"...The lead actor had shaved off his beard, his full manly, scruffy beard which had been in every shot so far during the film. His beard. The mother of all continuity errors..."

Ha HA! That was the best read I've had all week. A Classic!

Not to drudge up an old conversation, but in retrospect, I deeply apologize for every dumb thing I said in this thread.

I utilized all the advice everyone gave me in this thread, and did well. I've decided to sell the XL2 and the GL2 (which I had before), invest in two HDV cams, work for about a year and save up for a Red One and a cinematographer.

I appreciate all the help everyone gave me, no matter what it was. It made me think twice about everything, and I'm happy with it.

Owning an XL2 for a few weeks and Andrew's already talking about buying a RED...

If you're going through cams like hot dinners, then I'll take you're two (mint-conditioned hardly used) H1 cams when you decide to sell them next year...(smile).

Andrew, You can get work with an Xl2 and Gl2. I make a good deal of money with My XL2 and it might be wise to hold onto it now that you sunk the cash into it.

Sorry things didn't work out the way you thought, but you can see why I recommended a cinematographer...

Matt

Don't worry, Matt. Everything turned out better than I thought. HDV suits me better than DV at this point. Plus I want to be able to toy with more high-quality equipment.

I told you I was a quick learner.

And Tony, I think I'll be keeping these cams.

By the way, I did get work with the XL2 and GL2... Hence my ability to upgrade.

Oh, and yeah... I really got to thinking about a cinematographer and you were all dead-on. After talking to many cinematographers over the past few months, I realized I would benefit from hiring one much more than I ever could have imagined.

Anyway, the parameters of the shoot are still the same. Roughly 28-day shoot and $50k budget (including camera, lens, etc). It's alot to work towards, but hell... That's what work's for.