So here's what I'm looking to get:

[FadedNumber]

Azden SGM-2X: $230
Boom pole : $90
Lavaliers : 2 for $40.00
DA-P1 portable DAT recorder: I've been watching these go on eBay for buy it now prices of $750 - $1200. I'll probably get one at about $900 (only after checking the seller out, of course).

1000w Redheads : 2 for $860
Other (cheaper) lights: I'm talking Home Depot stuff here. Not too pricey.

Anyway, all together, sound and lighting will cost me a sum of around $2500. Hmm... better think about S&H and extra bulbs and accesories on some of that. Let's say $2750. I can swing that after a bit of saving. And I'll still have all of this junk for my following productions.

What do you guys think, would I be set with this equipment? I'm probably leaving stuff out... But I've got the camera, I've got the computer, I've got the software. My friends (aka cast and crew) don't want pay. I'm sure they'd take it, but they just want me to hurry up and get the show running. So please, open my eyes. What am I missing? Anything important?

[Tasty Fish Lips]

So please, open my eyes. What am I missing? Anything important?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Important?

A script that was written with your limited resources in mind.

The patience and skill and creativity to make it worth buying all that stuff and writing that script.

In other words, it seems to me that most beginners are too caught up in gathering equipment, rather than working on a script for weeks and weeks or even months and months, their actors and how to work with them, and cinematic-narrative storytelling abilty.

I realize I may be presumptuous here. Maybe you've got all that already.

"So please, open my eyes." The above stuff that I wrote is where I think most beginners need their eyes opened to.

But, having invested money on equipment can sometimes be good incentive to work hard on the other, more important aspects.

[FadedNumber]

Haha. Thanks for the reply. It would be a shame to get all that stuff and have nothing to film, right?

I've been working on this script for a while. I finally started writing every day (finally got a comp at my place). I'm on page 70 right now. I'm in the last act. After I finish it, all of us who'll be involved are going to have a complete read through, then we'll discuss. Then I'll re-write. Then we'll discuss again. Then maybe I'll re-write again. Who knows how long that could go on. Then I'll storyboard, yadda yadda yadda.

All of this will take time, but while I'm working on all that, I'm going to start saving for this equipment. And before I buy anything, I want to know what all I'm going to get so I know how much I need to save. Of course, I'll be buying stuff little by little, not all at once, but I'd still like to know.

So that's what I was asking - open my eyes to what equipment I may need to add to the list. And this thing is definately being written with my limited resources. Not a single explosion! Heh heh. Thanks for replying, though. I can imagine that there are lots of kids out there ready to make a movie who think they're starting in the right place but are way off base.

Edit: oh, right... I forgot about the glidecam 2000 and the camcrane for those smooth shots. Let's put that total equipment cost up to around... 3500 USD. I knew the first total sounded low...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 28, 2004 04:48 PM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font>

[TJ_the_director]

Hi Faded,

You certainly have a bundle of filmmaking enthusiacism so don't let me wreck your fun if you're "into equipment".

I'm with Tasty and the "equipment" concern. Do you really need those redheads? Can something else from HomeDepot do? The glidecam and cranecam are not necessary -- write your script so that a tri-pod shot will do.

With the money you save, feed your crew everyday for lunch instead. You'll thank me later!

Good luck!

[emjen]

If your first film is going to be a feature it will suck. Make a bunch of shorts first. They're hard enough.

[FadedNumber]

"Do you really need those redheads? Can something else from HomeDepot do?"

If you'll recall, I asked that same thing in another topic...

Hmm...

ACTUALLY, I planned on buying cheap-o lights but didn't want to ask for an opinion, then disregard it... But now that I read the responses again, they aren't what I remember them being...

Anyway, since my first question got a reverse answer (rather than, "You need this and this", "do you really need this and this?") here's a new question:

If I can afford the equipment, why settle for less? Why write for a tripod-mounted shot when I can afford the moving one? Zoom, whoosh! .... yeah...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 29, 2004 10:12 AM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font>

[Chance1234]

the only thing i would knock off your list is the crane, youd be better off hiring that when you need it, the money saved there i would put towards more lighting,

A blonde complements two redheads niceley,

Also missing from your list is a reflector kit,

and dont forget

Stands, scrim, flight cases, etc etc

[FadedNumber]

Yeah, perhaps you're right about the crane. I mean, if I have a glidecam, why do I need to buy a crane? Okay, okay. Lighting solutions, right on. I'll have to look over my to-buy list again, but not right now.

"If your first film is going to be a feature it will suck. Make a bunch of shorts first. They're hard enough."

Well, the movie is cumbersomely named "36 Hours of Vagaries", which is equally a title and a disclaimer. It's your basic "I don't have enough money to do much, so we're just going to look at the lives of this group of people over a 36 hour period and see what happens." Lots of, I think, witty and fun dialogue, lots of conversations based on actual conversations with my friends. Stuff like that. It could be said that the movie essentially is a series of short films that all take place in a day and a half, I suppose. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

[Spunkey1pestic]

Hey faded,
Uhm... 70 pages.... Dialogue from real-life friends and various topics of conversationalists? .... [img]eek.gif[/img]

I really respect your desire to get into the craft, but your kinda screaming newbie!! That has been done a trillion times,every newbie on the block is writing a script about them and their friend's, I'll confess my first script in film school was of the same Nature... [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

- It's fine to go ahead and get the toys, but have a story-Have something that is truly your own, Short's are the best way to learn- and 70 pages is entirely to long for a short/ and entirely to short for a feature.

Seriously--- I know opinions are like butt holes and everybody has one,but if your really going to drop 3 grand- I recommend you take just one of the scenes you have already written - and develop it into a short...Then get people outside your circle of friends to read it and give you feed back! --

Just because I get my hands on a 35 arriflex doesn't mean my film will be worth a crap- Story is everything!

[miker]

Coppola didn't get to where he is today by not buying equipment if that's any compense.

Why not start a filmmaker's co-op in your area with your equipment as the bedrock to ensure things can happen.