Is the Scarlet good for...?

[McKay Olson]

...an aspiring sixteen year old filmmaker? I have recently won a contest for $25,000 for film equipment. Is the Scarlet for me, though? Do I even have the brains to manage a camera like this? I've only worked with DSLRs, and this camera seems awesome. However, I realize that the people buying this camera are professionals, people not like me. Should I get it? Thanks for any help!

 

[Gunleik Groven]

I'd have gone for it.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Hmmm... if you won a contest for film equipment, might I assume it had something to do with being a talented filmmaker? If so, then probably yes, you could benefit by having good equipment. But, of course, it is not essential. Depends very much on where you want to take it and what your other hopes/dreams/ambitions/goals are. There is no easy answer and certainly not from people who don't know you well. Good luck!

 

[Louis Maddalena]

Yeah I'd a scarlet body with a canon mount, a the side handle and some redvolts, a hdmi monitor a 2-3 64gb cards, and some basic lighting (if you don't have that already)... I figured that way you'll make your 25k go the farthest and later down the road you can get the red monitor and pl mount.

 

[SeanBrown]

I agree with Louis.

 

[Costelloe Michael]

Yeah I'd a scarlet body with a canon mount, a the side handle and some redvolts, a hdmi monitor a 2-3 64gb cards, and some basic lighting (if you don't have that already)... I figured that way you'll make your 25k go the farthest and later down the road you can get the red monitor and pl mount.

Best leave some money for post also?

 

[Robert L. Mickles]

Go for it!

 

[Michael Pyon]

...an aspiring sixteen year old filmmaker? I have recently won a contest for $25,000 for film equipment. Is the Scarlet for me, though? Do I even have the brains to manage a camera like this? I've only worked with DSLRs, and this camera seems awesome. However, I realize that the people buying this camera are professionals, people not like me. Should I get it? Thanks for any help!

"Do I even have the brains to manage a camera like this?" Are you serious? Don't even bother with the Scarlet if you're going in belittling yourself and your abilities. I'm an 18 year old at NYU and I know more shit about filmmaking than some of the upperclassmen and grad students that attend this school. Come on now... don't insult us (teenagers).

 

[McKay Olson]

Oh no, don't take that the wrong way. I'm not saying that teenagers don't have the brains to make movies. I'm just saying that I might not have enough experience to operate a cinema-grade camera like the Scarlet. You are a likely more experienced filmmaker

 

[Brian Iannone]

Yeah I'd a scarlet body with a canon mount, a the side handle and some redvolts, a hdmi monitor a 2-3 64gb cards, and some basic lighting (if you don't have that already)... I figured that way you'll make your 25k go the farthest and later down the road you can get the red monitor and pl mount.

+1 on that.

Go for it, McKay! =)

 

[Cenydd Ros]

I would consider what lens package I wanted to work with first - and buy my lenses. With what I had left I would then shop cameras. Your lenses are your expressive gems - new cameras come out every few months. The Scarlet does look like a system that will have a long and evolving place - but still, I would consider at minimum four or five prime lenses as priority.

 

[Michael Millichamp]

Everyone starts somewhere.

If not RED, then where would you start?

One of the top reasons I chose RED besides their amazing products and results, was because of RedUser, and how most of the time, everyone is so helpful.

You didn't post too long ago and you already have 2 pages of people chiming in. I thought I wouldn't be able to use a RED, but I just followed the site for awhile, rented a RED One, and I knew most of the in's and out's.

Go for it. The Scarlet is a great camera. I can't stop playing with mine.

 

[Paulo Kobayashi]

In my opinion 25K is not enough for Scarlet if you do big jobs, but should be about the minimum to shoot short films.
I have already spend 25K in RED equipments and 22K on CHEAP PL lenses for my scarlet.
If you get the Canon mount you could get cheaper lenses but would still need battery, red SSDs, LCD, a notebook to transfer the footage on set and at least a Game computer with CS5.5

But the real problem will be post production. For you to be able to work with r3d would be much more demanding than any other codecs you are used too. And there are many things to learn before you can output something that looks good.

You should think of r3d (the format that red cameras record) as a digital negative that needs to be processed before using.

All comes down to 1 thing, what do you want to do? Do you want to be a camera operator, cinematographer, colorist, editor, or a director?

- If you learn how to use a Scarlet at the age of 16 you are in very good shape for a career as a camera operator, camera assistent, etc.
- To become a cinematographer I would tell you to go to a film school (NYU, USC, AFI) or work in film sets in the camera department and ask many questions to the DoP (director of Photography). Cinematography is much more than equipment, in fact a good cinematographer should be equipment agnostic (what in practice never is)
- A colorist or and editor would also be in the right track learning how to use r3d, but that means you would need to spend more money on equipments for post-production to be able to monitor your footage in a calibrated monitor.
- If you want to become a director and tell your stories, you should get the camera that fits your needs. For example do you like hand held or would you prefer to have smooth movements on your films?

Scarlet will consume most of your budget (at least 20K) and the other 5K would be the minimum for a fast "Game" computer to edit r3d in Premiere CS5.5.

Concluding, if you want to have more gears like lights, cranes, filters, lenses, etc, you would be better off getting something like a Sony NEXFS-100 and spending the rest in gear. But if you want to learn how to use the RED workflow for any reason then get Scarlet. But be prepared to read many many many forums and posts and ask questions because like you said, Scarlet is a professional camera and don't come with a "manual" or tutorial as to speak.

Good luck and congrats on your achievements so far, very impressive. Can we see your film?

 

[Lliam Worthington]

Lots of good posts/advice. So I'll try not to repeat what's been covered. And for what it's worth. It's all win win for you whatever you decide really.

First, it does depend on what you have. By which I also mean what you can readily access too - you may have good networks - a friend with a few thousand in sound gear already. Or a lighting kit at your school you have access too... A mac book pro...? Do you have a bit of a thing for post, colour grading and learning VFX? (Scarlet is incredibly appealing in this regard)

Second, and for me the biggest thing it all really does depend on is what you want to do?

What's your immediate dream? That gut feeling you have? (Which your probably in touch with if you've already won such a decent prize)

It's a fantastic opportunity you have, and obviously about setting yourself up for your most advantageous "learning process" - and most importantly directly empowering yourself to be able to go right and do just what you love most and have the most fun doing - without worrying about scraping gear together or the worst aspect imo - getting MONEY together to make projects. Though there is distinct benefits from going this way too, friends to be made and learning to be had etc. But it can crush any creative soul at the best of times also.

So... are you seeing yourself with your own "Indie kit" that can immediately make you independently capable of making high quality shorts or shoot your own micro budget features?

"IF" that's the case and you don't have any other resources you own or can bring to bare via friends school etc...
Then in my opinion I'd say Scarlet is too expensive for a 25K full Indie kit to set you on you way - "IF" that's what your after. (Though if you can already manage post - then I think it can be done - and can be done regardless if your into researching, DIY ala cheesycam, combined with ebay and second hand hunting) Lenses, lighting (Go chinese LED's imo) have already been mentioned, but quality sound equipment is widely regraded as even more important for such a venture.

If you want to be independent, gather your friends and learn what is in my opinion the most important aspect of our craft, story telling, creative process, good relationships and leadership. Then I agree with Paulo, a kit with an FS100, media, power, lenses, support gear, lighting, sound, and post production clobber is more than doable and would be fantastic. Probably squeeze in a GH2 for a B cam and stills too, then go make micro budget features and or pump out shorts. To be honest, you could buy 2 FS100's and still have a better chance of getting a solid production kit than if you buy a Scarlet.

However if the dream that appeals to you most is to buy a truly INCREDIBLE camera, learn about creating incredible images and transforming yourself into a digital imaging expert. Then go Scarlet. In my humble opinion at 16 you'd be a getting an incredible head start in the game. Or if your an After Effects child and like exploring VFX, a Scarlet will very likely rock your world also. Or if your have a few resources already at hand, have a script and a dream to see your film up on the silver screen, and it requires homemade VFX and you want a lot of power over your image, then that's a good argument for a scarlet too.

But otherwise... I'd say make sure your buying to EMPOWER yourself first and foremost. If I'd bought an epic for my upcoming project, (which I'd love too) it would mean disempowering other key areas as I just don't have enough budget for it. I think, if your planning on making films, then your in a similar position to me in regards to buying a Scarlet. 35K would be a different story. But it still might not be empowering as just waiting on an order might see you missing serous film making time you could be having pretty much instantly with your FS100. With less of a technical learning curve to be had.

Finally, because I'm not sure I answered one of your key concerns, would you be "pro" enough to handle it. Only one way to become pro regardless of what anyone says imo. Be prepared to work hard and make enough mistakes to emerge onto the other side. Really all just depends on where you want your learning curves to be. For me, if I was 16, I'd be making micro budget movies with friends and hitting on girls )) I was still figuring myself out back then, so just surfing and hitting on girls ) But you may be much more inclined to being behind closed doors on the puter studying forums, tutorials, and learning workflow and colour correction etc etc... And don;t sweat it. Lot of bad press about REDuser, but there are so many wonderful, incredibly helpful people on here that i'm sure you'd manage and then some. The support on here is why I've taken the time to put this reply together as there are so many more able technical people on here than me, but on this matter I felt I could be of use and help pay it forward for all the help I receive. Plus like helping people anyway...

So I hope that's all of some help!

Best WIshes

Lliam

 

[Sergio Perez]

Excellent posts. I think the post production aspect is very important. You really need to have that covered with your budget. If I had your cash, at your age, and was as interest in filmmaking and in motion pictures as I am now (which I wasn't), I would first think about what I would need to make my story and films stand out. I'm not going to go throught the acting, the script, the set design crew and production value, etc. that has been covered by other posts, I will just focus on picture quality here. Will having a Scarlet raise the picture quality of your productions? Yes, it will. You will avoid the aliasing, moire and compressed codec limitations of DSLR technology as well as low end prosumer cameras. The Scarlet will give you a 4K image which can help you for reframing in certain situations. And its also raw and keeps all information, giving you bigger flexibility in post. HOWEVER, to have a working, production ready camera we are talking minimum 15K (bare minimum). This leaves 10K for the rest. The other options on the market in the price range give you similar limitations- need to buy external recorder, need extra mount for still lenses (One of the big, big advantages of the Scarlet is the Canon mount for guerrilla filmmakers), or are only 8Bit... You can however go cheaper on your camera, and the compromises in picture quality, while visible, if you're going the Festival and indie route, is not as important as having great lighting, great set design, great and professional looking camera movement (dolly, tripods, steadicam, sliders, etc.). If I didn't have all my support, lighting, lens and post gear in place, I would never think of investing my sub 40K budget on the Epic- think about it: what good would it do having the best camera in the world if I was shooting with it only handheld, had a crappy canon kit lens and a computer heavily underpowered to edit it with? I would probably produce much worse pictures than going Scarlet and having a full production and post production kit. If your talent gave you 25K using cheap gear, it will definitely give you much more in your next projects. After having the "bases" covered, then invest on the top end camera. The camera gets updated every 3,4 or 5 years, the rest follows you through life! Think about it!

 

[Lorenzo Straight]

Go for it Kid.

 

[Stephen Gentle]

Lenses are important, so definitely factor them in first. And make sure you have access to at least a basic lighting kit and decent tripod.

And if you go Scarlet, as others have said, remember that to get the best results, it requires post processing on all your shots, and hours and hours of rendering (although you can render in real time with a RED Rocket, if you can afford one). If shot and processed properly, the camera can produce images similar to the biggest budget movies being shot today. Just be prepared that it will take a lot of time, learning and practice.

Good luck!

 

[Alexander Thomson]

Do it, what you do not know now about filmmaking, you'll be able to learn with a tool so diverse as the Scarlet. It's a camera you can grow into. You may not need 4K master or HDRx, but knowing that when you need to, you can take advantage of those features is fantastic.

As a fellow student filmmaker, I'm thinking canon mount and side handle if you shoot a lot of handheld. If you don't need the handle a Redmote and Red Touchscreen monitor would be great. Scarlet Media Pack is a good start. You may want an extra SSD though depending on how willing you are to spend the 20 minutes to dump one each time it gets full. You may want to check out IDX V mount or Anton Bauer battery systems, they'll last longer than Redvolts, but if you get the handle, Redvolts would be ultra convenient.

Don't forget some nice Canon L or USM glass, lenses can sometimes be an afterthought to the camera body, Easiest lens to recommend is the 24-70L. So well made and covers a nice range at f/2.8

As mentioned above, don't forget about post. A couple of G-Raids can easily tackle the TBs of footage you'll be shooting with such a great camera! Definitely check out B&H's Arri lighting kits they've put together. One of those can easily get you set up to shoot some great looking images.

Best of luck and I hope you go for it!

 

[Timur Civan]

is it not possible to use the 25k to shoot a film?

But if you must, i'd consider the costs of the complete package.

Camera body, lenses, monitor, proper tripod, and various other accessories, computer to handle the footage, drives, and dont forget CASES. Cases for everything is very important and often forgotten. Cases are not cheap. Having a scarlet will do little for you without a good tripod and some glass.

Keep the whole package in mind.

The only reason a SCarlet cost me "$19k" is because i already have ALL the other parts in place. i bought a SCarlet Ti PL kit, 4x 64gig cards and the base production pack. This is not counting my Cookes, my sachtler, my flanders, my FF4, Obox, SmallHD's, baseplates, rods, cheeze plates, and a thousand other things i've accumulated over the years.



A decent tripod/head is at least 7k.


ALSO: What award di you win, and where can we see the movie that won it!? would love to see what a 16 year old can do nowadays. ( im only 28, but in this day and age we mind as well be 30 years apart, you guys are growing up with technology in your blood.)

 

[Gunleik Groven]

It's rather simple...

If you have a lens and a scarlet package, you can start shooting.
You can add a lot both of on-set and post eqipment. Which would be true for any camera.
But you cannot add what the Scarlet gives you to any other camera, like highlights and lowlights carracterristics and RAW.

You don't need a beefed up computer to play with RAW. It won't hurt with a rocket and a big station, but it is not a neccesity to get started.

If you are not planning to start a rental, but want to learn, shoot and create the most: Get a Scarlet.