So I'm shooting my first piece....

[niko1234]

OK, so me and a friend from college are applying the finishing touches to our script and are hoping to start filming on monday.
Brief outline of our story:
It's a kind of 'mockumentary' entitled "The Day In The Life Of A Motivational Speaker." We've set it in our 6th form and the main story revolves around the motivational speaker (Guy) with the rest of the stuff just being filler including interviews with teachers and students.
Its going to be about 30 minutes long and we're trying to give it "The Office" feel as far as camera angles etc are concerned, was just wondering if anyone has some tips?

[Chance1234]

correct white balance
exposure
steady hands
good audio

whats kit you making it on ?

[niko1234]

I'll be using a Samsung VP-DC161 DVD Camcorder. Its not ideal but its all i can really afford at the moment, seems like quite a good camera. Gonna try and get hold of some sort of external microphone too. Any affordable suggestions? Affordable as in under about ?30.

[Chance1234]

isnt there anything in the school you can borrow ? and a broom pole ? i would rather spend ?30 on buying my cast and crew bacon samwiches in the morning than on a cheap mike, that will get you a far better result.

[niko1234]

I'll have to see the techie guys tomorrow, see what they have. Never thought of that though, thanks [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[Chance1234]

also,

Foil on cardboard - instant reflector
Big white Card - instant reflector
big black card - instant flag

[somedeadguy]

I made a sweet shoulder mount out of a piece of steel and some quarter inch bolts from the hardware store. I think that is the biggest help in steady footage. It sure helps a lot more than a $12 steady cam.

[sn-films]

Even if you don't have access to pro lighting tools, I'd recommend checking out some tutorials on lighting. A few well-placed work lights and desk lamps can go a long way towards polishing the image.

http://www.efplighting.com/?Lighting...iews:The_basic

Here's another one but will require a broadband connection:

http://dvcreators.net/products/dvckit_movieframe.htm

[jb_617]

[bump]

So how did it go?


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I shot an actor in Reno just because he deserved it.

[niko1234]

Its been going quite well so far, slowly but surely getting it done. Theres a few scenes I wanna retake but then I'm pretty much happy and can get it edited , thats another first for me though so that might take a while. Hoping to have it finished by next weekend.