Welcome
 

Hello Glen...I live in Brooklyn and I shoot with the XL1s. Always looking towards Networking and havin fun shootin.

Send me an email about whats goin on and lets see what we can do.

Man what a great day of shooting at the Anti-War Rally here in NYC!

Peace
alex

Beginner in Central New Jersey
 

Hi, My name is Roger and am glad to be here.
I just bought my Sony TRV950 and is looking forward to learn about shooting videos, editing them and author it on VCD's or DVD's.
Once again, I look forward to learn many valuable lessons here.

Welcome aboard Roger. We are glad to have you! Have fun looking
around and see you around.

Hey gang
 

I live in Brooklyn, off the L, and am looking for partners in crime, as it sometimes feels stealing these great locations in New York. I shoot on a PD150 and edit on FCP. I have a bunch of gear including good mics, mixer, DAT, lights, steadytracker, etc. I am in preproduction for a short that I will produce as soon as it gets a bit warmer, but I would be happy to trade labor and collaborate with others on projects. Send me an e-mail at:
Mark_Hinnawi@hotmail. com

Sign me up for any help needed in the northern NJ/NYC area. VX2000/2pro mics/softboxes/booms/etc.

hey!!!!
 

hailing from Brooklyn with an xl1-s and a pretty good setup, ready and willing to shoot... act... direct... go get coffee, man whatever, let's just do it. Oh I have to mention this; just purchased a me66, an me62 and power module from B&H used for $400. somebody purchasaed them and brought them back in 2 days later and I happened to be there! so nowI need to record something... NOW!!!

Newbie in NJ
 

Hey everyone,
I just found this forum and had hoped that you guys would be able to provide some help, for I know absolutely nothing about any aspect of creating films. At the moment, I don't even have a camcorder (working on this, however).

I'm not sure which way i should approach learning about film creation. If anyone can suggest and websites or books to get me started, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance ;)

Welcome, Casey! Your question is a tough one since you do not
really have a question. Basically movie making can be broken down
into 3 parts. Setting it up (thinking about an idea, writing it down,
doing story boards, securing locations etc...) is the first part.
The second part is actually shooting your movie and this can
include outdoor locations, indoor, actors, props etc. The last part
is the delivery part. Here you edit your footage, perhaps add
effects, do a sound mix and encode it in your final format (web,
TV, DVD etc.).

Now most indepedent movie creators do all these things either
by themselves or with some help. It is possible you can have
things done by other people/companies (you buy/get a script
for example. Or someone edits your movie. Or you have a company
that encodes your video and presses DVD's for you).

I hope you get the idea a bit. You've already found a very good
resource: this site (there are articles here from first time movie
shooting to highly technical things and product reviews) and its
forums which you have already discovered.

The main thing to be said is: go out there and just do it. Get your-
self a camera and start shooting. In my humble opinion there is
no better way to:

1. learn
2. learn your camera
3. learn what you like
4. learn what you don't like
5. learn what you still need to learn
6. get in contact with other people
7. do what you (hopefully) love/like

If you have specific questions you can put them up in their
respective forums on this board.

Good luck with your projects!

Welcome Casey!
Rob has offered some excellent getting-started advice. I can only add that you should look through our "Read About It" forum. There are some excellent book recommendations in there.

hey
 

Welcome,
Im in NJ also, and make movies on DV cam. The best thign to do is to just start creating stories that you can make, and go make them. Thats the best way to learn. You know the type of movies you like, so try to emulate them. If you have any questions, lemme know.
Michael
IOoAVEXoOI@yahoo.com

Every reply here is right on the money. I'd like to add that you should:

1) Watch your favorite movies within the genre that you're interested in becoming involved.

2) Take note on how they make you feel and why.

3) Be ready to hit that rewind button alot to study how and why the director used that camera angle and why he cut at a specific time and place. Also pay attention to how shadows fall on the characters and set to ascertain how the scene was lit.

4) Do the above three steps ALOT. Do it so much that you can recite the dialog from the movie in your sleep.

5) Read the book "The Five Cs of Cinematography" by Joseph C. Mascelli.

6) Purchase an inexpensive DV video camera and play with it. Videotape cars driving by and airplanes taking off in order to get used to using a tripod and handheld. Get a feel for the camera and framing the pictue because you actually have to get used to the camera being in your hand. Technique is everything.

7) Ask people if they'd like for you to videotape their upcoming event. You can use the practice and they can use the tape!

This is just a start. It gets much more involved.

Just wanted to say hi to you fellow New Jerseyans! I work in Philadelphia but live in Medford, NJ amongst the pines! :-)

Anyone here working on anything interesting? I run a production company, going full scale soon. Doing everything from small weddings up to feature indie films. Im a writer, director and videographer... My name is Michael Estepp and Im in Mercer County.

Take it easy...

INdependents
 

Dear Boyd and Mike:

I also supplement my income with wedding videos (the funds from which are used to feed my ever increasing video equipment addiction). My real passion is independent films shot on digital video. I don't know if "youse guys" had seen my other posts, but my home town had a fella named Steven Pershing write, direct, edit and star in a two hour movie shot on a digital 8 Sony Handycam which he subsequently projected digitally from our neighborhood multiplex. It came out fantastic (the sound was awesome as well) and the whole experience opened my eyes to our potential as local independents. His website is WWW.STEELSPIRIT.COM. Check it out. I hail from Absecon, New Jersey, (8 miles inland from Atlantic City). I have a pretty good collection of equipment, I also write, direct, shoot and edit my own projects and have a 60 page screenplay ready to shoot. Pulling our resources might be the way to go! Reach out and let me know.

Im all for teaming up with the local guys! I always jump at the chance to "jam" with new people. I have peices of scripts laying all over the place, and equipment out the wazoo... can i say that? :-) anyway... My aim name is IOoAVEXoOI if you want to IM me...
Michael