Good Real Looking Video: Is it in the camera or the editing?

Question

So I am torn whether I should buy a high definition camcorder (like $1000) or just use editing in a program like vegas or premire/after effects. my goal is to have good looking music video quality (cinematic) what is most important a killer camera or can a software program desaurate the film to make it look good like real film good opinions please i am just starting out and i want to know what to upgrade first my $300 dvd cam or my software which im going to do anyway cause im on wmm 5.1

Answer 1

well actually its neither.  

Making a good looking film is really in the lighting and the shot composition/videography/cinematography.

The camera is only the means to an end really.  Of course better lenses and film stocks and/or CCD chips will render slightly better results but it's not the end all thing.  Too many beginners think they need a HD camera,which are all really not HD, they're HD codecs, not true HD unless you're shooting on a P2 card, and that's a lot of hassle.

Don't get so hung up on the equipment.  All you need is a good Standard Def. MiniDV cam and a small lighting kit.  Read lots of books on cinematography and lighting so you can figure out the basics of how to get certain effects with the light.  The better lighting you have, the better your footage will be.  And if you know how to frame your shots to get certain emotions of of your audience then you're ahead of the game.

Upgrade your NLE first and go with Adobe Premiere Pro.  It's a much better program than Vegas, less buggy and more intuitive.  You don't need After Effects yet.  Don't focus on a whole bunch of special effects.  Learn how to tell the story and evoke emotion with just straight cuts.  Too many beginners try to get a whole bunch of special effects in their films when the story is garbage.  The effects just make a bad story worse.  Focus on your story and the emotion you're trying to convey.

Also, if you want a more filmic look, study films.  You'll notice a lot of them have slightly soft edges and a yellowish hue behind them.  Always remember to color correct your footage.  24 fps won't make your movie look like film.  It'll actually just ruin your footage and make it choppy when it's playing on the TV.  Unless you plan on doing an upresolution in a lab and printing to film, don't shoot 24 fps.

And if you want your stuff to look like film, Shoot film.  You have to shell out some cash for the film stock but Kodak gives a great student discount.  I got my stocks for about half price.  And if you don't have a great story that's worth putting money up for, then its probably not really worth shooting.

E-mail or IM me if you'd like more info.