their purpose.

something wicked this way comes...

On one film I worked, I needed a Celtic knife and the director wanted some runes on the blade. I took a wooden knife and sanded down the blade so it was slimmer. Then I coated the blade with a layer of polymer clay (I think I used Sculpey 3, but you can use FIMO if you want) and stamped the runes into it.

I baked the knife (make sure that you use a hardwood that doesn?t burst into flames during baking ;-)) to set the clay. After sanding the blade to make it look smooth, I used Silver Leaf color of Rub ?n Buff to make the blade silver. I got Rub ?n Buff at my local craft store, but I did a quick search and found it online here:

http://www.bigceramicstore.com/Supplies/NonFiredCoatings/RubnBuff.htm

The knife looked fantastic and got all sorts of compliments from cast and crew! I had to keep a sharp eye on the knife because everyone wanted to play with it. I don?t know how it would hold up for fighting, but it would probably be worth a test.

Hope this helps.

Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"
Free scripts, templates, film glossary, and know-how,
check out: http://www.cvisual.com

quote:

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Originally posted by robi8886

hate to break it to but your not going to find a good shotgun mic for under $100. As far as I know you would be lucky to find any mic for under $100. Sorry, but you should be able to find one for like $125-$150.

as for the swords, i would spray paint them.

"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

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Not even a second hand one found at a pawn shop or Ebay?
I'm definently not talking about a new one. Also, is there some stuff or specs to tell if a mic is good or not?

Thanks for the advice everybody on the swords.

you might be able to find one a ebay. Ive never searched ebay for mics but thing tend to be cheaper on ebay. Still, a mic for under $100 might not be worth it. If they are selling a used shotgun mic for under $100 then you should really question how well it works. But then again on ebay anything is possible. Good luck.

Usually i find that mics is one of the few products that tend to be better quality as the price increases (generally). I'm not a sound guy so i dont know alot about the technical specs. sorry.

"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

rode have quite a good reputation for cheapish microphones and they do this shotgun one - http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/RD-NTG-1 .Its really a case of where you put the microhone more than what kind of microphone to use. For example if you have a mic that pics up every detail you might get a lot of unwanted sound like traffic, so its more important to chose a good location to film in. Hope this helps.

Adrian

Sound Designer