Some advice needed on making a short film

Sonny678

Hi, I am just started film making. I’m hoping to make a short film. Im only starting to learn about film making. I would be very grateful if I could get some advice on a few questions.
1 What would be the best camera to use to make short film, I am thinking about getting either Sony EX1, Sony 150/170 and Canon DSLR. Which is the best camera, what are the positives and negatives of each camera?
2 I know very little about sound and film, what would be the best piece of sound equipment to use making a short film with the above cameras.
3 What would be the best lightning equipment to use make short film.
Is there any other equipment i need to film the short film, on the day of filming
I would be very grateful for some advice.

Galvasean

To be honest it depends on what kind of film you are making. What kind of shots are you going for? What genre is it? What are your locations like? What's your budget?

It would be useful to know these things before making any recommendations.

Sonny678

Thanks for your response Galvasean. I’m making my first short film. I’m just starting off.
It’s a 3 minute film where 2 people are having a conversation. It’s all shot indoors maybe one outdoors scene. My budget is not very large, but I Know I can rent out cameras from shops.
So I would be very grateful on any recommendations on cameras, sound equipment and lighting.
Thanx again

BlitzKrieg

1 What would be the best camera to use to make short film, I am thinking about getting either Sony EX1, Sony 150/170 and Canon DSLR. Which is the best camera, what are the positives and negatives of each camera?

DSLR will give you the best image if the camera is static, sony PD170 will have the weakest image but requires the least amount of light has an excellent support for sound equipment and is considered the best camera of the last 20 years for documentary filmwork. I havnt used the EX1 but if its inline with the other sony hd cameras then its got an ok hd support if you want to shoot hd, if not hd then its a bit better then the pd170 for crisp colours but the low light support is frankly rubbish in comparison to the pd170.


My advice is if its your first film go with the pd170, its easy to use, you wont get f*cked if you have problems with lighting and it has a goood sound system. The EX1 I cant justify unless you are defitinally shooting HD and DSLR does not use 3 chip system so if you are moving the camera in any way the image is going to be a disaster. 3 chip ccd system is designed for motion so you can set the camera's shutter speed for alot of motion and physically throw the camera around, DSLR uses a APS system which gives a much better image *but* if the camera body itself is moving around alot it can be very trickey and you can get alot of artifacts ruining the image.

I saw it just last week at a graduation film shot in hong kong from a london film school student and discussed it with a DP I was working with, its the main reason why he refuses to use them cause he perfers to have alot more freedom with the camera.

2 I know very little about sound and film, what would be the best piece of sound equipment to use making a short film with the above cameras.

Get a rifle mic with a boom poll, rycott kit and xlr support (phantom power would be a bonus too) plugs straight into the EX and PD150 (I'm pretty sure the canon dslr does not come with xlr support at all) PD150 has a box ontop of the camera where you can manage the sound levels and is again a camera much celebrated for its sound support. I assume the EX1 continues that legacy. Rifle mic will allow you to get a good enough control of the sound so you can focus on specifric characters and at the same time give it a nice natural feel, dont go with radio mics, they can be tricky and sound very unnatural unless they are properaly handled and have a bit of post work done on them. Rifle mic is your best bet.

3 What would be the best lightning equipment to use make short film.

You're shooting digital, indoor focused on a conversation, at best you will just need a red head set (usually 2-3 redhead lights with stands) and a set of gels and diffusions, not much else lighting wise would be needed.

Is there any other equipment i need to film the short film, on the day of filming
I would be very grateful for some advice.

Tripod is an obvious one, get a good one, not some cheap plastic one, you need the camera to be like a rock on top of it. But for a basic short film anythng more is for quality rather then necessity.

singingfish

You should really talk to Filmbase if you are in Dublin (www.filmbase.ie) or the Cork or Galway Film Centres if you are close to them. All those organisations help people getting started in the film industry and will be able to give you advice on what might best suit your needs. They also have equipment hire departments, but the people in them will be very helpful in terms of general advice and are used to taking queries from people at the early stages of their careers. Filmbase also have a short script award deadline coming up at the end of June - so you could actually submit your script in the hope of receiving some funding for it.

Sonny678

Thanks for the above advice, it was very helpful.

mkeano

There are some great and cheap books out there. Go into Easons and you'll find lots of film production guides there. Best advise is to film lots of test footage with whatever you have and then learn some editing tricks to make it look better. There are great websites with guides on making shorts too. There are also some cheap courses too. Digital Media Courses are doing movie in a day courses for €50 www.digitalmediacourses.net and/or the Digital Film School http://www.digitalfilmschool.ie/ the price depends on whether you are an adult or teenager.