Archive for the 'Video Posts' Category
Posted by Mat on 1st, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
Like any red-blooded, American, male indie filmmaker, I have fevered dreams of putting together a bad-ass action flick with a ton of martial arts and…most important…Guns. However, like a lot of you, I have been completely baffled as to how to pull it off safely and on a budget. Anyone who has done any sort of research in regards to obtaining prop guns for a film has come across the standard options. Let’s take a quick look at those options:
Real guns loaded with Blank Rounds. This is the choice for most big budget flicks. What looks better than a real gun? The problem for an indie or guerilla filmmaker is the added expense of hiring an armorer to manage the guns, as well as the high cost of both real guns and the blank ammo. And let’s not forget the biggest problem with real guns firing blank load ammunition: safety! With a semi-experienced crew, short shooting schedule and microscopic budget, safety can be a major issue when it comes to prop guns on an indie film shoot. What does this mean? Well, it means real guns with blank ammo isn’t an option for for most of us.
To tell the truth, I’m not sure I’d use real guns as props even if I had a budget to support it. In this age of digital filmmaking, do we really need the safety hazzards and risk? I’m way too paranoid. Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on 15th, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
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 →
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Posted by Mat on 9th, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
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 →
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Posted by Mat on 6th, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
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 →
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Posted by Mat on 5th, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
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 www.TheCineCity.com, and wondered just how good some of that equipment could really be, given the low prices. Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on 4th, 2008
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 http://www.thecinecity.com. 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 →
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