Mike Jones Digital Basin
cinematic media rinse cycle

Back to basics - doing away with the accessories

Its very easy to get carried away.Once you?ve got hands on with a ?pro? camera, fitted interchangeable lenses, fiddled with a plethora of buttons, wrangled cables and external monitoring systems, fitted up a steadicam or a jib, crane or dolly; its very easy to get carried away...

At which point the process of being carried away can lead to a destination of delusion - delusion that all these things above are necessary, are crucial, that you cannot make a good looking movie without the apparent and tangible trappings of the cinema apparatus.Now this isn?t the usual rant about ?story? is everything and it doesn't matter what it looks like. That?s bullshit. Much like saying painting is all concept and it doesn't matter what the painting looks like. Of course the look matters otherwise you?d write a book and not make a movie....!

The delusion however is to believe that a great look Cannot be made Without the grandiose accessorizing.This is the mind set of ?professional appearances?. That a big camera rig, all the tools of the trade makes You LOOK like a professional filmmaker, and in looking like one You FEEL like a professional filmmaker. And, so the equation goes, when you LOOK and FEEL like a pro you will be capable of making PROFESSIONAL films, received with professional adoration. It?s the deep and universal desire for all filmmakers to be Legitimized by their work, to feel Legitimate in their art and profession.

But Perspective is a crucial trait and getting bogged down in the desire to LOOK and FEEL like a Pro rather than simply making professionally accepted work is a sure way to mediocrity and obscurity. Because if you buy into the mind set of nothing less than the full ?Pro Kit? will allow you to make a good looking film then you?ll spend most of your career waiting by the phone for someone to give you Permission to make a film, rather than actually getting of you arse and making them with whatever is available.

Don?t wait for permission...
Make films without Permission..!

Case in point is this short film trailer from indie filmmaker Ayz Waraich  http://www.dimeworth.com/


White Red Panic - TEASER HD from Ayz Waraich on Vimeo.

This short film was shot with a Canon HV20. Its costs about $1200 and it looks like this



There were No interchangeable lenses, no P+S, no Redrock, no Steadicam. Just a plain cheap HV20 and mostly handheld.The trappings and accessories of cinema production are great and powerful but watching images as good as this from a palm-sized $1200 camera should put things in perspective a little. gear is nice, big budget is nice but dont ever delude yourself into thinking these are NECESSARY.

Of course, that said, if you want to jazz up your palm-sized HV20 you can always add a few accessories such as:








Or how about for Stereoscopic 3D

Posted at 12:00AM Jun 23, 2008 by Mike Jones in video  |  Comments[4]