Top 10 Essential Equipment for Indie Filmmakers: Part I – the Camera

If you are just starting out as an indie or guerilla filmmaker and you are completely baffled as to where to get started in regards to equipment and gear, you are not alone.  We’ve all been there.  Don’t let the guys on the various indie / DIY/ DV filmmaking forums try to convince you other wise, no one starts out knowing everything about shooting an indie film.  However, the information on what is the best equipment can be a bit difficult to come by.

If you do frequent the indie filmmaking message boards and communities, then you know that even attempting to ask a basic question will get you flamed, harassed and mocked.  For some reason the majority of people on those boards are more interested in being complete dicks than in really helping…not everyone, but most.  Aside from the insult responses you’ll get, the main bit of “help” offered by forum members will usually be along the lines of a very sarcastic post containing some variation of the phrase “search the archives for your answer.”  Well, we all know that searching a particularly active forum can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.  What this does is leave the majority of newbie indie or guerilla filmmakers scratching their heads on where to get started.  None of us has an unlimited amount of cash to throw around and for a new filmmaker finding the right equipment for the right price is an absolute MUST…throwing away $500 on the wrong piece of gear can sometimes make or break someone.

What I’m going to be doing over the next week is going over a list of the top 10 must-have essential pieces of equipment for any indie or guerilla filmmaker looking to get started.  This is the basic equipment you’ll need to go out there and put together a professional looking piece of film together.  This list isn’t going to include anything on editing because that is a list unto itself.  Right now we’re sticking with the essential equipment for any beginning filmmaker or someone looking to start their own guerilla production studio.  And away we go! Full Story →