RED Camera – What a wonderful piece of equipment! It is without a doubt the best camera for independent filmmakers, due to its affordability, reliability and outstanding image quality. I had the pleasure of using it on some serious work and I absolutely love the results — check out my RED camera review for more details.
Panasonic Professional BT-LH1710 17-Inch LCD Production Monitor – I used this high-definition production monitor in conjunction with the RED camera and found it to be absolutely indispensable. The role of the production monitor is to enable the director to see exactly what the camera is shooting during a take. In this way the director can evaluate whether the framing, camera movement and other aspects are as they should be. A high-definition production monitor also enables you to check that the focus was perfect at all times during a take. This is a particularly important issue if you are shooting with a shallow depth of field. While shooting a project with the RED camera, this monitor showed me on several occasions that the actor’s eyes weren’t perfectly pin-sharp, as a result of which I knew we had to do another take. This can save you a lot of disappointment in the editing room!
Apple Mac Pro – After spending many years editing with a PC, I finally had to try a Mac Pro because the RED camera footage I was editing was too substantial for my measly PC. The Mac Pro was fast, stable and absolutely reliable, which is exactly what a filmmaker wants when editing a project! One of the coolest things about the Mac Pro tower is that there is a very handy lid on the side that you can take off when you want to open it, without having to unplug your computer and take it off your desk. Above all, the Mac Pro has the necessary processing power to handle the massive R3D files produced by the RED camera.
Final Cut Studio – I edited the project shot with the RED camera on a Mac Pro using Final Cut Studio. After suitable transcoding, Final Cut Studio works very well with the R3D files produced by the RED camera, and it is deservedly famous for its stability and reliability. Final Cut Studio is now also bundled with Apple Color, which is a very advanced color-correction program. (The colorist used Apple Color to grade my project — it works very well and saves a lot of time.)
Cobra Crane II – We are now going further back in time to my early projects! I used the Cobra Crane II on my first film; I operated it in person and I absolutely loved the results. As long as you don’t need a boom range of more than 10 feet, it is a great crane for low-budget projects shot with camcorders weighing not more than 25 pounds. It works beautifully and produces amazing shots which, if used judiciously, can add a lot of production value to low-budget projects. If you want more details, check out my Cobra Crane II review.
Manfrotto 516 Pro Fluid Head Tripod – This is the heavy-duty fluid head I used on my first film (back then it was called Manfrotto 3066). I mounted the Cobra Crane II on it, or the camera by itself. Of course it needs correspondingly heavy-duty tripod legs. The reliability of Bogen / Manfrotto is legendary and well-earned.
Mark Vb Director’s Viewfinder by Alan Gordon Enterprises – I had the pleasure of using this viewfinder and it is of extraordinary quality. The purpose of the director’s viewfinder is to enable the director to choose the focal length he/she wants for a shot without having to walk around with the camera (which is impossible with large cameras). You simply walk around the set peering through the viewfinder and experiment with different focal lengths, and when you decide which focal length and camera position you want, you simply tell the DP which lens you want and where the camera must be placed. A good director’s viewfinder is absolutely essential for serious work.
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