this is a forum to share ideas and information about the creation of the golden bouzouki motion picture.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
questions about a camera
well, how the heck are we going to get one?
i would love to be able to use jack's fancy lenses, but i cant buy anything.
i would like to shoot HD, of course, and i wouldnt mind too much if the video looked cool.
so lets start talking about it.
i'm going to talk to my pal and neighbor Patrick, who is professional photographer with lots equipment he deems archaic, and we would see as cutting edge. don't know if he has a HD camera we could use, but he might have something he's not too worried about getting GREEK'T. again: we should have benefit show to raise some more doe, all this is starting to sound expensive. we deserve the best. our fans expect the best. joel we need to buy you a camera.
Just a question but why do we need to rent a camera for longer than we need it? Cant we rent a camera for a weekend and see how it goes. Or how bout we rent a camera once every other month for a weekend that way there is a date that we all know we have to use and go to the shooting. That cant be very much. Plus if we buy an insurance package we dont have to worry about breaking, sorry Greeking, the damn thing.
well, we are dreaming if we think this is going to take one weekend. more like 8. plus the effects shots that dont require any actors will take quite a bit of time as well. probably 2 months of weekends, and 1 month of everyday effects shots as an outside estimate, i think.
Looking at those rental cameras I think that maybe we need to set our sights a little lower. I think you can get a cheap-ass Hi-def camera now for under $500. That'd still be a big step up for us.
yah i think $500 could buy us a plenty good cam. and like jay said, anything is a step up. it's a drop in the bucket. we could easily put that together. i'll say it again: benefit show. we have an audience here in santa cruz, and def in SF, and no doubt in SAC. all those people have 5 to 10 bucks. we could give them a certificate that states their an official investor. i know a guy who can print up a 1000 primo certificates for $499. i need everyone possibly involved in performing to give me the go ahead to book in SC, and of course your schedules. lets not be tepid about this. i'd like to book the snow buddies goodtime band, Mylo Jekins(locals with big draw) and some one else. maybe another local act with draw, or...you tell me. of course the line-up would change for every show with the exception of SBGTB. if we weren't all awesome musicians, i'd say a bake sale in Jays fancy neighborhood.
Gents. Here's what I have, and what I'm willing to sign up for:
- Canon Vixia HF20, which is an HD consumer camera. It does 1080p, and delivers pretty good quality during the day. The low light performance is atrocious.
- Canon 5DMk.ii, with an assortment of optics. If properly operated, everything becomes magic, and it looks like film. Here's a kitten: http://vimeo.com/6550645 . It has a number of disadvantages though: Bad sound (i.e. not usable if filming anything at any distance), very difficult to operate (manual focus in video mode), and very very expensive.
- Field audio recorder, which can be used to mitigate the lackluster sound of the 5D. This increases the complexity of everything, though. I'd have to buy a shotgun mic (no big deal), but then we'd have the task of running a clapperboard and syncing the audio after the fact. The huge advantage is that we'd have vastly superior sound to anything on any video camera.
What I'm willing to do: Joel can borrow the Vixia for the duration of the shoot. I will operate the 5D when I can make it down, and train Joel in its use, but it ultimately needs to come and go with me.
We should plan on at least a couple of shots that take advantage of the fancy camera. Incidentally, we can also do time-lapse stuff with it.
jack comes through with a great starting point (and maybe ending point)! how does the vixia store information? some kind of card? we will need to stock up on storage media and do a dump/backup onto another hard drive every day most likely. this will be the case no matter what camera we use, however, since most of them use hard drives or flash as their storage media. no more stacks of video tapes. too bad.
i also recently aqcuired some camcorder lenses. a wide angle and a telephoto lens. hopefully they will fit on that camera.
If our concern has gone from getting a camera to getting batteries, well, that seems like a good step.
I still think we should do some shows so we can get some money for props/sets etc. Also, Joel and I have been talking about setting up a kickstarter page to try to raise a couple of bucks.
yep. we need to get hella sheets for togas, killer dresses that could look greek, lumber, lights, fake swords, shields, helmets, puppet making supplies, miniaturs shipbuilding supplies, a centaur suit, we gotta buy a TOGOLOS (whatever that is), etc.
The Vixia takes SD cards, but they need to be of a sufficient rating to handle the transfer speed.
An extra battery and an external charger is something we'll need. Don't worry about that, I'll pick one up. I've been wanting one anyhow.
Any laptop with a card reader will be able to slurp the data off. I can also provide a USB disk that we can dump the source footage to.
The Vixia has a built-in lens that's enclosed in the body of the camera, so it's basically impossible to adapt anything else to it. That's OK, though, because it's got a reasonable macro to telephoto range already. Again, the biggest constraint is that it starts to look amazingly bad (i.e. super duper grainy) once it gets slightly dark.
this is all great news. i need specific times NOT to set up the show here in cruz. i'd like to all the members (i guess we'll have to fly DP down, that's really gunna cut into the budget) but seriously...
Just kidding guys but really. Id like to get in on one of those benefit shows. Are you guys setting up practices. I can only practice on the weekend. And really, only play on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) for now.
Regarding that Jumpstart page Jay, Joel was talking about making a trailer for it that way we'd have something to bait out to our donators/curators. I think we need hot young talent. No not just young impressionable boys but all of our friends who are aspiring actors. That way the trailer can be exposed to other peeps who give a damn about movies and maybe spur some investment from people we dont know.
Oh if you'd like me to make the list of what we need regarding equipment AND props Id love to. Just night me and ill get on with it. Then Ill put up what i see we need then post it. You guys can check it out and then comment so I can revise.
I don't know. Can we rent one? Isn't that something that people do?
ReplyDeleteim scared to rent one, because i dont know how long this is really going to take.
ReplyDeleteplus that costs a lot.
i'm going to talk to my pal and neighbor Patrick, who is professional photographer with lots equipment he deems archaic, and we would see as cutting edge. don't know if he has a HD camera we could use, but he might have something he's not too worried about getting GREEK'T. again: we should have benefit show to raise some more doe, all this is starting to sound expensive. we deserve the best. our fans expect the best. joel we need to buy you a camera.
ReplyDeletehod is right.
ReplyDeleteJust a question but why do we need to rent a camera for longer than we need it? Cant we rent a camera for a weekend and see how it goes. Or how bout we rent a camera once every other month for a weekend that way there is a date that we all know we have to use and go to the shooting. That cant be very much. Plus if we buy an insurance package we dont have to worry about breaking, sorry Greeking, the damn thing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.avistarentals.com/video-gear-rentals/video-camera-rentals.html
ReplyDeleteA quick glance here shows to me the price would be reasonable between 10-15 people for a weekend of shooting.
well, we are dreaming if we think this is going to take one weekend.
ReplyDeletemore like 8.
plus the effects shots that dont require any actors will take quite a bit of time as well.
probably 2 months of weekends, and 1 month of everyday effects shots as an outside estimate, i think.
Looking at those rental cameras I think that maybe we need to set our sights a little lower. I think you can get a cheap-ass Hi-def camera now for under $500. That'd still be a big step up for us.
ReplyDeleteyah i think $500 could buy us a plenty good cam. and like jay said, anything is a step up. it's a drop in the bucket. we could easily put that together. i'll say it again: benefit show. we have an audience here in santa cruz, and def in SF, and no doubt in SAC. all those people have 5 to 10 bucks. we could give them a certificate that states their an official investor. i know a guy who can print up a 1000 primo certificates for $499. i need everyone possibly involved in performing to give me the go ahead to book in SC, and of course your schedules. lets not be tepid about this. i'd like to book the snow buddies goodtime band, Mylo Jekins(locals with big draw) and some one else. maybe another local act with draw, or...you tell me. of course the line-up would change for every show with the exception of SBGTB. if we weren't all awesome musicians, i'd say a bake sale in Jays fancy neighborhood.
ReplyDeletei sure say benefit show alot
ReplyDeletehttp://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/canon-vixia-hf-m300/4505-6500_7-33949015.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
ReplyDeleteSo this under four hun. What do you imagine the beneficial musical performances to bring in?
modestly, $150-200 a show i bet. if mr. Diamonds shows up for any, considerably more
ReplyDeleteGents. Here's what I have, and what I'm willing to sign up for:
ReplyDelete- Canon Vixia HF20, which is an HD consumer camera. It does 1080p, and delivers pretty good quality during the day. The low light performance is atrocious.
- Canon 5DMk.ii, with an assortment of optics. If properly operated, everything becomes magic, and it looks like film. Here's a kitten: http://vimeo.com/6550645 . It has a number of disadvantages though: Bad sound (i.e. not usable if filming anything at any distance), very difficult to operate (manual focus in video mode), and very very expensive.
- Field audio recorder, which can be used to mitigate the lackluster sound of the 5D. This increases the complexity of everything, though. I'd have to buy a shotgun mic (no big deal), but then we'd have the task of running a clapperboard and syncing the audio after the fact. The huge advantage is that we'd have vastly superior sound to anything on any video camera.
What I'm willing to do: Joel can borrow the Vixia for the duration of the shoot. I will operate the 5D when I can make it down, and train Joel in its use, but it ultimately needs to come and go with me.
We should plan on at least a couple of shots that take advantage of the fancy camera. Incidentally, we can also do time-lapse stuff with it.
jack comes through with a great starting point (and maybe ending point)!
ReplyDeletehow does the vixia store information? some kind of card?
we will need to stock up on storage media and do a dump/backup onto another hard drive every day most likely. this will be the case no matter what camera we use, however, since most of them use hard drives or flash as their storage media. no more stacks of video tapes. too bad.
i also recently aqcuired some camcorder lenses. a wide angle and a telephoto lens. hopefully they will fit on that camera.
another concern will be batteries.
ReplyDeleteIf our concern has gone from getting a camera to getting batteries, well, that seems like a good step.
ReplyDeleteI still think we should do some shows so we can get some money for props/sets etc. Also, Joel and I have been talking about setting up a kickstarter page to try to raise a couple of bucks.
yep. we need to get hella sheets for togas, killer dresses that could look greek, lumber, lights, fake swords, shields, helmets, puppet making supplies, miniaturs shipbuilding supplies, a centaur suit, we gotta buy a TOGOLOS (whatever that is), etc.
ReplyDeleteplus batteries and flash cards (or whatever).
ReplyDeleteThe Vixia takes SD cards, but they need to be of a sufficient rating to handle the transfer speed.
ReplyDeleteAn extra battery and an external charger is something we'll need. Don't worry about that, I'll pick one up. I've been wanting one anyhow.
Any laptop with a card reader will be able to slurp the data off. I can also provide a USB disk that we can dump the source footage to.
The Vixia has a built-in lens that's enclosed in the body of the camera, so it's basically impossible to adapt anything else to it. That's OK, though, because it's got a reasonable macro to telephoto range already. Again, the biggest constraint is that it starts to look amazingly bad (i.e. super duper grainy) once it gets slightly dark.
this is all great news. i need specific times NOT to set up the show here in cruz. i'd like to all the members (i guess we'll have to fly DP down, that's really gunna cut into the budget) but seriously...
ReplyDeleteSo were renting?
ReplyDeleteJust kidding guys but really. Id like to get in on one of those benefit shows. Are you guys setting up practices. I can only practice on the weekend. And really, only play on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) for now.
Regarding that Jumpstart page Jay, Joel was talking about making a trailer for it that way we'd have something to bait out to our donators/curators. I think we need hot young talent. No not just young impressionable boys but all of our friends who are aspiring actors. That way the trailer can be exposed to other peeps who give a damn about movies and maybe spur some investment from people we dont know.
Oh if you'd like me to make the list of what we need regarding equipment AND props Id love to. Just night me and ill get on with it. Then Ill put up what i see we need then post it. You guys can check it out and then comment so I can revise.
actors, i don't know guys. we've come this far without any
ReplyDelete