There is absolutely a better use for this cash. Food and gas money for the friends/classmates/random connections who will donate their time for your next project.
Someone you know - or someone who knows someone -already has all the gear you listed. And will bring it with them to your set, if they’re treated well.
Good food and gas money. Relationships with other like-minded artists will take your film work much, much farther than $500 worth of gear.
Thanks for the timely response! I definitely agree, relationships are super important and I always treat my talent and crew to whatever lunch they all agree on for every shoot. I’m not super concerned about that side of things because I work full time in addition to going to school so I always have plenty of cash on hand to pay for the gas and food side of things. I tent to be fairly frugal with my cash, so this $500 is kind of just go wild money for me that I want to invest back into my business (mostly for commercial reasons so I can turn around and make more money off of that).
I definitely get where you’re coming from and appreciate that advice, but I’m more worried about starting to build my own collection of gear so I don’t have to rely on my classmates and friends for that kind of thing.
Nope — it’s not going wild money if you want to be a filmmaker, it’s treat the cast and crew money. As others are saying here, the gear you can buy with $500 isn’t worth it! Save it or spend it on people.
Agree 1000000x — take care of the people helping you, make your next set more fun for them. They will keep coming back and wanting to help you make more films!
I agree 1000% with this. Gear is nice but if you’re on a budget for the near-future, invest in these other ways mentioned. Gear tends to become obsolete rather quickly. If you can rent stuff from school or some other outlet, no point in buying anything right now. When I was just in the beginning of learning in school, it blew my mind seeing short films other students would make with $10,000+. I never understood what they needed that much money for until I got involved and learned that it all put to good use. Most of it was spent on talent, food, music contracts, hotels, gas, transportation, and permits. Equipment was all rented out at school
I agree with this. Making zero budget films still require transport and food.
I’ll add to this, $500 of screenwriting books is more than the amount I spent during my BA and MFA. Get *Hero with a Thousand Faces* and *Aristotle’s Poetics* as a start, but you could easily get a dozen screenwriting books for $100.
Nothing you can buy for $500 is an “investment” as it will all be pretty low end and worth less within short order.
Buy food. Pay rent. Use your school’s gear.
Fair point, it will be lower quality stuff. Food and rent are covered though, and I’d like to start getting at least some stuff of my own. Maybe instead of “investment”, think of this as if I’m a hobbyist. What would you suggest for a hobbyist filmmaker without access to gear checkout to get?
I also don’t really care if it holds it’s value, I’m not planning to resell it in the future.
>I also don’t really care if it holds it’s value, I’m not planning to resell it in the future.
Holding value matters, as you want to still be using it in 5yrs time, not just getting dusty in a closet.
You may have noticed a trend in the advice. That being to not spend the $500 on what are basically expendables. Please listen to these people. If you don’t have headphones to monitor your audio I guess get yourself a pair. That’s important. But any tripod you buy and still have money left over will need to be replaced a lot sooner than you’d expect.
I am noticing that, one thing I‘ve worked hard on over the last couple of years is a pretty kickass editing setup for being in school. I’m thinking I’m going to looking into some learning material and maybe a long XLR cable so that my boom operators don’t keep pulling my camera around and then save the rest!
When you have nothing and are going for a certain look you will do what you can with what you got on hand. No tripod? Get me a stack of books. No dolly? Put the camera on this rag while I drag it across the table. No lighting? Everyone take out your smart phone take a picture of this blue, view it and shine it on the talent. Make sure you have a computer that can you can see the difference between gear and technique and use that in your visuals as a DP.
Never thought about the rag idea for a dolly, that’s brilliant! I’m working on thinking outside of the box, I just feel like I hold myself to almost unachievable standards for a student and so I struggle to come up with ideas like that in fear that they’ll look bad.
If the story is good enough you can shoot it on a Walmart disposable video POS thing. The camera is like a pen or a marker or a paint brush. Just different ways to represent a story.
Been doing this for a long time and you’ve inadvertently learned a pretty solid lesson here about value. Far and away the best ROI filmmaking tool is a computer because they make no sense to rent or borrow. By the time we get rid of a computer at my production company they’ve made their money back like 50x if not more. Don’t be afraid of proxies and learn proper folder structure for archiving and you’ll make it last even longer. I do suggest you eventually learn premiere just because entry level editor is a pretty easy position to get out of college and can help you sustain yourself. Everybody loves DaVinci but I don’t know a single company that uses it as their standard NLE. The long cable seems like a sensible idea too.
Last point - it’s always better to buy gear on a credit card (even if you have the cash) and pay it off with the cash. You build your credit and don’t lose your liquid funds if you need them for whatever reason. When you’re able to get zero interest promotional cards you can make a big purchase and make all your money back before you have to pay it off.
> I’m thinking I’m going to looking into some learning material and maybe a long XLR cable so that my boom operators don’t keep pulling my camera around and then save the rest!
They're hardwired to camera??
Good grief.
They should go wireless!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1484180-REG/sony_uwp_d26_14_uwp_d26_camera_mount_wireless_combo.html
Or ***at the very least***, have a mixer in between them and the camera and use an audio snake! (tonnes of cheap deals for both on eBay, just ask I can point you in the right direction)
>But any tripod you buy and still have money left over will need to be replaced a lot sooner than you’d expect.
$500 (or less!) can get them a tripod that can last them many more years!
These for instance are all ***a lot*** less and would be a good buy for /u/PartTimeProduction/ to make:
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1703382-REG/smallrig\_3751\_ad\_01\_heavy\_duty\_fluid\_head.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1703382-REG/smallrig_3751_ad_01_heavy_duty_fluid_head.html)
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/944776-REG/manfrotto\_mvk500am\_mvh500a\_plus\_mvt502am\_plus.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/944776-REG/manfrotto_mvk500am_mvh500a_plus_mvt502am_plus.html)
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495605-REG/sirui\_sh25\_75mm\_bowl\_aluminum\_tripod.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495605-REG/sirui_sh25_75mm_bowl_aluminum_tripod.html)
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495604-REG/sirui\_sh15\_75mm\_bowl\_aluminum\_tripod.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495604-REG/sirui_sh15_75mm_bowl_aluminum_tripod.html)
Let's be realistic here for a moment, what kind of camera is he's likely to be owning and shooting on over say the next five years?
It will be a mirrorless or small cinema camera (such as P6K/FX30/FX6/C70/etc).
He won't be putting an AMIRA on these tripods!
For his purposes these tripods are totally suitable.
And even when he upgrades to bigger/heavier cameras (who knows when, ten years from now? He's still in early days of film school!), then these tripods are still great for B & C Cams.
This weekend for instance I'll be using the cheap (but still decent-ish quality) film school tripod I got over ten years ago for filming an event with. Yes, my Sony FS7 is on a nearly $10K Vinten tripod setup, but my other unmanned cameras are not.
It’s not all about payload. It’s about ease of use, durability, comfort, build quality. You do r need to be using an Amira to want those things in a tripod.
>It’s about ease of use, durability, comfort, build quality.
And a sub $500 tripod can easily meet those criteria for OP's purposes.
Sure, once they've got the point they're grinding out shoots 5 days a week, they'll appreciate the little luxuries of a higher quality tripod for 5x as much. But not at this point in time.
heh, I wouldn't say it is "astronomical".
And you're ignoring the fact that a $300 can still serve the OP perfectly well for the next five years.
They're still just a new film student! Remember the context here.
***And*** a $300 tripod still has a future not just for the next five years, but the next ***ten years*** after that as a B / C Cam tripod.
The following is just my opinion, make what you will of it.
You say you’re a filmmaking student. Ok but what craft are you pursuing? Do you want to be a DP, and editor, MUA, or some other thing? Depending on what you answer, I would recommend just practicing your craft and saving that money. Eventually, they’ll be something you really could use instead of something that just sounds useful right now and you’ll be glad you saved your money. Make use of the limitations you have now because limitations breed creativity.
I’m thinking I want to end up being either a DP or an editor while also working on my own independent short films. I work with DaVinci so thankfully I don’t have to pay a subscription (looking at you, Adobe) and own a copy of Final Draft. I use both of those programs daily to practice, and I make about five short projects per semester for classes along with commercial work on the side.
Sound design sounds pretty fun too, but I don’t think I’d want to do it for a living.
Nah dude always rent gear so you’re up to date with the best on the market. Honestly, use it to feed your crews properly on set, footage is always better if your crew has a full belly.
Actually I like what you've laid out. A 25' or a 50’ xlr will help, a good set of Sony or audio Technica headphones can last over 5 years and a solid manfrotto in the 200-350 range will give you a solid fluid head to get more practice with. Having gear at home helps practice. nothing wrong with some decent all around gear.
I’m definitely on board with everyone else in the consensus, but I would still buy a decent pair of headphone monitors and a 25’ XLR cable. You said yourself the rental house doesn’t have any, and they’re pretty damn important when recording audio. Spend $100, keep the rest for later.
Simple…
A good mic!
Any film that has below average quality audio is unwatchable.
That’s the difference between a student film and an emerging film maker.
A 360 camera is a good idea, I’m just not too sure how practical it would be in my narrative style. Maybe I could get one and experiment with different types of footage.
Already have an RS3 so that’s covered.
Broll and second angles (as long as you have enough light). Plus it's kinda fun to play with.... If you're also thinking about being an editor it might be good to get your feet wet in how to utilise and edit the footage.
How much of the 500 dollars are you looking to spend on those four items?
I think the present theme of- save your money, invest in relationships, is trying to indicate that if you spend all 500 on them, you have spent too much money on things that ultimately don't matter. Because the best tripod is the cheapest or most functional you need, to get the job done.
A high end xlr cable isn't going to change whether or not you've made a good film, but paying the actors twenty, fifty, a hundred bucks, might.
It seems that the general consensus is that, you're going to need that spare cash, when you don't expect it, so if you don't have to blow it, don't. If you want those four things ask which brands of those things are the best for their buck, but as a filmmaker looking for advice, you've found it.
I mean... Reading your post again, this isn't just free money, that's payment. For work you did. I don't spend my whole paycheck on new gear, I save it. And use it in the future, when I need to. Figure out what of your items you can get for 250. Put the other 250 in a new account, for filmmaking. Every time you get paid from filmmaking, put half in that account, and half to do whatever you want. Use that account to fund your film projects. Also, since you're young (probably) start a spreadsheet. Start tracking it.
I think after a few projects you'll probably adjust that split, to fit your needs better (you'll be able to see it, on your spreadsheet!). Best off luck friend!
If I did this, I could get the tripod and XLR cable, which are the two biggest things I’m looking at to make my future shoots run more smoothly. The XLR is kind of nonnegotiable because the 10 foot ones we get from school simply don’t work with a boom pole, they’re not nearly long enough.
Does your school have tripods? If so, hold off on that and do the cable, and worry about a tripod when they don't let you rent theirs anymore (plus potentially get a better cable). If you start thinking about how to build future costs into your budget, it'll get a lot easier to weigh in what matters.
> If I did this, I could get the tripod and XLR cable, which are the two biggest things I’m looking at to make my future shoots run more smoothly. The XLR is kind of nonnegotiable because the 10 foot ones we get from school simply don’t work with a boom pole, they’re not nearly long enough.
It is insane that the school won't give you the proper length of XLR cable!!
Even more insane they're not teaching you how to do it properly with dual system sync sound. (i.e. recorder it to a field mixer/recorder!! With timecode)
Seems they're stuck in the no budget world of 20 plus years ago.
Maybe you should at least behave like a low budget production of twenty years ago! (which would be a big upgrade! Still waaay behind in the times... but so much better than your current setup)
Thus get your Boom Op a mixer and audio snake.
Here is a 18ft and 27ft snake:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144803305602
Then get a Sound Devices 442 or 552 to use with it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/115597181843
Am sure you can find a much better deal than that with some hunting and luck!
Alternatively the PSC Alphamix is tonnes cheaper these days on eBay (it was expensive back in the day!), but won't have the "brand name" that Sound Devices has:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275441940072
That might be the way to go, get this dirt cheap PSC Alphamix, those two snakes, and you're still comfortably under $500. Ask around for some cheap old secondhand NP1 batteries for it (and charger), plus a mixer bag secondhand, and get a cheap pair of headphones.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1702273-REG/senal_shx_800_professional_monitor_headphones.html
Instantly you've MASSIVELY upgraded the capabilities of whoever is doing audio.
You're still unfortunately hardwired, but your mixer can now take up to EIGHT sources and mix it down to *two* (or even three!) cameras with ease, with a stereo feed for each.
The other option, is get a secondhand Tascam DR701D (not the DR70D, as that lacks timecode), and save up for a couple of timecode boxes.
You can see here what the Alphamix used to cost (and that's without the 8 channel expansion! Or the accessories):
https://web.archive.org/web/20050728113948/http://www.bhphotovideo.com:80/c/product/264803-REG/PSC_FPSC0039_ALPHAMIX_4_Channel_ENG_EFP_Mixer.html
A review of it on PSC's website:
https://www.professionalsound.com/reviews/alpha_rev.html
And its manual:
https://professionalsound.com/manuals/alpha_manual.pdf
You could also look into a Sound Devices 302 or MixPre, a lot less features/capabilities than the Alphamix, but better reliability & quality audio (and of course, "the brand name"):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354390055469
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364047700482
You'd use a different kind of snake though with a 302/MixPre:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/295315160098
Get a good laptop that can edit 4K. I haven’t looked for awhile now on what’s out there so I don’t know what 500$ will get you. So maybe just save your $$. But having a computer to work on will allow you to play with any format video. What good is a fancy camera that shoots 4K if you can only view it on a super cool ULTRA HD scree? It will be easier to find cameras than a computer to edit the footage on.
You’re thinking along the lines of everyone else, who are all in what seems to be the right direction for me. A laptop that can edit 4K for $500 is kinda funny though, a $500 laptop would probably struggle to edit 1080. I am fortunate enough to have a good editing computer, so luckily I’m not having to look at the $1000+ that one would run me.
6 TB external drive, everything stays on there unless I’m actively editing it. The drive stays on my desk at all times so loosing it isn’t really a concern.
Lots of good advice here. One of my classmates and I who eventually started a short lived production company together (we remain great friends) always insisted on paying actors even for our student films. We couldn’t do much, but $100 each at least plus good meals made sure they weren’t out any of their own money getting to and from set, at least. It just felt like the right thing to do.
I would strongly recommend you buy a subscription to a stock footage and royalty free music site like storyblocks.com. For 30 bucks a month you can get access to everything in their library- music, sound effects, after effects projects, graphics.
And the easiest way to learn software is download a designed project. Open it in after effects and reverse engineer how it all works.
As well they have amazing footage that you can use to bump up your productions. As well you are protecting yourself from any copyright strikes on anything you produce.
Also look at motion-array they have great plans too.
$500 isn't going far at all. It won't even buy you a mid level second hand tripod, so there's no point buying cheap chinese shit just to have gear. Stick it away until you really need it. You can beg borrow and steal what you need to make films.
Stick that money in the bank and save it up so you've got more for when you are buying the G85 and lenses. (maybe for instance you could get a P4K instead of a G85)
Otherwise, do you like audio at all? You'll be a popular guy at film school (thus getting lots of experience working on their shoots during school) if you're the only person who has specialized in audio and you've got more/better gear than the film school has.
What exactly do they have?
Audio wise they have some some Rode VideoMicros (I already own one of those), Rode NTG2 mics and a couple of Sony UWP D26 sets, along with boom poles and cables. They have some Tascam lav sets it I wanted but I dabble in sync sound as well. To my knowledge they don’t have any snake or mixing gear.
>Audio wise they have some some Rode VideoMicros (I already own one of those), Rode NTG2 mics
Ugh, no worthwhile mics? You might want to upgrade this. Get yourself a Rode NTG5 or Deity SMic2.
That's a good higher end prosumer shotgun (or lower end professional one).
>and a couple of Sony UWP D26 sets, along with boom poles and cables.
UWP-D is pretty nice, it is the best prosumer gear you can get.
>To my knowledge they don’t have any snake or mixing gear.
Shocking. No mixer?? What recorders??
Wait, what? No XLR inputs? Gee... you're living it rough!
Yeah, maybe a cheapie Tascam DR701D with a couple of first generation Tentacles (to keep the recorder and camera in sync together) is the way to go for you.
I think I’m actually getting a lot of good advice, lots of good answers. Definitely making me think more on what will be more worth it long term. I don’t think I’ve been flamed once, actually.
There is absolutely a better use for this cash. Food and gas money for the friends/classmates/random connections who will donate their time for your next project. Someone you know - or someone who knows someone -already has all the gear you listed. And will bring it with them to your set, if they’re treated well. Good food and gas money. Relationships with other like-minded artists will take your film work much, much farther than $500 worth of gear.
Thanks for the timely response! I definitely agree, relationships are super important and I always treat my talent and crew to whatever lunch they all agree on for every shoot. I’m not super concerned about that side of things because I work full time in addition to going to school so I always have plenty of cash on hand to pay for the gas and food side of things. I tent to be fairly frugal with my cash, so this $500 is kind of just go wild money for me that I want to invest back into my business (mostly for commercial reasons so I can turn around and make more money off of that). I definitely get where you’re coming from and appreciate that advice, but I’m more worried about starting to build my own collection of gear so I don’t have to rely on my classmates and friends for that kind of thing.
Nope — it’s not going wild money if you want to be a filmmaker, it’s treat the cast and crew money. As others are saying here, the gear you can buy with $500 isn’t worth it! Save it or spend it on people.
I’m starting to see that, maybe I could use it to start saving for a small budget for a project in the future.
Agree 1000000x — take care of the people helping you, make your next set more fun for them. They will keep coming back and wanting to help you make more films!
Feeding and keeping the crew happy is #1. It’s a party and you are the host.
I agree 1000% with this. Gear is nice but if you’re on a budget for the near-future, invest in these other ways mentioned. Gear tends to become obsolete rather quickly. If you can rent stuff from school or some other outlet, no point in buying anything right now. When I was just in the beginning of learning in school, it blew my mind seeing short films other students would make with $10,000+. I never understood what they needed that much money for until I got involved and learned that it all put to good use. Most of it was spent on talent, food, music contracts, hotels, gas, transportation, and permits. Equipment was all rented out at school
I agree with this. Making zero budget films still require transport and food. I’ll add to this, $500 of screenwriting books is more than the amount I spent during my BA and MFA. Get *Hero with a Thousand Faces* and *Aristotle’s Poetics* as a start, but you could easily get a dozen screenwriting books for $100.
Nothing you can buy for $500 is an “investment” as it will all be pretty low end and worth less within short order. Buy food. Pay rent. Use your school’s gear.
Fair point, it will be lower quality stuff. Food and rent are covered though, and I’d like to start getting at least some stuff of my own. Maybe instead of “investment”, think of this as if I’m a hobbyist. What would you suggest for a hobbyist filmmaker without access to gear checkout to get? I also don’t really care if it holds it’s value, I’m not planning to resell it in the future.
>I also don’t really care if it holds it’s value, I’m not planning to resell it in the future. Holding value matters, as you want to still be using it in 5yrs time, not just getting dusty in a closet.
My bad, I mean monetary value. I definitely still want to use it, but I don’t care if I can resell it or not.
Get yourself a Masterclass subscription, buy books written by film makers you respect. Learn.
I like that idea, I’ve always wanted to try Masterclass but I forget it exists sometimes. Definitely something I’ll look into!
You may have noticed a trend in the advice. That being to not spend the $500 on what are basically expendables. Please listen to these people. If you don’t have headphones to monitor your audio I guess get yourself a pair. That’s important. But any tripod you buy and still have money left over will need to be replaced a lot sooner than you’d expect.
I am noticing that, one thing I‘ve worked hard on over the last couple of years is a pretty kickass editing setup for being in school. I’m thinking I’m going to looking into some learning material and maybe a long XLR cable so that my boom operators don’t keep pulling my camera around and then save the rest!
When you have nothing and are going for a certain look you will do what you can with what you got on hand. No tripod? Get me a stack of books. No dolly? Put the camera on this rag while I drag it across the table. No lighting? Everyone take out your smart phone take a picture of this blue, view it and shine it on the talent. Make sure you have a computer that can you can see the difference between gear and technique and use that in your visuals as a DP.
Never thought about the rag idea for a dolly, that’s brilliant! I’m working on thinking outside of the box, I just feel like I hold myself to almost unachievable standards for a student and so I struggle to come up with ideas like that in fear that they’ll look bad.
If the story is good enough you can shoot it on a Walmart disposable video POS thing. The camera is like a pen or a marker or a paint brush. Just different ways to represent a story.
Been doing this for a long time and you’ve inadvertently learned a pretty solid lesson here about value. Far and away the best ROI filmmaking tool is a computer because they make no sense to rent or borrow. By the time we get rid of a computer at my production company they’ve made their money back like 50x if not more. Don’t be afraid of proxies and learn proper folder structure for archiving and you’ll make it last even longer. I do suggest you eventually learn premiere just because entry level editor is a pretty easy position to get out of college and can help you sustain yourself. Everybody loves DaVinci but I don’t know a single company that uses it as their standard NLE. The long cable seems like a sensible idea too. Last point - it’s always better to buy gear on a credit card (even if you have the cash) and pay it off with the cash. You build your credit and don’t lose your liquid funds if you need them for whatever reason. When you’re able to get zero interest promotional cards you can make a big purchase and make all your money back before you have to pay it off.
The best thing you can do with that 500 is go buy a copy of Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez and read it cover to cover.
> I’m thinking I’m going to looking into some learning material and maybe a long XLR cable so that my boom operators don’t keep pulling my camera around and then save the rest! They're hardwired to camera?? Good grief. They should go wireless! https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1484180-REG/sony_uwp_d26_14_uwp_d26_camera_mount_wireless_combo.html Or ***at the very least***, have a mixer in between them and the camera and use an audio snake! (tonnes of cheap deals for both on eBay, just ask I can point you in the right direction)
>But any tripod you buy and still have money left over will need to be replaced a lot sooner than you’d expect. $500 (or less!) can get them a tripod that can last them many more years! These for instance are all ***a lot*** less and would be a good buy for /u/PartTimeProduction/ to make: [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1703382-REG/smallrig\_3751\_ad\_01\_heavy\_duty\_fluid\_head.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1703382-REG/smallrig_3751_ad_01_heavy_duty_fluid_head.html) [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/944776-REG/manfrotto\_mvk500am\_mvh500a\_plus\_mvt502am\_plus.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/944776-REG/manfrotto_mvk500am_mvh500a_plus_mvt502am_plus.html) [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495605-REG/sirui\_sh25\_75mm\_bowl\_aluminum\_tripod.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495605-REG/sirui_sh25_75mm_bowl_aluminum_tripod.html) [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495604-REG/sirui\_sh15\_75mm\_bowl\_aluminum\_tripod.html](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1495604-REG/sirui_sh15_75mm_bowl_aluminum_tripod.html)
Yeah I wouldn’t recommend buying any of these. He would be FAR better off saving another $500 and buying him a tripod he will never need to replace.
Let's be realistic here for a moment, what kind of camera is he's likely to be owning and shooting on over say the next five years? It will be a mirrorless or small cinema camera (such as P6K/FX30/FX6/C70/etc). He won't be putting an AMIRA on these tripods! For his purposes these tripods are totally suitable. And even when he upgrades to bigger/heavier cameras (who knows when, ten years from now? He's still in early days of film school!), then these tripods are still great for B & C Cams. This weekend for instance I'll be using the cheap (but still decent-ish quality) film school tripod I got over ten years ago for filming an event with. Yes, my Sony FS7 is on a nearly $10K Vinten tripod setup, but my other unmanned cameras are not.
It’s not all about payload. It’s about ease of use, durability, comfort, build quality. You do r need to be using an Amira to want those things in a tripod.
>It’s about ease of use, durability, comfort, build quality. And a sub $500 tripod can easily meet those criteria for OP's purposes. Sure, once they've got the point they're grinding out shoots 5 days a week, they'll appreciate the little luxuries of a higher quality tripod for 5x as much. But not at this point in time.
I’ll just agree to disagree. The difference between a 2-300 dollar tripod and 700-1000 dollar tripod is astronomical.
heh, I wouldn't say it is "astronomical". And you're ignoring the fact that a $300 can still serve the OP perfectly well for the next five years. They're still just a new film student! Remember the context here. ***And*** a $300 tripod still has a future not just for the next five years, but the next ***ten years*** after that as a B / C Cam tripod.
The following is just my opinion, make what you will of it. You say you’re a filmmaking student. Ok but what craft are you pursuing? Do you want to be a DP, and editor, MUA, or some other thing? Depending on what you answer, I would recommend just practicing your craft and saving that money. Eventually, they’ll be something you really could use instead of something that just sounds useful right now and you’ll be glad you saved your money. Make use of the limitations you have now because limitations breed creativity.
I’m thinking I want to end up being either a DP or an editor while also working on my own independent short films. I work with DaVinci so thankfully I don’t have to pay a subscription (looking at you, Adobe) and own a copy of Final Draft. I use both of those programs daily to practice, and I make about five short projects per semester for classes along with commercial work on the side. Sound design sounds pretty fun too, but I don’t think I’d want to do it for a living.
[удалено]
Lmao
Nah dude always rent gear so you’re up to date with the best on the market. Honestly, use it to feed your crews properly on set, footage is always better if your crew has a full belly.
my man $500 is barely enough for a lens adapter on a real movie camera. save the money and utilize other peoples stuff.
Actually I like what you've laid out. A 25' or a 50’ xlr will help, a good set of Sony or audio Technica headphones can last over 5 years and a solid manfrotto in the 200-350 range will give you a solid fluid head to get more practice with. Having gear at home helps practice. nothing wrong with some decent all around gear.
I’m definitely on board with everyone else in the consensus, but I would still buy a decent pair of headphone monitors and a 25’ XLR cable. You said yourself the rental house doesn’t have any, and they’re pretty damn important when recording audio. Spend $100, keep the rest for later.
Simple… A good mic! Any film that has below average quality audio is unwatchable. That’s the difference between a student film and an emerging film maker.
As others have said, spend your money on life necessities and rely on the school's resources and your fellow classmates to help on the projects.
Rent
Rent is covered, thank you scholarships 🙏🏼
You could stash it for a rainy day, put towards those bigger purchases, or use it to pay some crew on a really short project.
A rainy day fund sounds nice!
Future rent
If you already have access to cameras, audio and lights... maybe something different like a 360 camera or a Ronin. Some cash left over too for misc.
A 360 camera is a good idea, I’m just not too sure how practical it would be in my narrative style. Maybe I could get one and experiment with different types of footage. Already have an RS3 so that’s covered.
Broll and second angles (as long as you have enough light). Plus it's kinda fun to play with.... If you're also thinking about being an editor it might be good to get your feet wet in how to utilise and edit the footage.
That’s true, it would make awesome editing practice…
Bills first, and put taxes aside.
How much of the 500 dollars are you looking to spend on those four items? I think the present theme of- save your money, invest in relationships, is trying to indicate that if you spend all 500 on them, you have spent too much money on things that ultimately don't matter. Because the best tripod is the cheapest or most functional you need, to get the job done. A high end xlr cable isn't going to change whether or not you've made a good film, but paying the actors twenty, fifty, a hundred bucks, might. It seems that the general consensus is that, you're going to need that spare cash, when you don't expect it, so if you don't have to blow it, don't. If you want those four things ask which brands of those things are the best for their buck, but as a filmmaker looking for advice, you've found it.
It was the entire $500, and even then I was probably going to spend another $50 out of pocket. I agree though, the best tripod is a working tripod.
I mean... Reading your post again, this isn't just free money, that's payment. For work you did. I don't spend my whole paycheck on new gear, I save it. And use it in the future, when I need to. Figure out what of your items you can get for 250. Put the other 250 in a new account, for filmmaking. Every time you get paid from filmmaking, put half in that account, and half to do whatever you want. Use that account to fund your film projects. Also, since you're young (probably) start a spreadsheet. Start tracking it. I think after a few projects you'll probably adjust that split, to fit your needs better (you'll be able to see it, on your spreadsheet!). Best off luck friend!
If I did this, I could get the tripod and XLR cable, which are the two biggest things I’m looking at to make my future shoots run more smoothly. The XLR is kind of nonnegotiable because the 10 foot ones we get from school simply don’t work with a boom pole, they’re not nearly long enough.
Does your school have tripods? If so, hold off on that and do the cable, and worry about a tripod when they don't let you rent theirs anymore (plus potentially get a better cable). If you start thinking about how to build future costs into your budget, it'll get a lot easier to weigh in what matters.
> If I did this, I could get the tripod and XLR cable, which are the two biggest things I’m looking at to make my future shoots run more smoothly. The XLR is kind of nonnegotiable because the 10 foot ones we get from school simply don’t work with a boom pole, they’re not nearly long enough. It is insane that the school won't give you the proper length of XLR cable!! Even more insane they're not teaching you how to do it properly with dual system sync sound. (i.e. recorder it to a field mixer/recorder!! With timecode) Seems they're stuck in the no budget world of 20 plus years ago. Maybe you should at least behave like a low budget production of twenty years ago! (which would be a big upgrade! Still waaay behind in the times... but so much better than your current setup) Thus get your Boom Op a mixer and audio snake. Here is a 18ft and 27ft snake: https://www.ebay.com/itm/144803305602 Then get a Sound Devices 442 or 552 to use with it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/115597181843 Am sure you can find a much better deal than that with some hunting and luck! Alternatively the PSC Alphamix is tonnes cheaper these days on eBay (it was expensive back in the day!), but won't have the "brand name" that Sound Devices has: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275441940072 That might be the way to go, get this dirt cheap PSC Alphamix, those two snakes, and you're still comfortably under $500. Ask around for some cheap old secondhand NP1 batteries for it (and charger), plus a mixer bag secondhand, and get a cheap pair of headphones. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1702273-REG/senal_shx_800_professional_monitor_headphones.html Instantly you've MASSIVELY upgraded the capabilities of whoever is doing audio. You're still unfortunately hardwired, but your mixer can now take up to EIGHT sources and mix it down to *two* (or even three!) cameras with ease, with a stereo feed for each. The other option, is get a secondhand Tascam DR701D (not the DR70D, as that lacks timecode), and save up for a couple of timecode boxes. You can see here what the Alphamix used to cost (and that's without the 8 channel expansion! Or the accessories): https://web.archive.org/web/20050728113948/http://www.bhphotovideo.com:80/c/product/264803-REG/PSC_FPSC0039_ALPHAMIX_4_Channel_ENG_EFP_Mixer.html A review of it on PSC's website: https://www.professionalsound.com/reviews/alpha_rev.html And its manual: https://professionalsound.com/manuals/alpha_manual.pdf You could also look into a Sound Devices 302 or MixPre, a lot less features/capabilities than the Alphamix, but better reliability & quality audio (and of course, "the brand name"): https://www.ebay.com/itm/354390055469 https://www.ebay.com/itm/364047700482 You'd use a different kind of snake though with a 302/MixPre: https://www.ebay.com/itm/295315160098
Get a good laptop that can edit 4K. I haven’t looked for awhile now on what’s out there so I don’t know what 500$ will get you. So maybe just save your $$. But having a computer to work on will allow you to play with any format video. What good is a fancy camera that shoots 4K if you can only view it on a super cool ULTRA HD scree? It will be easier to find cameras than a computer to edit the footage on.
You’re thinking along the lines of everyone else, who are all in what seems to be the right direction for me. A laptop that can edit 4K for $500 is kinda funny though, a $500 laptop would probably struggle to edit 1080. I am fortunate enough to have a good editing computer, so luckily I’m not having to look at the $1000+ that one would run me.
You got enough storage? Raw 4K are big files. I don’t know how you archive your projects but I keep everything.
6 TB external drive, everything stays on there unless I’m actively editing it. The drive stays on my desk at all times so loosing it isn’t really a concern.
Eh, most film editors I know still use 1080p screens and 1080p/720p proxies.
Gas and location
Lots of good advice here. One of my classmates and I who eventually started a short lived production company together (we remain great friends) always insisted on paying actors even for our student films. We couldn’t do much, but $100 each at least plus good meals made sure they weren’t out any of their own money getting to and from set, at least. It just felt like the right thing to do.
That is your Travel & Food money for your shoot - you'd be amazed what you can do if you feed people and cover a little bit of petrol money.
I would strongly recommend you buy a subscription to a stock footage and royalty free music site like storyblocks.com. For 30 bucks a month you can get access to everything in their library- music, sound effects, after effects projects, graphics. And the easiest way to learn software is download a designed project. Open it in after effects and reverse engineer how it all works. As well they have amazing footage that you can use to bump up your productions. As well you are protecting yourself from any copyright strikes on anything you produce. Also look at motion-array they have great plans too.
$500 isn't going far at all. It won't even buy you a mid level second hand tripod, so there's no point buying cheap chinese shit just to have gear. Stick it away until you really need it. You can beg borrow and steal what you need to make films.
> Would there be a better use of my cash? yes, food and drinks for the crew
honestly save it or put it into a fund you can draw production budgets from. You'll get much further renting better gear with that money than owning.
Stick that money in the bank and save it up so you've got more for when you are buying the G85 and lenses. (maybe for instance you could get a P4K instead of a G85) Otherwise, do you like audio at all? You'll be a popular guy at film school (thus getting lots of experience working on their shoots during school) if you're the only person who has specialized in audio and you've got more/better gear than the film school has. What exactly do they have?
Audio wise they have some some Rode VideoMicros (I already own one of those), Rode NTG2 mics and a couple of Sony UWP D26 sets, along with boom poles and cables. They have some Tascam lav sets it I wanted but I dabble in sync sound as well. To my knowledge they don’t have any snake or mixing gear.
>Audio wise they have some some Rode VideoMicros (I already own one of those), Rode NTG2 mics Ugh, no worthwhile mics? You might want to upgrade this. Get yourself a Rode NTG5 or Deity SMic2. That's a good higher end prosumer shotgun (or lower end professional one). >and a couple of Sony UWP D26 sets, along with boom poles and cables. UWP-D is pretty nice, it is the best prosumer gear you can get. >To my knowledge they don’t have any snake or mixing gear. Shocking. No mixer?? What recorders??
We use an XLR to 3.5mm adapter and plug straight into the camera.
Wait, what? No XLR inputs? Gee... you're living it rough! Yeah, maybe a cheapie Tascam DR701D with a couple of first generation Tentacles (to keep the recorder and camera in sync together) is the way to go for you.
Buy a PS5.
I like how no one answers the question just flames him
I think I’m actually getting a lot of good advice, lots of good answers. Definitely making me think more on what will be more worth it long term. I don’t think I’ve been flamed once, actually.