ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXDoes anyone have tips for making a short documentary on a shoostring in London?
8 years, 5 months ago - Gaia Martinelli-Bunzl
Hello everyone,
I would like to make a short documentary (self-funded and with limited budget) about a new performing artist during her London visit mid-March. The documentary is an exploration about what it's like to be starting out as an artist and how one becomes an artist and would mainly be based on interviews with her, as well as following her around London (street and interiors) and footage of her performance.
I've never made a documentary before and so am looking for tips from more seasoned people.
I have already done a shot list, and prepared questions for interviews, and location lists.
What I would love some help with is figuring out what equipment to use for filming. Does anyone have tips on good cameras / lenses I could hire?
Or alternatively, has anyone used any good filming apps on Iphones that could work?
As it would mainly be interviews and voice-over, do you think I should just use radio mics for sound recording?
Also any suggestions about a good steadycam to use?
And where can I hire all of this equipment in London?
Thank you so much,
Gaia
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8 years, 5 months ago - Athena Mandis
if you are shooting it, then it is about what equipment you would be comfortable to use. the c100 its good, but any small camera would do the trick. You need to have you subject micked, so a good radio mic is advisable, as you won't b able to boom. you can also attach a microphone to the camera as well, to make sure you have good sound. depending on your style, you may not have time to change lenses all the time, so get a standard lense. its hard to be specific as the request is general, basically - DECIDE WHAT STYLE YOU WILL SHOOT THIS IN AND BE CONSISTENT. FOR EXAMPLE, WILL YOU APPEAR IN THE FILM? will we hear your voice? go and practice first. set yourself a 1 minute film to make about anything, someone cooking, etc. this will raise some of the issues for you. you will also need to have drives to back up your material.
Response from 8 years, 5 months ago - Athena Mandis SHOW
8 years, 5 months ago - Gaia Martinelli-Bunzl
Hi Athena,
Thanks for your advice! That's really helpful! Appreciate it!
Response from 8 years, 5 months ago - Gaia Martinelli-Bunzl SHOW
8 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran
It's got to be a much bigger question than asked so far! One of the first things to know is, who is the audience and what aspirations do you have for the films distribution? If a film is worth making it's worth making well. There's little more frustrating and useless than investing time, money and energy into a production with inadequate production values.
Bottom line I would have thought is to shoot 1080 X 1920 HD at 50mbps. Notions of shooting on a telephone have been disproportionately supported because of one or two examples that had conciderable technical support to make them viable during production and post. Sound is equal in importance but can be achieved much easier than the pictures. Depending on design a great deal can be achieved with a camera mounted short shotgun mic mounted in a suspension cradle (to isolate the mic from camera handling and servo noise). Always use a tripod unless there's a good reason not to.
It sounds as if you're jumping in to this project with virtually no experience? I suppose there's always the chance that you'll be lucky. You will learn a lot, but if the outcome is important it's likely you'll need some support from someone who actually knows what they're doing. At least a little.
Response from 8 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran SHOW