[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by macgeek2005 

That's a cool camera, but I think my dad might be buying me a Red (red.com), if he likes my movies enough.

He says that if one is truly inspired, they do the best they can with what they have, and that if my movies are so good that he wants them recorded in 4:4:4 1080P, then he'll buy me the cool camera.

And about the movies, I bought Extended Gladiator, Extended King Kong, Godfather Trilogy, and my brother bought me the Matrix Trilogy as an early christmas present. I'll be getting it all from amazon in a few days.

So, if you make some cool home movies, your dad is gonna buy you a $17,000 camera and a lens for it (looks like the RED lenses run $5000-$10,000)? Can you ask him if he's considering adopting another son?

[macgeek2005]

Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3 

So, if you make some cool home movies, your dad is gonna buy you a $17,000 camera and a lens for it (looks like the RED lenses run $5000-$10,000)? Can you ask him if he's considering adopting another son?

We're talking like a 2% chance that he'll actually buy it, no matter how good the movies are. And I thought those lenses were just extras. I didn't know you HAD to buy one....

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by macgeek2005 

We're talking like a 2% chance that he'll actually buy it, no matter how good the movies are. And I thought those lenses were just extras. I didn't know you HAD to buy one....

Cameras do very little good without a lens

Do yourself and your dad a favor. If you're serious about filmmaking, put that money into film school. What camera you have matters very little in making a movie. Don't worry about the equipment. If you want to be a director, work on story and character development. Read lots of books, and watch lots of movies. Pay attention to story and character more than anything. Also, keep in mind that a large part of directing is managing people. Do you like working with people? Do people like working with you?

If you're more interested in cinematography, get a still camera. Practice composition. Take as many pictures as possible. Experiment. Get a video camera. It doesn't matter whether it's good or not. Make short movies, which it seems like you're already doing. Do it as much as possible, and try different things. Try remaking a scene from a movie you like. You'll be surprised how much you get out of actually figuring out how to tackle the same problems they did when they shot it. Get some cheap work lights from Home Depot. They're a few bucks each, and they have squeeze clips to attach to things. Set up a scene with lights. Practice lighting a person, or an object. See how changing the lighting affects the scene.

A good camera doesn't make a good movie.

(I'm currently a sophomore studying filmmaking)

[macgeek2005]

Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3 

Cameras do very little good without a lens

Do yourself and your dad a favor. If you're serious about filmmaking, put that money into film school. What camera you have matters very little in making a movie. Don't worry about the equipment. If you want to be a director, work on story and character development. Read lots of books, and watch lots of movies. Pay attention to story and character more than anything. Also, keep in mind that a large part of directing is managing people. Do you like working with people? Do people like working with you?

If you're more interested in cinematography, get a still camera. Practice composition. Take as many pictures as possible. Experiment. Get a video camera. It doesn't matter whether it's good or not. Make short movies, which it seems like you're already doing. Do it as much as possible, and try different things. Try remaking a scene from a movie you like. You'll be surprised how much you get out of actually figuring out how to tackle the same problems they did when they shot it. Get some cheap work lights from Home Depot. They're a few bucks each, and they have squeeze clips to attach to things. Set up a scene with lights. Practice lighting a person, or an object. See how changing the lighting affects the scene.

A good camera doesn't make a good movie.

(I'm currently a sophomore studying filmmaking)

Sweet, thanks! I can't disagree with anything you've said. Before I film my first movie, i'm defineatly gonna practice cinemetography and stuff, and I also need to practice editing together a scene between two people. You know, where you film each side of the scene seperetaly and then edit them together.

What do you mean by a Still camera?

I've got the Sony DCR TRV-950.

[MaxPower2k3]

By still camera I mean either a film or digital photo camera-- not a video camera. Walk around taking pictures. Take one object and find different ways to photograph it. See how that affects the "mood" of the picture. After all, filmmaking is just like taking a lot of still photos in a short period of time. Digital cameras are great for this because you can take as many pictures as you want without having to conserve film or get them developed.

Eventually, you should familiarize yourself with real film cameras, since these will not have any automatic features, and will require you to do everything yourself. If your Sony camera has manual controls (it should have at least manual focus and exposure) then practice using those. Professional equipment won't do anything automatically.

In the mean time, however, the most important thing is to have fun. If you're enjoying the whole process, then that's a good sign. Filmmaking is a lot of work, but if you like it, it's very rewarding and enjoyable work.

[macgeek2005]

Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3 

By still camera I mean either a film or digital photo camera-- not a video camera. Walk around taking pictures. Take one object and find different ways to photograph it. See how that affects the "mood" of the picture. After all, filmmaking is just like taking a lot of still photos in a short period of time. Digital cameras are great for this because you can take as many pictures as you want without having to conserve film or get them developed.

Eventually, you should familiarize yourself with real film cameras, since these will not have any automatic features, and will require you to do everything yourself. If your Sony camera has manual controls (it should have at least manual focus and exposure) then practice using those. Professional equipment won't do anything automatically.

In the mean time, however, the most important thing is to have fun. If you're enjoying the whole process, then that's a good sign. Filmmaking is a lot of work, but if you like it, it's very rewarding and enjoyable work.

Hey, by the time i'm making real movies with professional equipment, everything will be filmed digitally. In fact, Star Wars Episode's 2 and 3 were not filmed on film.

Thanks for all the info and the support!

[- - e r i k - -]

The Sony TRV-950 is an awesome camera. My 8 year old TRV-900 is still outrunning a lot of today's cameras.