r/indiefilm

Hi! My name is Melody Lily Jade and I’m currently looking for $30,000 in financing for a full length feature film called UP DOWN to be filmed here on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

I have all locations, crew, equipment, & cast secured and currently have a Kickstarter campaign going.

Does anyone have any advice or resources for something like this?

Hope to hear from you all soon, thank you for reading 💚

To avoid answering a lot of unnecessary comments - The kickstarter is simply a branch of funding I’m exploring. Currently working full-time but am using this platform to expand my network and learn more about the crowdfunding process.

I'm not sure if this is the right sub to post this in, but I'm looking for some advice. I am currently a student not studying film, but I have been working on tons of student sets around the cam dept. and G&E. I was DP for a capstone project in the spring, and I was asked to DP another capstone this semester. We have a number of cameras in our student rental house, but I really like working with the fx6 because it is full frame, has internal ND, and has a lot of room to build out. Unfortunately, there is a new rule in place that even if you have been trained on a piece of equipment, if you are not actively in a course in which you are assigned that equipment, you cannot take it out, even if you have proven competency. This is a problem because I am not taking a course that offers that camera this semester, and even though the director is taking a cinematography course, they changed the curriculum since I took it, and intro to cinematography is teaching the fx30 now instead of the fx6.

I talked with one of the professors about potential for special approval for one weekend only. He said "what? are you scared of the fx30 or something? it's literally a better camera." His argument was that it's got all the same functions, but it's way lighter and can be put on a gimbal. I had no intention of using a gimbal for my handheld shots, I prefer a shoulder rig given the number and length of my handheld shots. Sure, for my one big tracking shot the 30 may be better for gimbal purposes, but nearly everything else the shoulder rig is just more comfortable to me.

I also intended to use prime lenses with a wireless focus puller, which is a problem considering the cage on the fx30 that my school has only has 2 attachment points. There is simply not enough space for the monitor and accessories I wanted for my build. Plus I've been building my shots around the look of these lenses on a full-frame sensor; now I have to go back reevaluate all of the lens choices in my shotlist.

I know I have to roll with the punches, and I am still over a month out from my shoot so I have time to figure stuff out. Everything I have ever achieved through my university has come through relentless begging and pushing for what I know I am capable of. I just feel a little stupid I guess?? The professor just kind of looked at me insane for saying I want to use an fx6 over an fx30 and I don't understand how someone who has worked in the industry and teaches the subject can't understand that there would be different use cases for different cameras. He mainly does docu work, so I guess maybe that's where he's coming from, whereas I'm doing scripted narrative?

If anyone has any tips on building up a rig on a smaller camera, I would really appreciate any advice. Also, is the professor right? Should I just be happy with the power of the fx30 in such a small body?

I posted about this a couple of years ago when we were working on post, but now that it’s out I wanted to share it again! More info in the submission statement below.

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