Unlike some magazines, that just recap the top reviews of a given year, we decided to take a look at seven things that we reviewed over the last year that had the ability to create radical changes in the face of microfilmmaking. This allowed us to look past scores and look at total potential for change, which gives you a completely different perspective. Rather than trying to line these seven in some sort of numbered list, we instead arranged them from Pre-Production to Post-Production.
[Note: Because we started the magazine with a few months left in 2005, there is one entrant here from then. Other than that, they were all reviewed in 2006.]
The $30 Film School - Michael W. Dean's definitive low budget filmmaking guide is the perfect entrance to learning the overall craft of low budget filmmaking, chock full of ideas and insight on how to make a go of making films with virtually no money.
I'll Be In My Trailer: The Creative Wars Between Directors & Actors - The amazingly prolific director John Badham (War Games, Saturday Night Fever, Point of No Return) teams up with writer Craig Modderno to teach new directors the art of directing actors. Sensitive and insightful, this book comes as close as you can get to downloading John Badham's directing experience directly into your brain.
Hollywood Camerawork - Starting as a private quest by creating Per Holmes, this set of six training DVDs does more to unveil the mysteries of cinematography than any other training series I've ever seen. This must-own set will help you to realize the psychology of using your camera and enable you to get the best shots possible. (This item has a brand new Microfilmmaker Reader exclusive price of 30% off.)
The Panasonic HVX200 - Pioneering true 24 P HD to the microfilmmaker price point, the HVX200 is a work of modern art. With its ability to capture footage straight to a P2 memory card, the HVX200 allows a variety of frame rates to be recorded, including overcranking to 60 fps and undercranking to 4 fps to give filmmakers almost Varicam control.
Redrock Micro M2 - This amazing invention allows 35mm SLR lenses to be used with digital video cameras, to give microfilmmakers everywhere the ability to achieve film-like depth of field and softness. With microfilmmaking friendly prices, Redrock Micro's M2 system is 10% of the cost of competing lens adapters. They even sell a DIY kit to make a homemade version of their adapter if you can't afford their low prices! Now that's a company with a heart for us!
Adobe Production Studio Premium- Adobe showed itself to be a friend of microfilmmakers by combining virtually every program you need for post-production into one package at a fraction of the cost of all competitors. To be able to get everything in one package for just a little more than most video editing standalone packages changes the abilities of microfilmmakers everywhere!
VisionLab Studio - FXHome secures its place in our countdown by combining all the visual and special effects abilities you might need for any film into a single package. While each piece requires a little more finesse than some dedicated software packages on the market, the ability to do everything from muzzle flashes to light effects to jet streams to explosions to color grading to keying in one place makes it a must-own for microfilmmakers everywhere.
When you look at it, it's been a pretty impressive year for gear and training for Microfilmmakers! I can't wait to see what new things come out in the next year.
Merry Christmas,
Happy New Year,
& God bless,
Jeremy
The
director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films,
Jeremy Hanke
founded Microfilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make
better films. His first book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) was released by MWP to very favorable reviews. He's curently working on the sci-fi film franchise, World of Depleted through Depleted: Day 419 and the feature film, Depleted.
