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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Discussion of...     General Chat  ›  Gear and software for indie filmmaking?? Moderators: bert
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  Author    Gear and software for indie filmmaking??  (currently 2933 views)
wonkavite
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 1:52pm Report to Moderator
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Hey - throwing out a question for those Simply Scripters who have taken the plunge to make their own films:

1) What hardware do you consider essential/recommend?  IE: camera, mike, etc...
2) What video editing software do you prefer: FCP, Avid, Premiere... and why? (And what hardware do you run it on?)

I'm sure there's a major learning curve on all of this.  But still - a primer from those who have already learned the hard way would be absolutely fab!


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Heretic
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 2:50pm Report to Moderator
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Heya Janet,

1. Camera kit, audio kit, lighting kit.

The camera is heavily dependent on your specific needs, and of course, the budget. In terms of DSLRs, Nikon seems to be the frontrunner at the moment, but there's lots that's good about Canon, too. This seems like a pretty helpful primer for thinking about cameras: http://dslrvideoshooter.com/best-dslr-for-video/

One important thing in the above article that's mentioned, but barely, is the focus assist. DSLRs still aren't all that friendly towards the basic mechanics of film, and both the zoom ring and the focus ring are still obviously intended for still photography. So if you want to be doing tricky focus pulls or zooms, some sort of assist will be more or less necessary for that. Our rig on Truth had both a focus and zoom assist, and we never could have pulled off some of the follows and zooms that we did if it weren't for that.

Keep in mind that the lenses that you buy will also have a major effect on what you're able to achieve with any given camera. Also keep in mind that there's firmware available for certain lower-end cameras that allows them to achieve higher functionality. For example, Magic Lantern can really change the way you work with a cheaper camera like a t2i: http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki

And of course you'll want a tripod, unless you're feeling particularly 90s indie. No specific suggestion here -- the more expensive, the better, unfortunately.

Audio is even harder, haha. Again, this really depends on your needs. You're going to want to run dual-system sound, and you're going to want a nice boom, but after that it's basically a matter of researching to your specific needs. NoFilmSchool has a reasonable intro to audio: http://nofilmschool.com/dslr/audio/

Lights are important. Not necessarily professional film lights, but lights that you can use to create a dramatic effect and that are a suitable colour temperature -- lots of standard room/house/street lighting looks super ugly when you shoot it, especially if you're mixing that light with your own. Something else you'll want to think about here is diffusion and gels -- a lot of indie lighting tends to involve controlling existing light, since one isn't generally throwing up 100 foot silks and so on.

Are there equipment houses in your area? Watch for inventory dumps or going-out-of-business sales or the like. Lots of great grip and lighting stuff to be found for quite cheap, sometimes. And professional lights really are worth it if you can find them at the right price.

Other little thoughts on things that are not necessary, but very helpful (this is assuming a "real" shoot, with 12 hours days kinda thing):

Lots of extension cord. Lots of tape, all kinds. Garbage bags, a cooler, water bottles, cleaning equipment, winter gloves and work gloves, heating pads, tissues, gum.

2. Avid is the best software. Premiere is the friendliest. Final Cut Pro X is utter garbage, but 7 still holds up nicely. Either of the latter two will get you everything you need and offer a ton of flexibility, in my opinion. They are definitely demanding programs in terms of your hardware. That said, they will work on relatively "slow" computers, you'll just spend a lot of time waiting during the editing process (sadly, this will be true no matter what, though). I believe all three companies offer free trials...that's probably the best way to go.
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Heretic
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 2:54pm Report to Moderator
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…and may I also say that we eagerly anticipate your upcoming film!
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wonkavite
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 2:56pm Report to Moderator
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Hey Heretic -

Great links and info here - thanks!!  Re: equipment houses in this area.  Well, I'm NYC based.  So - I imagine so.    I'm also considering taking a course in software editing to get up to speed.  There are film schools here, of course.  And I'm not an utter newbie - I have a solid Adobe Photoshop Foundation, and way back when certified in both Maya 3d and Softimage....
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wonkavite
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 2:56pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Heretic
…and may I also say that we eagerly anticipate your upcoming film!


Whoa, Nellie!  Though - hopefully yes...  

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Heretic
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 3:02pm Report to Moderator
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Nice. If you check out trials of Premiere and FCP, I think you'll see that they're both super intuitive…if you're generally comfortable working with more complex programs like Photoshop and Maya, you might find that you slip into the workflow pretty easily, even without an editing course.

Not that a course would be bad, obviously.
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James McClung
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 3:14pm Report to Moderator
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Don't forget good catering. If you don't feed your crew well, they won't be any good to you no matter what kind of equipment you have. Not a joke.

Anyway, I won't go into specifics as I've been out of the game for a while and Chris has provided very good stuff to go on. I will mention, however, not to underestimate/skimp on audio equipment. Bad audio is one of the quickest ways to kill your film and fixing botched audio is EXTREMELY difficult.

Also, don't underestimate the importance of a good crew, especially if you're just starting out. Some of these guys have a lot of wisdom, both in terms of gear and software as well as the general filmmaking process. The human element is an integral part of filmmaking in addition to the technical.


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Toby_E
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 3:49pm Report to Moderator
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Was going to chime in, but you have already had some great advice here

If you don't have any experience in certain areas of film production, I would also highly recommend finding someone who does (Stage32 is great for that; there are some really talented people on that site willing to work for expenses and credit), as nothing screams 'amateur' worse than, for example, badly composed shots or poorly edited scenes

In the past, I've used a Canon 5D, a set of mid-range Canon lenses, a shoulder support/ rig thing for the camera (prefer that versus static, tripod shots), a mid-range Sennheiser mic and boom and then edited the footage on Premiere which, in my opinion, is vastly superior to FCP. However, it is more complex so will take a bit more time to learn.

Poor/ no colour grading can also sink a project fast, so I would recommend finding someone who is good at that. I'm OK at grading footage, but whenever I have paid a professional to grade the footage instead, I have always been a lot more satisfied with how the footage looks.

As Heretic said, there are loads of different 'hacks' that you can download to enhance the footage that you capture with DSLRs (such as Magic Lantern, which allows you to shoot 24fps), which are great.

All the best and if you have any other q's I will do my best to help


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wonkavite
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 6:11pm Report to Moderator
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Awesome - and thanks again to everyone so far.... James, Toby and Heretic!  

I'm going to bone up on the equipment details via the links supplied - cameras, audio, etc. Given my lack of experience with such things, my first gut reaction is to focus on the software editing and see what my proficiency can be - pulling in others for the rest (at least at first.)  For instance, there's a production team that'll be doing one of Phil's shorts soon.  If the end result is good (which, based on what I've seen - it will be) I'll see about recruiting them for more...  And getting more involved with that end as my comfort level improves.

**About the hardware for editing.  Say I go for a PC based system with Premiere - what should I shoot for, that doesn't break the bank but doesn't render at molasses speeds?!?  
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Toby_E
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 6:24pm Report to Moderator
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Janet, unfortunately I don't have too much experience with what components are needed to run Premiere Pro, as I edit with my friend on his ridiculously good computer (he initially purchased it for his music studio, but has since branched into film-based work as well). So because I have that at my disposal, I've never thought to look into that too much.

I will, however, ask him for you

In the meantime, this may be useful:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/878520


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wonkavite
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 8:14pm Report to Moderator
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Toby -

Thanks - no rush, but looking forward to what your friend has to say!  (I swear, I woulda checked out the Adobe requirements page too...eventually!)  (Insert embarrassed look here)
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Guest
Posted: November 29th, 2013, 8:29pm Report to Moderator
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I'm actually kind of happy we got a thread like this.  

I've been cultivating ideas for an ultra-low budget film (along the lines of Evil Dead/Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Last House on the Left) for the past couple months.

I have a location and friends willing to participate.  I just need the equipment and a screenplay.
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Toby_E
Posted: November 30th, 2013, 6:19am Report to Moderator
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It's always nice to hear that there are others wanting to get involved in the actual production side of filmmaking Have you done anything before, Reap?

(P.s. Your name change confused me to no end!)


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Guest
Posted: November 30th, 2013, 7:30am Report to Moderator
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haha, no, I haven't.
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Nomad
Posted: December 2nd, 2013, 3:43pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Guest
I'm actually kind of happy we got a thread like this.


Me too.  I'm actually going to shoot a one man short this weekend if I get the time.  

I'm using the following:

Canon t3i
GoPro Hero 3 Silver
Sony Movie Studio Platinum Suite 12
ICD-PX312 voice recorder
Cheap Radio Shack Mic and a Lav

I'm just going to shoot the footage this weekend and then work on the foley, voice over, and score as time permits.

I still need to learn about color correction/grading and sound effects, so hopefully it all doesn't turn out to be one big turd.  

Time will tell.

Jordan


Read my scripts here:
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 8pg-Drama
THE BRIDGE 8pg-Horror
SCHEISSE 6pg-Horror/Comedy
MADE FOR EACH OTHER-FILMED
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