In a minute or two I’m going to get around to talking about my video post for the day — showing off my Canon HV20 camera rig and all of the cool accessories that go with it. Before I do get around to that, I want to reveal a bit of personal information. As with a lot of husbands (and 99% of husbands who are nerds, geeks or dorks), my wife despises the clothing I pick out for myself. She particularly hates any clothing that I still manage to keep that predates the beginning of our relationship over 5 years ago. She makes fun of what she likes to call my nerd-wear or my old-man clothing. Personally, I don’t think my wardrobe is all that bad, but for the most part I bow down to her superior fashion knowledge.
Today, when she found out I was going to do a new video post for the Film Sensei website (http://www.filmsensei.com), she asked what I was going to wear and then mocked me furiously for the shirt I picked out — the one you’ll see if you watch the video portion of this post. I held my ground and said that I was posting about indie and guerrilla filmmaking and that fashion had nothing to do with it! Then, I shoo’d her away and got down to filming, feeling more than a little self-righteous. Feh, what did she know about low budget filmmakers and how dare she make fun of my cool green shirt!
After I shot my video and was going through the upload process I decided to take a look at the original video post about my Canon HV20 camera rig from just over a year ago (a year and 2 days to be precise). I have to say I just about shit myself when I saw that I was wearing the exact same shirt back then. Wow, not only is my fashion sense bad, but it’s very consistently bad. Guess it’s time to start listening to the wife!
Ok, on to the regularly schedule indie filmmaking post.
A year ago I talked quite a bit about my awesomely cool Canon HV20 and what I was doing to trick it out. I promised to do an updated video to show off the final rig with my TwoNeil 35mm adapter and then promptly forgot about it. Well, after receiving over 150 emails asking for an update on my rig, I have finally put together a quick video to show it off.
In the video you’ll see my Canon HV20 (now replaced by the Canon HV40) mounted on Cavision Rods. It also has a Bescor Flash bracket with an AZDEN SGMX1 Shotgun Mic; on the camera’s hot shoe rides a pretty cool little 72 LED light I picked up on ebay. The SGM-1x is connected to the HV20 through a Beachtek DX-A2S XLR Adapter. Out on the front of the camera is an IrvB focus wheel and a TwoNeil 35mm Adapter with a Nikon Adapter. Finally, the entire rig is mounted on a You Pod shoulder mount, one of the coolest pieces of gear I’ve come across in a very long time (and one I’ll be posting a video review about soon). It also has a Xenarc 7″ monitor (I mistakenly say it’s 5″ on the video — but I’m wrong) mounted via a custom-made attachment.
Overall, the Canon HV20 (and its successor, the Canon HV40) is one of the most amazing little cameras to come out in a very long time. With a little bit of work, and some cool accessories, you can turn it in to an indie and guerrilla filmmaking monster machine. With proper lighting and a little pre-planning it puts out some killer footage. I absolutely adore my HV20 and shoot with it as often as I can.
Check out the video and let me know what you think.
Hey, all. Just a short post for tonight. Here is a quick video I put together from footage I shot for the Hunting Sensei website (http://www.HuntingSensei.com). It was shot with a little Canon ZR960 with the onboard mic. No color correction or processing was done to the footage and the song was pulled from one of the days hunting. Now, duck hunting really isn’t my bag, but I have to say that hanging out with Steve D and Big Steven was a tremendous amount of fun. I’m working on putting together a longer video of the two that I’ll show off in the next couple of months.
After I posted a couple of articles talking about my cool little Canon HV20 camera (now the Canon HV40), I started to receive a lot of emails from other indie and guerrilla filmmakers asking me about using it for feature length film productions. By “a lot” I mean 200+ emails over the past 6 months alone.
All of the filmmakers emailing me had seen the numerous music videos, shorts and test videos shot with the HV20/HV30/HV40 since the cameras debuted a few years back…and there are a lot of amazing examples of just how awesome the little cameras can perform even right out of the box.What was lacking, however, were very many examples of low budget features being shot with the cameras. I have to say that I had a heck of a time finding any decent examples of the Canon HV40 being used as the primary camera on a guerrilla or indie film — I knew of a number of them which had used it as a second unit or back-up camera, and a huge number of filmmakers who use the HV20/HV30 as a capturing deck for their higher end Canon XHA1s, but nothing came to mind for an entire feature shot with one of the little Canons.
That all changed in May of 2009 during a trip out to Dallas for the Texas Frightmare Weekend. While browsing the dealer room looking for cool indie horror films to add to my already ginormous collection, I ran into a an incredibly nice guy by the name of Abel Berry. Abel is an indie/guerrilla filmmaker from the Dallas area and he was at the show pimping his new horror flick, “Spoils.” Spoils is a revenge flick where a guy comes back from the dead as a particularly creepy killer clown, Spoils the clown to be exact, to enact his revenge on those who wronged him (and killed his hottie of a wife). Full Story →
So, you’ve got your cool brand new HD camera and you’re ready to shoot your first film. This is where a lot of new filmmakers start to run in to trouble — they thought saving up for their first camera was the hard part, but now the real work (and the real trouble) starts.
Since I’ve gone through exactly what each and every one of you is going through right now back when I shot my first microbudget feature (“Bite Me, Fanboy” back in 2001), I decided to put together a quick list of six important things to remember when you’re getting started as an indie or guerrilla filmmaker. These are what I like to call…(drum roll, please)…
The Film Sensei’s Six Quick Tips to Keep Your Indie Film From Sucking!
And here, my loyal students, are those tips to help you avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered as a beginning low budget filmmaker. Full Story →
I am a very bad man. I can’t believe it has been almost a year since I posted part one in this series of articles for indie and guerrilla filmmakers! Sheesh.
Before I get on to part two, I want to say a couple of things about this essential filmmaking equipment list (c’mon, you’ve waited 10 months, waiting a couple of more paragraphs isn’t going to kill you). This list is really for those of you who are just getting started or who are on a budget and looking for some advice on how to get the best quality for the best price. For those of you who have been doing this for years and years or who have a bigger budget, then stick to the reviews I post…this stuff might be a bit basic for you. These are the absolute essential pieces to get started with — well, at least from my experience and perspective.
In part one of my “Top 10 Essential Equipment for Indie Filmmakers” I talked about cool cameras to pick up at various budget levels. Even after a year those choices haven’t really changed. My high end pick for best camera is still the Canon XHA1. The camera gives an indie filmmaker everything he could possibly want in camera and spits out some amazing footage. The XHA1 is also the camera a majority of the big-budget action-thriller, Crank 2, was shot with. If it’s good enough for a multi-million dollar blockbuster, then you can bet it’s good enough for an indie!
My mid-range choice, the Canon HV20 has been replaced by the HV40. If you’re looking to go for this camera and want to save a little cash, there are a lot of great deals going on for the previous generation HV20 and HV30. The HV40 itself is a fantastic camera and well worth looking in to.
For the low end, really, whatever you can get your hands on that has a mic input is going to be fine. Try to avoid cameras with no mic input because that will limit you to whatever crappy built-in mic the camera has, which is never a good idea. Adding on a mic, even one with a 3.5mm mini jack plug, is going to increase the quality of your sound and give you a much more watchable film when you’re done.
Since we’re talking about sound and microphones already, that gives me a good transition to talk about what mics and sound equipment are essential for an indie or guerrilla filmmaker. Now, before anyone goes off on me, with sound equipment, the more money you have to spend, the better your equipment will be. If you can afford just under $600, then the Audio-Technica AT4073 kit should be one of your first considerations; if you’ve got over $1000 your choices open up considerably and you’ve got options like the Sennheiser MKH-416 or the Sennheiser ME67/K6 Deluxe Microphone kit. Also, at under $500, the Sennheiser ME66/K6 combo or any of the related kits is a fantastic choice. In other words, more money equals higher quality of sound. And remember as a rule, the longer the shotgun mic, the better. Full Story →
It has been far too long since I’ve posted a good product review and today I’m going to fix that with a doozy. Like every other low budget, indie or guerrilla filmmaker out there, one of the things I wish for every day of my life is a good, low budget option to a steadicam. Lacking that, I’m always looking for a way to make my handheld shots smoother and more manageable.
Unfortunately, up until now there really hasn’t been much out on the market. Options are either crappy hand made, no-gimbal “Poor man’s steadicam” units, horribly made knock-offs from India or paying an obscene amount of money for a true steadicam set-up. For me, none of those options were really options at all. Because of that, it always seemed like an affordable camera stabilizer was always going to be out of my reach as a low budget, guerrilla filmmaker.
Luckily, I’ve got some of the best readers on the Internet and I had my eyes opened to one of the most fantastic pieces of indie filmmaking equipment out there. The unit I’m talking about is a little thing called the Atlas Camera Support System (also known as the Atlas Camera Stabilizer and formerly the Indie Steadicam). Created by Michael Knowles (no relation to Harry), an indie filmmaker in his own right, the Atlas Camera Support is billed an affordable camera stabilizer that gives you the ability to shoot hand held for longer periods of time and get smoother shots. Full Story →
It is days like today that remind me just how darn lucky I am to make a living doing what I love. You see, today a very good friend of mine name Alex Waxman brought over what has to be one of the coolest toys ever made with an indie or guerilla filmmaker in mind. What he brought over was so cool, in fact, that for a split second I considered hitting him over the head and running away with it for myself. Luckily for him, Alex is a very big guy with a very hard head, so I was too scared to try it.
I’m not going to tell you what that toy was yet. No, I’m going to be a tease and tell you why you, my fellow low budget filmmaker, will absolutely want to have one for your next shoot. Why, if you were in my place today, you too would have contemplated braining one of your best friends in the world in order to make off with his new toy.
What is it that ever low budget, indie or guerilla filmmaker wishes he had more of in his films? The one thing that could make the difference between a sellable film and something that sits on his shelf at home and rots? Nooooo…I’m not talking about more boobies. What I’m talking about is that mythical and ever elusive “production value.” In films, production value comes in many forms: it can be a giant submarine set, or explosives, or a car chase through downtown Chicago. Or, it can come in the form of aerial footage. And that, my friends, is where Alex’s new toy comes in.
If you’ve ever dreamed of getting some low budget aerial footage of a scene, of a car chase, of a neighborhood or of anything else, then the Draganflyer Stabilized Aerial Video System (SAVS) is the answer to your prayers.
The number one problem for every indie or guerilla filmmaker out there is: “Where the heck do I find a distributor for my low budget film so people can see it?” In other words, “will I make enough money to pay off all those damn credit cards I ran up to make my film?” Yup, the age old question of what to do with that film after you’ve finished shooting and editing it.
And you thought making a film was the hard part?
Well, like a lot of you, I’ve asked myself those same questions a number of times and have even taken the dreaded path of self distribution. Over the course of following that path, I ran into a very cool little website, Caachi.com, that offers an interesting take on digital or online film distribution. You may be surprised by what I discovered.
Is any one else as tired as I am from the holidays? Sheesh, I think I get more worn out from the end of the year holiday “vacation” than from any amount of work. Something about large numbers of relatives and in-laws decending upon my home just plain sucks the energy out of me. I’m ready to get back to work and get some rest!
One of the upsides of this particular holiday season is that I always wind up getting some pretty cool gadgets I might not have otherwise purchased for myself. My beloved wife seems to pay extra attention to all the gear I talk about in the final months of the year, makes a list and then goes out and picks the stuff up. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the best wife in the entire universe!
For this particular Christmas, I found a handy little item waiting for me Christmas morning, the Sony DVP-FX820 Portable DVD Player…and more than that, I found the answer to my long standing prayers for an affordable solution to the problem of trying to focus a high definition image on my tiny Canon HV20 LCD screen (and the near impossible task of doing so with a 35mm lens adapter strapped to the front of my camera).
As any indie or guerilla filmmaker out there knows, HD (high definition for the neophytes out there) monitors are expensive as heck, which puts them out of reach for most low budget filmmakers. Unfortunately, with more and more of the industry turning to HD for production, it’s quickly becoming a requirement to have one. This is even moreso the case for those of us who have 35mm adapters, such as the Letus, Brevis, JAG35 or TwoNeil adapters, in our toolkits. The LCDs on even the larger cameras can be a pain to focus with and the tiny little LCD on the Canon HV20/HV30 is just plain brutal.
I wanted to follow-up my earlier post on DVD courses for learning filmmaking with something a little different. About a year ago I was working on a low budget indie action film of my own — I’d worked on tons of them in the past as a storyboard artist and have put together an insane number of action sequences as a comic book artist, but this was the first time I was going to be directing an action flick of my own. Since I was on an incredibly low budget (anemic budget would be more accurate), I knew we weren’t going to have a big stunt team or have weeks of training for our actors. To try and avoid the crappy looking action bits that plague low budget indie and guerilla films, I wanted to do as much pre-work as I could for the fight sequences we’d be filming.
Sure, I am a rabid fan of martial arts and action movies and have hundreds (if not more) in my collection. And, sure, I’d storyboarded 30 or more action flicks over the course of my career. But, the truth is, I had no practical knowledge on putting together a fight scene on set. What was worse was, I had absolutely no idea where to start.
Luckily for me a quick Google search resulted in one of the best low buget indie filmmaking finds I’ve ever had the pleasure to discover. What I’m talking about is a down-and-dirty instructional DVD called “Fightscenes for Motion Pictures” by the Kerby Brothers (www.kbproducts.com). I’ve stolen some of the images from their website — here’s hoping they don’t get upset and come to kick my ass! Full Story →
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with the onboard mic. No color correction or processing was done to the footage and the song was pulled from one of the days hunting. Now, duck hunting really isn’t my bag, but I have to say that hanging out with Steve D and Big Steven was a tremendous amount of fun. I’m working on putting together a longer video of the two that I’ll show off in the next couple of months.
…and more than that, I found the answer to my long standing prayers for an affordable solution to the problem of trying to focus a high definition image on my tiny Canon HV20 LCD screen (and the near impossible task of doing so with a 35mm lens adapter strapped to the front of my camera).
