to make something using

really cheap filmmaking equipment

because we've all heard that it doesn't matter

what kind of camera we use

but most of the people who say that

are already using pro-level gear

so here's what I'm going to be using:

The camera is the lovely JVC MS110

at five years old, it's not the freshest

but it has standard definition recording

and it can zoom really far

and to go with that,

we've got one of these classic cheapo tripods

For sound, I'll go with this TASCAM recoder

and plug-in some cheap headphones

For the microphone, we'll use this little one from RODE

It comes with a windshield, so we can use it outside

Let's connect that to an extension cable

and the cable to the recorder

Finish it up with a PAINTERS pole

which is slightly cheaper than a professional boompole

and I'm just going to tape the microphone to the end

By the way, I purposefully spent more

on sound than visuals,

because the audio is where

we'll really notice the difference

So that's it for equipment

no lighting gear, no drones

and we'll be using free software as well

(more in that later)

So, we've saved some money on the equipment

but that doesn't mean

that I can have a five week shoot

with thirty actors across twelve locations

Doing that would cost thousands

just to feed that many people

So it makes much more sense

to write something really short

that we can film in one or two days

with just a few actors

on a location that we can use for free

Now, that might sound like a real limitation

but there's still so much we can do within that

Writing the script, for example,

doesn't cost anything

neither does walking around

to find the perfect location

or borrowing props and costumes

drawing storyboards

we can do all of that stuff

and the only thing that's going to cost us

is our time

But eventually we have to pick a day to film

and, once that decision is made,

things tend to get a little crazy

I personally had about four days

to finish writing the script

to borrow some stuff for the shoot

to be some cheap stuff for the shoot

and to find actors,

find locations,

and to plan out the storyboards

Now could easily spent all of that time just

watching actors showreels

and deciding who to cast

and then getting in touch with actors

going back and forth, giving all the details

So, I would really recommend:

if you want to be smart about this

give yourself more time than I had

give yourself plenty of time

to plan things and, if you can,

find someone to collaborate with

that will make it so much easier

So after the four days

I still have the classic pre-shoot nerves

thinking: "Is the concept going to be good enough?"

"Is the script anywhere near good enough?"

and "Why did I leave everything until the last minute?"

So, then I get a text

at 10pm, the night before the shoot

from one of the actors:

"won't be able to make it tomorrow

because my car is broken down in Yorkshire"

Great! So, I'm e-mailing a few actors

but it's too late

we'll just have to work around it

and then the next morning

on the day of the shoot,

another one of our actors doesn't show up

so we are two actors down

and I have to rejig the script

in my head, trying to come up with something

because we really need to start shooting something

Now aside from that,

the shoot went fairly smoothly

we just had some interruptions

from buses and trains

at regular intervals

but that gave us something to joke about

(plane noise)

Sometimes we'd get to the end of the take

and I knew I had some feedback for the actors

but I had completely forgotten it

because I just had so many other things

going through my mind

But the cheap equipment

was serving us well

the only problem was that I couldn't get hold

of an extra battery for the camera

so when it shut down

we had to find a café

to charge it up

time for lunch break I guess

From there we had to think really carefully

about which shots were most important

knowing that the camera could switch off

at any moment

and it was starting to get dark

Aside from the battery

using cheap equipment

wasn't really a problem

Now sure, the tripod couldn't pan smoothly

but I ended up just holding it

and the weight of the tripod balanced it out

to give us some pretty smooth shots

I took the camera out of automatic mode

so I could control the exposure

and I'm pretty pleased

with how the visuals turned out

especially when we could use the bridge

as a dark background

or to block the light coming from one side

like in this shot

So, as usual,

if you found a good location with good light

it will like pretty good through any camera

Our sound set-up meant we could

listen to the audio

to check for any problems

while getting the mic

nice and close to the dialogue

which is key

So by this point,

I had completely lost track of the shot list

that I had planned out,

but I was pretty confident

that I had got everything I needed

as far as coverage goes,

but I had to be

because the camera had died

and it was getting really dark

So, evening after the shoot,

I kept thinking about all the things

that hadn't worked out as I'd hoped

and I actually was too scared to look at the footage

until late the next day

yeah :)

But I did actually move on to editing

with the free software

HITFILM EXPRESS

(not sponsored)

and the thing to remember about editing software

is that unless you're planning to use

complex CGI characters

and lots of fancy effects

it really doesn't matter what king of software you use

DAVINCI RESOLVE is a good option

but for this project,

I used the basic option of HITFILM

which is free,

and it does everything we needed to do

the simple truth is that any editing software

can handle the essential parts of editing

which are changing the lenght

and the order of the shots

as simple as that

We can even do some color-grading

using the levels to add some contrast

and then increasing the saturation slightly

I think that improves things for this shot

Next, we can go through and add some sound effects

that we've recorded separately

whether it's footsteps

or anything else that makes a noise

Taking the time to do this

will really make things feel three-dimensional

So then there's the music

now on a sustain budget

it's really hard to find good music that fits

and that's where FILMSTRO comes in

they've sponsored this video

and they offer single licences

that are fully customizable

for six dollars

Now the best way to see what FILMSTRO can do

is just to play around with the demo film

Watch this:

(music playing)

So I imported my short-film

looked through the themes to choose one

and then started shaping it

to fit what's happening on the screen

In this case, that meant keeping

the momentum quite low most of the time

So you can try it for free,

play around with it and,

like I said, you can get individual themes

which is what I did for this project

but they also have subscription

if you want unlimited use

But all the info, including a 20% discount,

is in the description

So when I started this project,

I was challenging myself to use

inexpensive equipment and software

but really, that wasn't that difficult

The real challenge

was trying to sort out all the logistics at the last minute

trying to do so many different jobs by myself

and trying to tell a story

in a really short time frame

So I'll upload the short-film next week

but in the meantime, I challenge you to make something

that seems impossible

whether it's making a short-film

with really really cheap gear

or just making something

on a really really tight deadline

or something more ambitious

than you've ever made before

I challenge you to go out there and do something

that you really don't think you can do

because as difficult as it is

and as... it really isn't even that much fun

it's the kind of thing that you'd look back on

and you go: "wow,

I learned so much from doing that"

My name is Simon Cade,

this has been DSLRguide

and I'll see you next week

(apple bite??)

(outro music)