Can I use NIkon D5100 camera to shoot a short movie?
So I'm in this project and I recently bought this camera during the summer and I have to make this short movie around 20 minutes or something and I was wondering if this will help me out… I'm not a professional when it comes to this at all. I was looking for a video camera but they are really expensive hence i want it in HD. I was also wondering if i could record a video or a short movie that is acceptable with this camera how can i record the voices clear?
WOULD MEAN A LOT! Please let me know if you have anything to say cause i need this major help
Added (1). Thank you both so much for your help you were just simply great! I just asked one of my friends and he told me that my macbook which is the white on the second edition is not going to be enough for this application called Final Cut Pro and with the movies getting on to it. It will not bee good at all… Any thoughts about it?
If you write a script and break it down into a shooting script (so you do not have to come back to the same location later in the video shoot, you should be fine.
Take as many shots of each scene until you get it right and keep very good notes on which takes are the ones you want to use in the final edit of the video.
To get good audio using ANY dSLR you will need to use a recorder like this one and then sync the sound in post production
http://www.amazon.com/...003VWC83Q/
You will also need a good fluid head mounted on your tripod.
Can we assume you have a computer with a high speed CPU (an Intel i5 or better)? And can we further assume that you have some kind of video editing program for your post production work?
In the spirit of full disclosure, you need to read this link
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/camcorders/cam-cam.shtml
David has all the right ideas… I know because I did a career in television news / sports photography and had my own production company for about 10-years.
There's a lot to this undertaking and it won't be cheap to do it right.
The camera will be acceptable for "amateur" video work… That's all there's with a dslr, amateur work.
Audio… Yes I agree with David. Get a good audio recorder and at least one good microphone, I recommend Sennheiser or Shure, and then you'll have to "loop" that audio to your video. The easiest way to do that is use the on camera audio while shooting then in post you can sync the two audio sources. Once the recorded audio is matched you can remove the original audio from the camera.
Light. You'll need lots of extra light to make it look right - even in bright sun because sun casts very heavy shadows and to fill in those shadows takes light.
A good tripod with a fluid head - essential to keep your video steady without hand shake. If you do this hand held you're going to want an item that I have for video.
http://www.amazon.com/...004HD3G6Q/
Lenses. Think about lenses that will allow short DOF, long DOF, the best exposure and that are easily operated in manual focus.
Editor: I use a program called Video Pad by NCH, a very good editor for around $100.
Bottom line: As I said, it isn't cheap. Here's what I'm getting with my Canon t1i, the view finder I showed you and my NCH editor. Good Luck.