For a while now, I've wanted to challenge myself
to make something using
really cheap filmmaking equipment
because we've all heard that it doesn't matter
what kind of camera we use
but most of the people who say that
are already using pro-level gear
so here's what I'm going to be using:
The camera is the lovely JVC MS110
at five years old, it's not the freshest
but it has standard definition recording
and it can zoom really far
and to go with that,
we've got one of these classic cheapo tripods
For sound, I'll go with this TASCAM recoder
and plug-in some cheap headphones
For the microphone, we'll use this little one from RODE
It comes with a windshield, so we can use it outside
Let's connect that to an extension cable
and the cable to the recorder
Finish it up with a PAINTERS pole
which is slightly cheaper than a professional boompole
and I'm just going to tape the microphone to the end
By the way, I purposefully spent more
on sound than visuals,
because the audio is where
we'll really notice the difference
So that's it for equipment
no lighting gear, no drones
and we'll be using free software as well
(more in that later)
So, we've saved some money on the equipment
but that doesn't mean
that I can have a five week shoot
with thirty actors across twelve locations
Doing that would cost thousands
just to feed that many people
So it makes much more sense
to write something really short
that we can film in one or two days
with just a few actors
on a location that we can use for free
Now, that might sound like a real limitation
but there's still so much we can do within that
Writing the script, for example,
doesn't cost anything
neither does walking around
to find the perfect location
or borrowing props and costumes
drawing storyboards
we can do all of that stuff
and the only thing that's going to cost us
is our time
But eventually we have to pick a day to film
and, once that decision is made,
things tend to get a little crazy
I personally had about four days
to finish writing the script
to borrow some stuff for the shoot
to be some cheap stuff for the shoot
and to find actors,
find locations,
and to plan out the storyboards
Now could easily spent all of that time just
watching actors showreels
and deciding who to cast
and then getting in touch with actors
going back and forth, giving all the details
So, I would really recommend:
if you want to be smart about this
give yourself more time than I had
give yourself plenty of time
to plan things and, if you can,
find someone to collaborate with
that will make it so much easier
So after the four days
I still have the classic pre-shoot nerves
thinking: "Is the concept going to be good enough?"
"Is the script anywhere near good enough?"
and "Why did I leave everything until the last minute?"
So, then I get a text
at 10pm, the night before the shoot
from one of the actors:
"won't be able to make it tomorrow
because my car is broken down in Yorkshire"
Great! So, I'm e-mailing a few actors
but it's too late
we'll just have to work around it
and then the next morning
on the day of the shoot,
another one of our actors doesn't show up
so we are two actors down
and I have to rejig the script
in my head, trying to come up with something
because we really need to start shooting something
Now aside from that,
the shoot went fairly smoothly
we just had some interruptions
from buses and trains
at regular intervals
but that gave us something to joke about
(plane noise)
Sometimes we'd get to the end of the take
and I knew I had some feedback for the actors
but I had completely forgotten it
because I just had so many other things
going through my mind
But the cheap equipment
was serving us well
the only problem was that I couldn't get hold
of an extra battery for the camera
so when it shut down
we had to find a café
to charge it up
time for lunch break I guess
From there we had to think really carefully
about which shots were most important
knowing that the camera could switch off
at any moment
and it was starting to get dark
Aside from the battery
using cheap equipment
wasn't really a problem
Now sure, the tripod couldn't pan smoothly
but I ended up just holding it
and the weight of the tripod balanced it out
to give us some pretty smooth shots
I took the camera out of automatic mode
so I could control the exposure
and I'm pretty pleased
with how the visuals turned out
especially when we could use the bridge
as a dark background
or to block the light coming from one side
like in this shot
So, as usual,
if you found a good location with good light
it will like pretty good through any camera
Our sound set-up meant we could
listen to the audio
to check for any problems
while getting the mic
nice and close to the dialogue
which is key
So by this point,
I had completely lost track of the shot list
that I had planned out,
but I was pretty confident
that I had got everything I needed
as far as coverage goes,
but I had to be
because the camera had died
and it was getting really dark
So, evening after the shoot,
I kept thinking about all the things
that hadn't worked out as I'd hoped
and I actually was too scared to look at the footage
until late the next day
yeah :)
But I did actually move on to editing
with the free software
HITFILM EXPRESS
(not sponsored)
and the thing to remember about editing software
is that unless you're planning to use
complex CGI characters
and lots of fancy effects
it really doesn't matter what king of software you use
DAVINCI RESOLVE is a good option
but for this project,
I used the basic option of HITFILM
which is free,
and it does everything we needed to do
the simple truth is that any editing software
can handle the essential parts of editing
which are changing the lenght
and the order of the shots
as simple as that
We can even do some color-grading
using the levels to add some contrast
and then increasing the saturation slightly
I think that improves things for this shot
Next, we can go through and add some sound effects
that we've recorded separately
whether it's footsteps
or anything else that makes a noise
Taking the time to do this
will really make things feel three-dimensional
So then there's the music
now on a sustain budget
it's really hard to find good music that fits
and that's where FILMSTRO comes in
they've sponsored this video
and they offer single licences
that are fully customizable
for six dollars
Now the best way to see what FILMSTRO can do
is just to play around with the demo film
Watch this:
(music playing)
So I imported my short-film
looked through the themes to choose one
and then started shaping it
to fit what's happening on the screen
In this case, that meant keeping
the momentum quite low most of the time
So you can try it for free,
play around with it and,
like I said, you can get individual themes
which is what I did for this project
but they also have subscription
if you want unlimited use
But all the info, including a 20% discount,
is in the description
So when I started this project,
I was challenging myself to use
inexpensive equipment and software
but really, that wasn't that difficult
The real challenge
was trying to sort out all the logistics at the last minute
trying to do so many different jobs by myself
and trying to tell a story
in a really short time frame
So I'll upload the short-film next week
but in the meantime, I challenge you to make something
that seems impossible
whether it's making a short-film
with really really cheap gear
or just making something
on a really really tight deadline
or something more ambitious
than you've ever made before
I challenge you to go out there and do something
that you really don't think you can do
because as difficult as it is
and as... it really isn't even that much fun
it's the kind of thing that you'd look back on
and you go: "wow,
I learned so much from doing that"
My name is Simon Cade,
this has been DSLRguide
and I'll see you next week
(apple bite??)
(outro music)