Anyone who is a regular visitor to us here at the DOJO knows that I absolutely love buying new toys and gadgets for my indie filmmaking toolkit. And I really enjoy getting to try out the gear I know other guerilla filmmakers are dying to find out about without having to risk their own money buying it. That’s right, I spend my money so you don’t have to!
One item in particular that I have been eyeballing for years now (ever since we shot “Bite Me, Fanboy” back in 2001) is a motorized pan and tilt head. The Bescor MP-101 motorized pan & tilt head to be precise. I’ve seen this thing pop up in ads everywhere — from DV Magazine to Indie Slate to ads online. The bummer for me was that I never really had a reason to go out and buy one because I didn’t have my own boom/jib set up. And, in spite of what my wife says, I don’t normally go out and spend $120 for no reason! Full Story →
I spend a lot of time at my local Barnes & Noble. Way too much time and, if my credit card statements are any indication, way, way too much money. I wish there were a “frequent flyer” equivilent at B&N because, if there were, I’d have racked up 10,000 miles this year alone!
One section of the bookstore I frequent with an almost religious regularity is the Film/TV/Media section. At my B&N it is located right behind the Science Fiction and Graphic Novel Section, which makes it very convenient for this comic book-television-film nerd. An entire section of a store dedicated to not getting laid? I’m there!
As am indie filmmaker who has been around for a while now, one of the books that has kept popping up on my radar was “From Reel to Deal: Everything You Need to Create a Successful Independent Film” by Dov S-S Simens. If you’ve been online and seen ads or the websites for the “Web Film School” or “2-Day Film School” then you are probably already familiar with Simens. He’s the “Billy Mays” of the film instruction scene — very used-car salesman, fast talking and lots of repetition.
The back cover of From Reel to Deal begins the infomercial sales pitch for the book (and is a nice lead in for Simens’ film school and DVDs as well) and proclaims to the world that the author is a reknowned film producer (of the “independent classics” “Flex” and “Final Hour,” both of which “actually made money”) and has launched the careers of industry pros like “Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Chris Nolan and Baz Luhrmann.”
Wow, with a build up like that, I figured the insides of the 422-page book must be an incredible fount of knowledge and information. I was excited to get started and placed “From Reel to Deal” at the top of my “bathroom read” pile. Truth-be-told, I spend even more time in my bathroom than I do at Barnes & Noble. Well, a week and twelve bathroom reading sessions later, I’ve read Dov S-S Simens’ “From Reel to Deal” and wanted to talk about in here at the FilmSensei.com. Full Story →
First off, I’ve been a bit lax in my posting this week due to a rather intense bout of food poisoning. We were at my wife’s favorite sushi place (Kabuki’s in Pasadena) and I must have been hit with some bad Tonkatsu because we both ate the same sushi and she didn’t end up sick. Food poisoning, if you’ve ever had it, only lasts about 24 hours, but those 24 hours are some of the worst in your life.
Of course, the wife didn’t completely miss out on the pain of my illness: during one of my hyper-vomit sessions I missed the toilet and sprayed some rather colorful stuff on the wall. Note to self: avocado rolls look particularly disgusting when half-digested and smeared on bathroom tile. Running through my head during the entire sessions was “Gee, I wish I could be filming this.”
If I was a wittier or more clever writer, I’d be able to seque vomiting in to talking about my current Canon HV20 camera rig, but I’m not. You, faithful students of the DOJO, will have to put up with one of my usual heavy-handed transitions.
Now that I’ve mentioned it a few times in passing, a few readers have written in and asked about the set up I’m using right now for my Canon HV20 HDV Camera and if it would work for a Canon HV30. The answer to the second question is “Yes.” Physically the Canon HV20 and HV30 cameras are pretty close to identical, with only a couple of interior changes — the main one being the HV30’s ability to shoot 30p footage — so any accessories or add-ons for the HV20 can be used on the HV30 and vice versa.
In regards to the first question I want to say upfront that my HV20 rig isn’t quite complete yet. I’m still waiting for the most important add-on, a 35mm adapter, which is on back order and won’t be to me for another month or so. I’ll be tossing a matte box with rod support on the front of that and then attaching a Xenarc 7″ monitor to my rails (once I figure out how to do it). No, it’s not an HD monitor. I’m still looking around for the best option for an HD monitor to go with the Canon HV20…I’ve been considering trying the DIY Samsung monitor route, but I’m not sure how a 10″ monitor will work on a small camera like the HV20.
On to the rig itself. Obviously, the base of the unit is the Canon HV20 HDV video camera. Right now both the HV20 and its successor, the Canon HV30, can be found for under $800 and, in some places under $700. I’d be a tough choice of which camera to pick if I were buying one today with the HV20’s price being $100 or more lower versus the HV30’s ability to shoot 30p footage in addition to the standard 24p or 60i. The HV30 also looks really cool in black and, as Wesley Snipes said, “Always bet on black.” Full Story →
As a low budget or guerilla filmmaker, one of the things I’ve learned over the past 10 years or so is the thing which separates a good indie film from bad porn is sound quality. If you’ve ever watched a video on Youtube (or used the Internet for its true purpose and downloaded some whacked-out German poopy porn), then you know exactly what I mean. Tinny sounding voice, strange echoing sounds or even voices which are too quiet to hear properly or fade in and out.
While a lot can be done to fix a video’s sound in post, most of the time problems can be fixed upfront with a solid, pro-quality microphone instead of your camcorder’s crappy onboard mic. One of the absolute best choices out on the market for a reasonably priced pro-quality shotgun mic is the Azden SGM-1x shotgun microphone. Full Story →
Indie and Guerilla filmmakers can get away with quite a bit on their low budget features – bad acting, bad scripts, even bad shots — but the one thing you absolutely cannot get away with is bad sound. That’s right, the only thing that keeps your masterpiece of a micro budget feature film from feeling like a bad porno is high quality sound recording. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to get decent sound from a low-cost consumer microphone with a 3.5mm mini jack. You can try it, but, much like me squeezing into a Medium-sized T-shirt, the end results are never pretty.
I can hear your cries now, “But, Mat, my consumer/prosumer camera doesn’t have XLR inputs…what can I do?” Full Story →
I talked about this yesterday, but as a low budget and guerilla filmmaking I am always out on the prowl for the absolute best prices online for film and video equipment. If you’re reading this website then you know exactly what I’m talking about — we make the kind of films where sometimes even FREE is too expensive.
Well, as I also mentioned yesterday, I decided to go ahead and take a chance on some of the famous (or would that be infamous?) low budget filmmaking equipment from India. We’ve all seen them online with a ton of different eBay users names — IDs like DVACCESSORY, DV-SHOP23, 23FILTERS, CINE-CITY and about 10 other various. And we’ve all looked over their listings for matte boxes, follow focus systems, rod supports and the incredibly tempting Steadicam clones. I’m sure you’ve loaded up their items on eBay, or on their website , and wondered just how good some of that equipment could really be, given the low prices. Full Story →
You know, like every other low budget and guerilla filmmaker out there, I am constantly surfing the internet and browsing on eBay looking for great deals on professional filmmaking equipment. And we all understand that the phrase “looking for great deals” really just means we’re cheap.
In our efforts to find those “great deals,” we’ve all come across the film equipment manufacturers from India. You know the guys I’m talking about, you’ve seen them with a bunch of different eBay IDs like DVACCESSORY, DV-SHOP23, 23FILTERS and a bunch of other names. You may also have seen their website on the internet at . Yup, they’re all the same guys.
Now, if you’re anything like me, as tempted as you’ve been by their fantastic pricing, you’ve been more than a little wary of actually placing an order through them. You may have trolled their website and their eBay listings for weeks but never pulled the trigger on a purchase. I’m there with you. How good can their matte boxes, shoulder supports, cranes, car mounts or Steadicam-clones be at those insanely low prices? Heck, do they just keep your money and never send anything?
After months and months of hemming and hawing, I decided to take the plunge and order up some of their equipment thanks to the wonders of the government stimulus check I received (yes, I realize ordering internationally isn’t what the current administration had in mind with the checks, but cut me some slack here). Full Story →
If you are an indie filmmaker like me, then you are constantly out on the hunt for new, low-priced, budget equipment to help you put together you micro and low budget films. Ok, let’s admit it, we’re all cheap. Or poor. Or both.
And one of the main pieces of filmmaking equipment we’re always looking for is that Holy Grail of a camera: the low cost, high performing, 24p HD camera that works as well as a Canon Xh-A1 but doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy. Well, if you don’t have the $3000+ to pick up a new XH-A1 but are desperate for a high quality HDV camera that shoots in 24p, then I may have just the answer for you.
It may not contain the Blood of Christ, but the HV20 camera from Canon holds the answers to a lot of prayers.
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begins the infomercial sales pitch for the book (and is a nice lead in for Simens’ film school and DVDs as well) and proclaims to the world that the author is a reknowned film producer (of the “independent classics” “Flex” and “Final Hour,” both of which “actually made money”) and has launched the careers of industry pros like “Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Chris Nolan and Baz Luhrmann.” 
