I am a teenage filmaker, but I lack a decent computer and camcorder. Any suggestions, budgetwise?
I'm only 16, and I don't have a lot of money. I hate to bother my parents about getting me a computer and a camera, but I think in order for me to practice my trade in film making I need decent tools.
Do you know of a decent computer I can get that is not too expensive, but still gets the work done so it looks professional?? (keep in mind that means I will be doing video-editing, making music, probably photoshop too.)
Also a decent camcorder (preferably HD) that can get the job done but is not too expensive??
THANKS!!! =]
Keep in mind i'm only 16, so MAC is out of the question. It's way too expensive. I was thinking more like Sony? or something
WOW thanks so much Martin R~~
The information you gave is exactly what I was looking for!!
Thanks! I will definitely contact you
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Before I start, I’ll give a brief introduction of myself. I’m 16, just finished my junior year, and I’m an aspiring filmmaker as well. I first became interested in filmmaking in 8th grade, and I proceeded to shoot videos on my Aiptek camera that shot in 320×240 @ 10 fps and used Movie Maker to edit my videos.
Okay, now to answer your question. First things first, do you have a job or are you considering getting one? I don’t have a job, so I had to save forever when I got my camera. Hopefully this isn’t your situation
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Before I get into cameras, keep in mind that you can always edit with a slow computer and a good camera, but you can’t get better quality out of a mediocre camera and a fast computer. Likewise, having lights, mics, and a decent camera will usually be better than having just a great camera. In other words, focus more on the camera and additional equipment rather than worrying about having a cutting edge editing suite.
I have a Canon HV20. This is THE camera you should get, for two reasons. It’s very cheap (check the buy/sell forums at HV20.com; you can get them for $500 or even less now) and it has 24p. Basically, if you’ve ever wondered why movies look different from home videos, it’s because it’s shot on film, but also because it’s shot at 24 frames per second. 24p emulates this look. Another plus, the HV20 shoots in HD. Granted, you won’t find a plethora of manual functions on here, but I’ve gotten used to it, and it is entirely possible to maintain control over gain/shutter/aperture to get the exact look you want.
Another thing I strongly recommend getting is a decent shotgun mic. The reason I say shotgun and not lavalier (clip-on) mics is because these are extremely versatile and can be used in 80% of situations with great results. As you might have guessed, the name shotgun comes from the fact that they only pickup sound from one direction and reject sounds from the sides and rear. Sound is probably the most important deal in a movie since good sound and bad picture quality is acceptable to most people, but good picture quality and bad sound is just irritating. I have a RODE NTG-2 shotgun mic. Without getting too much into technical details, it uses XLR connectors which allows you to use longer cable lengths (10′ and above) and not worry about interference from cellphones, electrical lines, etc. However, the HV20 only has regular headphone style mic inputs (3.5mm), so if you do get an XLR mic, you will need an adapter from a company such as Beachtek or Juicedlink. Alternatively, you can get a simple XLR to 3.5mm miniplug cable from Radioshack, but you have less control over the recording levels. But at $10-$20, you really can’t complain. My NTG-2 and Beachtek DXA-2s combo cost me $400 total ($250+$150).
So why would you need more than 10′ of cable, you’re thinking? One thing about mics is that the closer to the source it is, the better the quality will usually be. If you’ve ever seen the behind-the-scenes documentaries on movies where there was a guy dangling a dead animal from a pole above the actors’ heads, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. To get better sound quality, you can use a boompole to get close to the actors, but unfortunately they cost over $100 and some cost several hundred dollars. The good news is you can buy a painter’s pole from your local hardware store and attach a mic to it. Here’s a tutorial on making your own $15 boompole:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83d3qLHaAN4
Alternatively, I am selling painter’s pole adapters on eBay. If you would like one, please ask me about it.
If you can’t spend that much money on a mic yet, I would recommend getting a Rode Videomic for $150. This mic has the regular 3.5mm output but of course the sacrifice is that you can probably safely use only 10′ of cable and not worry too much about interference. However, it’s a good place to start and is loads better than the camera’s built-in mic which picks up sounds from all directions.
I would also recommend getting some lights, or at least a couple of reflectors. A lot of the time I shoot outdoors so I can’t really use my lights, but a reflector helps a lot in improving how your actors look. If buying one is too expensive ($30 for a piece of silver cloth!?!) then get a large sheet of white posterboard from the dollar store, find a large piece of flat styrofoam, or you can cover a piece of carboard with aluminum foil. I don’t really recommend the foil though because it sometimes doesn’t diffuse the light enough and you end up getting weird bright spots at random places.
Finally, the computer. What kind of computer do you (or your family) have right now? Chances are you can probably get by using it. I have an old Sony Vaio that orginially had 2.66 GHz and 512 of RAM. I overclocked the CPU to 2.96 GHz, added another stick of RAM to have 1GB, and updated my video card. The reason for sticking with the computer you have now is because by the time you go to college, there will be better processors out. Intel is scheduled to come out with it’s new Nehalem processors near the end of 2008 and in 2009 the Westmere processors are to be released. These newer chips will have a higher clock speed and also a low power consumption. Since you are just getting started right now and probably won’t need a ridiculously fast system, I really suggest holding out for something better in the future.
With that said, if you absolutely feel like you need your own computer or that the one you have isn’t fast enough, a MacBook might be your best bet in terms of what you need now and what you’ll want in the future. If you can’t spend that much, get a Dell Vostro 1500 (look on eBay). These are fairly cheap laptops ($500-$600) and feature 1.4/1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo chips along with (usually) a GeForce 8400 128 MB video card and 1 GB of RAM. If power is what you’re looking for and portability isn’t really that important, I can’t recommend a specific brand, but you can probably get a desktop with a 2/2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive for $300-$400 at your local Circuit City or Best Buy.
Also, keep in mind that HDV/DV video takes up 1GB per 5 minutes, or 13GB per tape, so you may want to invest in two internal hard drives, or more convenient, an external hard drive.
Anyways, hopefully this helped a bit and if you ever want to talk about filmmaking, feel free to contact me. I’m always looking to meet other teen filmmakers!
ok. im pretty much in the same boat as you, except im 18 and studying fim at university next year. I did it all at school for two years of senior. It takes alot of time and effort hey. But, it is actually not too bad price-wise. Firstly, you will need to purchase a fairly quick computer with the following recommended requirements:
2.00gHz processor
2GB RAM
Large hard drive (mine is 500GB, but you only really need about 100, but the extra apace fills up quickly.
DVD-ROM (burner)
Mouse
Keyboard
Windows XP (32 / 64 bit) / Vista (32 bit for the time being, look into the option with 64 bit – google it.)
256MB graphics card.
256MB video card
These minimum requirements for the computer will mean you wil be able to easily run video software and components. TAhen, you need to think of what sort of camcorder. This is up to you, but if you choose a mini-dv one, this would be a good choice, but make sure you get a computer with a firewire port on it. The hard drive recorder ones are quite expensive, yet produce lower quality than a mini-dv tape, which in its original format is non-digital but when transferred to computer, it becomes a very large digital file.
The final thing you need is a program. They are all extremely expensive. The best program i would say would have to be Adobe Premiere 2.0. If you illegally download this (easily downloadable, you will have great sucess. I downloaded it illegally as wel, after i discovered it costs $2,000 to purchase!!! a good way to download it, is to use a torrent. Go to a good website, such as http://www.btjunkie.com and search for "adobe premiere 2.0" it will be a large file, around 1GB if i remember correctly. Download this using a torrent downloading program, such as lime-wire, or what i use, BitComet, available for download at http://www.bitcomet.com .
After you have downloaded the program, all you need to do is activate the program. It is very difficult to figure out n your own, so ask me for help if / when you get to this stage ok. email me through yahoo, or msn / email me through mlrmartinreilly339@hotmail.com or myspace me http://www.myspace.com/martin339. If you need help, more info just contact me, but i do know what i’m taking about. Hope i helped.