A bit of a situation, might be stuck filming in SD.

[OrlandoEastwood]

All right, here's the problem; I am going to be shooting a movie, Maze of Thought, this July in Ohio. There's not a really a budget and with legal I have it stated in the contracts we state that the actors and actresses involved will not be paid until after we can get the film out and sell copies. Now, I am going to have to shoot in Standard Definition which I know will look horrible in High Definition. Should I just bite the bullet and shoot in SD?

[jamclaur]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

All right, here's the problem; I am going to be shooting a movie, Maze of Thought, this July in Ohio. There's not a really a budget and with legal I have it stated in the contracts we state that the actors and actresses involved will not be paid until after we can get the film out and sell copies. Now, I am going to have to shoot in Standard Definition which I know will look horrible in High Definition. Should I just bite the bullet and shoot in SD?

you should rent the RED camera from my company at a reasonable rate.

[jstutman]

I dont have anything to say about the SD but the title of the movie sounds intriguing and I will want to watch this

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by jstutman

I dont have anything to say about the SD but the title of the movie sounds intriguing and I will want to watch this

you may want to watch some of his other stuff before deciding on this...


wut?

[OrlandoEastwood]

LOL, I am fixing my site. It will be back online this weekend.

[Sussudio]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

All right, here's the problem; I am going to be shooting a movie, Maze of Thought, this July in Ohio. There's not a really a budget and with legal I have it stated in the contracts we state that the actors and actresses involved will not be paid until after we can get the film out and sell copies. Now, I am going to have to shoot in Standard Definition which I know will look horrible in High Definition. Should I just bite the bullet and shoot in SD?

sounds like you already have your answer

[OrlandoEastwood]

Yeah, but if I shoot in SD it's most likely going to look like crap.

[Sussudio]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

Yeah, but if I shoot in SD it's most likely going to look like crap.

so then shoot in HD

if you have the money and resources to do it, do it. if not, then that's your answer.

[jkwest]

you can polish a turd all day long and it's still going to be a turd...

[WriteSimply]

If you really don't have the budget not only to shoot in HD but to see the dailies in HD AND edit in HD, then this thread ends here.

If you want HD quality, the key is to shoot it in HD first. HD dailies help (get a 1080p projector to see if you made any gaffes as the bigger and higher resolution the screen is, the smallest gaffes can be seen) but if you can't do it, well you just can't.

The same thing with editing. So long as you don't erase any of your HD footage, you can re-edit later in HD based on your HD master. If you employ VFX in SD, you can also re-do 'em in HD.

Finally, and perhaps more importantly, figure out if this movie requires the HD quality. Would it show more gaffes than skill? Is everything about it worth the risk of additional investment?


fuad

[Teabaggins]

are you sure it's even going to be released in hd

[OrlandoEastwood]

All right, I'm pretty much stuck with SD so here's my question(s) to you:

Did you think the upconverted PQ on 28 Days Later was ok?

And does anyone know if they used any type of special filter when they blew up to HD for BD?

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

All right, here's the problem; I am going to be shooting a movie, Maze of Thought, this July in Ohio. There's not a really a budget and with legal I have it stated in the contracts we state that the actors and actresses involved will not be paid until after we can get the film out and sell copies. Now, I am going to have to shoot in Standard Definition which I know will look horrible in High Definition. Should I just bite the bullet and shoot in SD?

If you were able to shift the filming of the movie slightly North {IE Canada} I can get you better rates on rental equipment and likely cheaper actors.

Logan

[OrlandoEastwood]

All right, I've decided that I am going to be selling off most of my DVDs so I can buy an HD camera. I have 300 DVDs and I am going to sell off 200 of my DVDs at around $5 each so I'll have $1,000 which is enough for an HD camera. I'll have the list up in about a month when I move back to Ohio.

[LynxFX]

$1000 for a prosumer SD camera would most likely give you a better picture than a $1000 consumer HD camera. Resolution isn't everything. The quality of the lense, size of the CCD chip, the recording format all matter more. Get a nice SD camera, you should be able to get a great deal now as more and more independents are moving up to HD. You'll end up with a much better camera and final product especially since I'm guessing your final product will be put on DVD. See if you can find a used Canon XL1 or similar camera from Panasonic.

[LynxFX]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

Did you think the upconverted PQ on 28 Days Later was ok?

Don't use that as a reference. The PQ was intentially made to look bad, even the SD stuff. With the right camera, proper setup and lights you can have an SD picture that looks gorgeous. They did it for decades.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by LynxFX

$1000 for a prosumer SD camera would most likely give you a better picture than a $1000 consumer HD camera. Resolution isn't everything. The quality of the lense, size of the CCD chip, the recording format all matter more. Get a nice SD camera, you should be able to get a great deal now as more and more independents are moving up to HD. You'll end up with a much better camera and final product especially since I'm guessing your final product will be put on DVD. See if you can find a used Canon XL1 or similar camera from Panasonic.

I can get my hands on GL2's like they're going out of fashion {technically they are} and I have nothing but good things to say about that camera.

Logan

[LynxFX]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

I can get my hands on GL2's like they're going out of fashion {technically they are} and I have nothing but good things to say about that camera.

Logan

GL2's are great too. I never used one personally but I have colleagues that have.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

All right, here's the problem; I am going to be shooting a movie, Maze of Thought, this July in Ohio. There's not a really a budget and with legal I have it stated in the contracts we state that the actors and actresses involved will not be paid until after we can get the film out and sell copies. Now, I am going to have to shoot in Standard Definition which I know will look horrible in High Definition. Should I just bite the bullet and shoot in SD?

Sd? it'll look like regular home video
I say shoot the video in HD that way you will get best quality you can later transfer it to SD if needed through rca cables

[OrlandoEastwood]

So does anyone know of a good HD cam for $1000? I am selling off 200 DVDs for $5 + shipping so I'll have $1,000 to buy a camera.

I got an email from a distribution company who are interested in the project so I need to make this look good, SD has to go.