To invest in gear, or creativity? It all comes down to risk

[Andrew Reid]

[html]

[img]http://www.eoshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Casino-movie.jpg[/img]

Why is the buzz all about cameras? People are crazy for gear.

When the Canon 1DX was announced it was in the top 10 trending topics for the UK on Twitter for most of the day, despite the fact nobody can own one until March 2012.

Here EOSHD offers a possible explanation for why gear, rather than filmmaking itself, gets so much more attention.

[url="http://www.eoshd.com/content/6785/to-invest-in-gear-or-creativity-it-all-comes-down-to-risk/"]Read full article[/url]

[/html]

[moebius22]

I see technically astute tech demos all the time. You wonder what kind of stuff these people could produce if they bothered to invest in a writer.

[Rosebud]

"Film is a dog: the head is commerce, the tail is art, and only rarely does the tail wag the dog." - Director Joseph Losey

Nothing more to add.

[Caleb Genheimer]

I think soon enough, we will start seeing some really good stuff from the "DSLR" crowd. It is getting to the point where the world will be saturated with great gear. It soon will be easy to get a set of good cameras together, and make a film. Those of us that are truly passionate about filmmaking I'm sure will start to do some high caliber stuff once the dust settles. I for one am still in school, so I'm learning a lot of storytelling and technical stuff. I also see this as a time to collect a set of tools and learn how to use them, so when I'm done with school, I can take a crack at  my own film.

[Sara]

[quote author=B3Guy link=topic=173.msg1270#msg1270 date=1326584018]
I think soon enough, we will start seeing some really good stuff from the "DSLR" crowd. It is getting to the point where the world will be saturated with great gear. It soon will be easy to get a set of good cameras together, and make a film. Those of us that are truly passionate about filmmaking I'm sure will start to do some high caliber stuff once the dust settles. I for one am still in school, so I'm learning a lot of storytelling and technical stuff. I also see this as a time to collect a set of tools and learn how to use them, so when I'm done with school, I can take a crack at  my own film.
[/quote]

I think we already have.

[url=http://vimeo.com/11339453]The 3rd Letter[/url]

Its all there - a solid script, decent acting, stunning digital paintings etc.

Behind the scenes:  [url=http://the3rdletter.com/36behind.html]http://the3rdletter.com/36behind.html[/url]

No doubt the tools are in place for everyone with a few grand.  And with Adobe renting their software on a monthly bases there is no excuse any more. 

Good times for everyone!

PS:  And if anyone is looking for similar movies filled with inspiration, check out [url=http://www.shortoftheweek.com/]http://www.shortoftheweek.com/[/url]

[Francisco Rios]

Here is another example of good filmmaking.
The story is the best invest.

[url=http://vimeo.com/21975053]Trailer Música Campesina[/url]

This film won in FICV 2011 in best chilean film category.
The director Albert Fuguet used the GH1 Panasonic on this film with a small team.
Saludos!

[ewanthomas]

I've invested a lot in both gear and creativity. Though I have to say that gear is far more satisfying. It rarely lets you down, it will not ignore your calls and you aren't dependant on other people for your gear to be successful. I find being a film maker incredibly frustrating, especially when you are working from your own pocket because people are often unreliable and lack the commitment that you have yourself. I never find my camera frustrating. And I think this might go a long way to explaining why these pages are more popular with people.

We want to know about technology that will help us facilitate better products, be they business, be they a simple shot of sunset. These are known quantities, resolution, lens mounts, card slots. These are fixed things. Making films is uncertain, unknown and frought with danger. Obviously the rewards are great, but the upset, and personal frustration equally so.

Camera's excite me because of how they can encourage me to be more creative. Throwing money at another short film project is not something I enjoy in the same way as taking beautiful images or video both for my own work and for business. Making a film with your own money will rarely (if ever) earn you money back, whereas owning the right camera really can. I've had so much work through virtue of earning a DSLR that I simply would not have otherwise. Equally I've been able to do so much work because I can afford to own a camera.

"My best investments have been creative projects not kit - thats what brings in the work"

Having seen Sam's work I can understand that comment, for a DP definitely. But for me it's been 50/50. I hope one day it'll swing 100 to creative projects. But I'm not there yet.

[Glenn Thomas]

The gear is clearly not that important anymore, and judging by a lot of videos I see, a lot of people using expensive gear still don't look as if they know what they're doing. I think people just need to get away from all the camera blogs and focus on shooting and editing video.

For those who already own a half decent camera or even something really cheap, my advice would be to stick with that and master it before even thinking about upgrading. Be creative, and instead of wasting time on camera blogs comparing specs, use that time to practice up on shooting, colour grading and editing. Or even script writing.

For over a year now I've been shooting all my videos on a Canon S95, and I'm still using it. Having shot roughly 18 music videos on it, one of which has had over 150k plays on YouTube. Every now and then I'll think about upgrading to something better, but instead I always end up just shooting more videos on the S95. None of my clients even question the camera anymore.

[Antonio]

I think it's almost only about trust; belief, if you prefer. Every man is son of his time, so it's useless try to understand him extrapolated from that context.

By more or less two centuries, technology has become so powerful and so helpful that masses do believe that it can explain almost anything. We've completely put our faith in it, so the consequences are pretty obvious.

We often forget that filmmaking, as nearly all artistic occupations, it's about interaction: with people, with environment, with yourself, with everything conceivable. Of course, even with technology. But we can't confine just one aspect from the others. Maybe this is the point nowadays: we find difficult to understand the simple complexity of mankind. Sorry for the oxymoron, but it's true.

My english doesn't allow me to explain properly what I'd want to say, so maybe it's better quoting Ingmar Bergman, when roughly 15 years ago he said that "[i]today a lot of young filmmakers seem to have excellent skills in technical stuff, much more than we used to have when I was young, at the beginning of my career[/i]", adding, "[i]the point is that the vast majority of them don't have anyhing to say[/i]".

How technology could provide us what we need in that sense?

People like Steve Jobs, no matter what we personally think on him, showed us that more choices in terms of technology means also more choices in terms of creativity. But we must always face the necessity of transmitting something. In other words: technology can tell us [b]how[/b], but we have to find [b]what[/b] by other means.

And, if by one side these words sound like a manifest truth, from another, the work of too much good filmmakers proves the urgency to repeat this truth and try to understand again what it involves.

In my opinion, that's the difference between [i]professional[/i] and [i]artist[/i]. The first one can't never be an artist; the latter one could be a professional. And that's why our system requires most frequently professionals than artists, in order to level every person to the low, enslaving his creative will - and with this statement I have no intention to say that all professionals are an expression of mediocrity, not at all.

It's not foolish paranoia. Ask yourself why once in the past (no matter when and in what art), people with very humble means succeeded in bringing some of the most amazing pieces of art in history. When technology wasn't enough, they strove hard in order to create what they really wanted. Otherwise, they created new technology - most people don't know that even the paintbrush once was the most innovative creation around; the higher form of technology of its time.

I really appreciate this kind of articles, because they force us to ask ourself (or someone else) the right questions. Hope to read more of them. Without forgetting technical articles, of course. 50/50, as Andrew wrote, would be wonderful.

[moebius22]

[quote author=Glenn Thomas link=topic=173.msg1279#msg1279 date=1326650965]
The gear is clearly not that important anymore, and judging by a lot of videos I see, a lot of people using expensive gear still don't look as if they know what they're doing. I think people just need to get away from all the camera blogs and focus on shooting and editing video.

For those who already own a half decent camera or even something really cheap, my advice would be to stick with that and master it before even thinking about upgrading. Be creative, and instead of wasting time on camera blogs comparing specs, use that time to practice up on shooting, colour grading and editing. Or even script writing.

For over a year now I've been shooting all my videos on a Canon S95, and I'm still using it. Having shot roughly 18 music videos on it, one of which has had over 150k plays on YouTube. Every now and then I'll think about upgrading to something better, but instead I always end up just shooting more videos on the S95. None of my clients even question the camera anymore.
[/quote]

Holy shit! Nice stuff mate.

[Andrew Reid]

You cannot expect a cinematographer to also write the script.

I think most important thing is to first figure out what kind of filmmaker you are before you figure out which camera you like best.

[moebius22]

[quote author=Andrew Reid - EOSHD link=topic=173.msg1294#msg1294 date=1326671412]
You cannot expect a cinematographer to also write the script.

I think most important thing is to first figure out what kind of filmmaker you are before you figure out which camera you like best.
[/quote]

Michael Bay!


I kidd.