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

[FadedNumber]

1st: I AM a newbie. We all start sometime.

2nd: I know it's gonna suck. The finished product probably won't be worth this post defending it, but we all start somewhere too.

3rd: I'm not spending thousands of dollars on equipment to make this movie. I'm spending thousands of dollars on equipment to make movies. This is just my first one. I can't make movies if I don't make a movie.

4th: I said I'm on page 70 (74 now), not that it's 70 pages long. I'm still working on it.

5th: It's not going to be 96 pages of dialogue. And it started out to be based on all true stories. Now, it's been trimmed down to - I said lots before... make that a few conversations based on actual conversations. Stuff happens, it's not just my friends and I talking the whole time. One character's car gets stolen, a kid inadvertantly gets shot in the throat by a cop, some people shave a coke rock with a window screen and make lines on a 6 ft. wall mirror (true story), um... anyway, lots of stuff happens. It's not just conversations.

6th: I know it's gonna suck. [img]biggrin.gif[/img] Once again, I have to start somewhere. I was writing other movies before this, but then I realized that they will all suck hard because I have no experience. So I thought up a movie concept to start out with. It was to be a bunch of true stories gathered from my and my friends' experiences with drugs with lots of dialogue, as I won't have a budget to make much else happen. I know I'm not Kevin Smith. I'm not going to Sundance with this thing. I just want to make movies, so I start with this. HOWEVER, I don't want my first try to be worse than it has to, so I'm going to get lighting and sound equipment and learn, learn, learn.

7th: Sorry. I know you're helping me. I just don't want you guys to think I'm just another newbie who expects to make it big. To reiterate... is that how to spell it? Let me check... Yeah. So to reiterate: I just want to make movies. So I begin with this.

Edit: About the filmmaker's co-op in my area thing - Good idea! I'll have to find somewhere on the net to post a start-up "hey everyone around me, let's do this" thing, though. I know nobody in my area. Everyone I know lives about 200 miles south of me. I moved here somewhat recently and only know people from my place of work, so... The net it is.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 29, 2004 04:16 PM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font>

[Nigel]

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING!!!

As a person who spent countless thousands (Enough for a new car or a decent down-payment on a home) on an Aaton Super16 camera. You really need to think and think hard about what you are doing.

Do you want to become a professional location sound recordist?? If so a DA-P1 is pass?.

Do you want to be a gaffer?? If so then rent.

Please, sit back and look at your bank account and ask what is it that you are buying and will it pay off in the end. How much it cost to rent a DAT and some lights?? Not much....

It isn't just the cost of the gear but its up-keep and trying to make your money back on your investment. If you are trying to be a writer spend the money on a script doctor.

Good Luck

[peter_g]

Correct me if I am mistaken, but the DA-P1 is not a time code native DAT tape deck. Thus, for the purposes of location sound recording it is almost useless. A person I know once had the chore of keeping non time code audio in sync with a picture. I hear it is very tedious.

I intend to create a system of recording time code native audio wherein the sound recordist operates what is essentially a laptop and portable mixing desk working in synergy, held together by a custom made trolley. I?ve asked a friend of mine to make me this trolley. It should be finished in a week or two. I know it will work, but the real test will be one of practicality.

If you intend to spend a couple of grand on these things I would urge you to do a lot of research and make an informed decision.

[Nigel]

Time Code has nothing to do with keeping your picture and audio in synch. If they were having problems then the problem was somewhere other than the fact that they didn't have TC.

Good Luck

[TJ_the_director]

Faded,

This has been a interesting thread. I wish you luck.

If you HAVE the dough and if having filmmaking stuff around is half the fun, then go for it!

However, make sure you have $$$ to use while shooting! What if you drop your VX1000? I did. I had to run down and buy a new VX2100 before resume shooting -- and I actually had the money for it. I don't have glidecams, cranes or redheads -- things not really necessary.

Stuff happens in production that you'll be willing to trade your sister for to resolve it.

(PS: one broken in half VX1000 that still works for $250. USD) [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[Tasty Fish Lips]

Stuff happens in production that you'll be willing to trade your sister for to resolve it.

(PS: one broken in half VX1000 that still works for $250. USD)

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is your sister cute? I tell you what, throw in your sis, and you got yourself a deal!

[FadedNumber]

The things you learn. Script doctor sounds like it would be some sort of screenplay formatting software, so that's what I was thinking. What a clutz I am.

First, I'm going to get who I can - my friends who will be part of the production - to read through it with me. I know, I know, they're my friends. Even though I will tell them to be brutal and tear it apart (figuratively, of course), they're just as excited as I am about making something, and they'll only be able to help so much. After we talk it over and I rewrite a couple of times, I'm going to get others to read it as well. "Here's version three. We've have discussed this and this and this and came up with this. What do you think?" Then it's rewriting time again. But remember - this is my first movie! I'm just starting out. How much did you spend on professionals for your very first movie? Maybe a lot. If that's the case... how much do those script doctors charge, anyway? [img]eek.gif[/img]

Just kidding. I can research myself.

Lastly, I feel I need to clarify this again, 'cause everyone keeps talking about taking it to the market and making money off of my investment and what have you.

This is my first movie. I'm spending money to buy this crap because I care about my first movie. I want to be able to watch it without cringing. I want something that I will be proud to have in my collection. Yeah, it'll probably take a few (read: a stinkin' load of) tries to get anything good, but if I aim for the stars, I'll do better than... you know how the saying goes and I don't think I do, but you get what I'm saying. If I'm content with it, I'll probably submit it to some festivals without any expectations, but I doubt I'll think highly enough of this first film to do anything like that with it. It'll be more of a learning experience than anything. But hey, I can watch Clerks without cringing and it looks like crap and sounds equally crappy (the first cut, that is). Hopefully 36 Hours will be the same.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ December 30, 2004 01:25 PM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 30, 2004 01:28 PM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font>

[FadedNumber]

Nigel,

I got Final Draft 6.0 or whatever the latest version is, along with a screenwriting book, the Guerilla Filmmaker's Handbook and GFM's Blueprints for Christmas. Hooray! No money to be spent on screenwriting software.

I want to buy stuff because I want to make several movies. It's worth it to me. I'm being realistic, as I've said before. I probably won't make the money back that I pay for these things. But the amount of movies I will hopefully make will be enough that buying these things will actually be cheaper than renting them every weekend every time I'm shooting.

Moving right along,

I finished 36 Hours of Vagaries v1.0 last night. The old-as-dirt computer I have in my apartment called it 62 or 63 (can't remember) pages when it was 67 on the updated version of Microsoft Word I was writing it on. Right now, it calls it 89 pages, so I'm guessing that it's about 93-96 pages right now.

So after finishing that up and shuffling to my bed, I started thinking... "Okay, first production. I guess those wild and crazy UK guys are right. I don't NEED all of these things. What do I really need to get this thing the way I want it?"

I definately will end up getting that DAT recorder and microphone. If it doesn't sound good, then... well, you all know. But for this first film, I'm not going to buy "real" lighting equipment. I'll go the hardware store route this time around. And as for the glidecam, I googled "steadycam" and the #1 site was by a guy who built his own steadycam for 14 bucks. Perhaps you've all seen it. He's selling them for 57 (after shipping and handling). I could make my own, but I don't trust myself to do it well. So my thousands of dollars I was going to spend will probably be more like... let's see...

Azden SGM-2X: $230
Boom pole : $90
Lavaliers : 2 for $40.00
DA-P1 portable DAT recorder: about $900
"Steadycam": $60
Lighting: Now I'm guessing I'm not going to spend more than $600 on lights and stands at Home Depot. Think optimisticly, plan pessimisticly. Or maybe I'm making an unfortunate underestimation of their "Always Low Prices!"

So $3500 has turned into, what, $1920? Sounds reasonable to me. Thinking pessimisticly, add in some accessories. Let's say around $2000. Good deal.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 30, 2004 01:33 PM: Message edited by: FadedNumber ]</font>

[Nigel]

A script doctor is not in a book or for a computer. It is a living person that you pay to read your script and help you make it sell-able/produce-able.

It is the best investment any writer can make. You shouldn't take it to market with out one.

Good Luck