ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 7 months ago - Shawn Miley

Im so greatful for all you advice I will surely take it all in and use it to help me out.

11 years, 7 months ago - Ned Hussain

You havent given us much information. Yes you want to make a film. What kind of film? How long? Short or Feature?

There are so many things to consider.

Your priority should be,
1) A great and polished script
2) Great cast
3)Great lighting
4) Great Sound
5) Decent Art Dept/Location

Those 5 things will help you make a great film even if you shoot on an Iphone.

11 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

As Dan says above and more, TBH. It's a really good practice to start by taking any film you like, and taking it apart shot by shot. 'Man gets up in morning, brushes teeth, has breakfast with his wife discussing the weather, goes to work' could easily be a whole day of shooting with 5 major setups and a location move, but watch how the angles/takes/shots work. Almost always a scene will be introduced with a wide shot to establish the room, where the characters are in it, etc. Then you may see the actor reach for his toothbrush, then you may get a close-up/POV on the toothbrush, then a mirror-style shot as he brushes... It's rarely a continuous shot, it's usually highly cut and edited to keep it interesting. By breaking down something into its components and working out *why* each shot is there (they're all there for a reason - with 20+ crew etc you don't take shots without reason), you might start to see how big a deal shooting a feature is, and why shorts or even experiments with 'man opens door' helping you see what is where, when and why.

Ever seen '28 Days Later'? It's a little soft in places, but was shot on DV in standard definition. I'd watch that again any time over much of the tripe that comes out each year. It's not about the camera ;-)

11 years, 7 months ago - Eric Lau

Shawn, sorry if it's blunt, but judging from the info you presented and questions you asked, you have little if any film experience at all. If you're even considering using your cell phone to make a feature length movie, then we'll have another amateur movie that junks up the internet. I'm quite supportive of freedom of speech and non-elitist in movie making. But please listen to everyone's suggestion, and reconsider making short little films first as exercise and learn some lessons before considering jumping into making your first epic that hurts everyone's eyes.

My best advise is: Read a few books, watch a lot of good films, and take a filmmaking class.

Then ask your question again.

11 years, 7 months ago - Shawn Miley

Hi everyone sorry I didn't much about what type of movie, its sort of horror / comedy. I know budget is everything to get a movie done but what about if your budget is very low, I don't want my movie to look really bad.

11 years, 7 months ago - nena eskridge

Can you elaborate on exhibition? If you use a Sony F5 or F3 can it be exhibited on a large screen without spending a fortune bumping it to another format? Guess this doesn't matter so much anymore, so few indie films release theatrically but what if you want to four wall? Won't it look terrible?

11 years, 7 months ago - Bruce M. Foster

Use the camera you can afford. Use the damera where you are not asking someone else to take the hit for your budget limitations. (Sound? Well, sine most filmmakers use Charlie Exposition and Diane Dialogue to tell their story, sound is important.) HD is not going to make the script better and will only make the makeup look worse.

11 years, 7 months ago - Adom Frempong

I agree 100% with Paddy and Ned! Get the basics they have described to you right and use any camera and you would produce a good film. No point in using an Arri or Red Epic if you don't have the basic components right.

11 years, 7 months ago - Marlom Tander

My mate the cinematographer always tells me it ain't the camera, it's the lenses, and the man who understands them. But he would say that, wouldn't he :-)

11 years, 7 months ago - Shawn Miley

Dan thank you for your answer and Bruce with yours, I know what I'm asking is totally stupid but I would like to try and make at least a decent version of my script..

11 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Shawn, it's not stupid. Just a little inexperienced is all. Dogma movement had a lot of great films that looked awful because they were shot on mini DV tape, but were still good films. People will still accept something that doesn't look great, but they won't accept something that doesn't sound great. Maybe buying a camera isn't the best choice right now. Do you have an iPad? Make a short with that just to work out your chops. Then as you get better, understand editing and sound design, then maybe invest in better equipment. Make out some exercises for yourself. Like somebody coming through a door for example. How would you shoot it for a drama? How would you shoot it for a comedy? How would you shoot it for a thriller if a killer was waiting inside? All of these examples would change camera placement, editing, and sound. How do you make something mundane cinematic?

11 years, 7 months ago - John David Clay

Shawn, It depends 5dmk2 is quite standard on DSLR front or the ml3 i you can afford that. or you can got for the F5 good mid range quality. or eX3 is very relaible does 2k 1920 x1080p @ 24/25p. depends what your exhibition platform is? Utube / vimeo? or traditional screening another alternative tis the black black camera @£ 1,300 worked on a short award nominated The Waiting Room and the quality is very crisp or moderate screen size.

Hope this is useful

best of luck with your first!

best

John

11 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

The best camera is the one you own/can afford. There's no point dreaming of an Arri Alexa when you're in Cameraphone budgets, for instance. The camera is important, but is just one part of a much bigger process, and a good script shot with a good cast but on a rubbish camera will be far more watchable and useful than a rubbish script shot on a great camera.

11 years, 7 months ago - Marlom Tander

I echo Paddy - good sound is absolutely essential, and not trivial.

As to "horror / comedy", you do realise that this is one of the hardest of genres, don't you? As Sir Humphrey would say "very brave Shawn, very brave indeed" :-)

11 years, 7 months ago - Bruce M. Foster

"Look bad"? Interesting question since it has also has hever geen easier to falsify that. Someone has to say that mere appearance isn't the standard. Will it hold up?

11 years, 7 months ago - Bruce M. Foster

Oh, and that should have been Basil Exposition and blimey charlie. Sorry.

11 years, 7 months ago - Bruce M. Foster

Check out Tarnation, an indy made with a sh-te camera. Any video format can be converted.

11 years, 6 months ago - Matt Price

You film will only look good with great quality sound, 4K video with rubbish sound is worse than your phone.

- Matt

http://soundrolling.com

11 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Then use a phone, the camera on that is excellent compared with anything available 10 years ago. Good sound is a bigger challenge. However I would question if you can afford to shoot a feature - even the simplest courtroom dramas take 30 people 3 weeks to film, plus all the post.

11 years, 7 months ago - Shawn Miley

yeah my phone has a decent enough camera on there could try it out.. Yeah maybe my movie could be a short one for now and maybe the next could aim for bigger..

11 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I'm with pretty much everybody here. The vast amount of info missing in your question says so much about where you are. Filmmaking is not about the camera. Buy yourself a lot cost HD camera, and make 10 short films first. By the time you finish them, you'll know what to ask, and it won't be about the camera.

11 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Absolutely you should start with shorts - make a good 90-second film, not a dreadful 90-minute one.