The shoot is done. I directed and DP’d a short film, and I want to talk about what I used and what surprised me, because some of this gear performed way above its price point.
If you read my last post about breaking down a shot, you know I mentioned this project and the fact that I was nervous about shooting without permits. That was a real concern going in. I’ll get to how we handled it, because the gear choices ended up playing directly into that.
Camera and Movement
I went with the Sony FX3 (here). I’ve talked about this camera before, and it continues to punch above its weight for indie work. When you’re directing and operating at the same time, you need a camera that stays out of your way. The FX3 does that. Autofocus you can trust, a form factor that works handheld or rigged up, and image quality that holds up in a grade.
For stabilized movement, I paired it with the DJI Ronin RS gimbal (here). And here’s where the permit concern comes back in. An FX3 on a gimbal does not look like a film production. There’s no dolly track, no video village, no fleet of equipment trucks. It’s one person walking with a small camera. We did not attract attention to ourselves, which is exactly what you want when you’re shooting on a small budget. The combination is light enough to run all day without destroying your wrists, and it’s discreet enough to not announce “we are making a movie here” to everyone in a two-block radius.
The surprise of the shoot was the DJI Mic Mini (here). It as clean and had good range.
Lighting That Fits in a Backpack
This is where I got genuinely excited. I bought Neewer inflatable lights for this shoot, one bi-color (here) and one RGB (here), and I’m already buying more. That’s not something I say often about gear at this price point.
Here’s why they worked so well: they’re small. They deflate. I put both of them in my backpack alongside the rest of my accessories and walked onto set without a grip truck, without C-stands, without the usual overhead of a lighting package. For an indie short where you’re moving fast and don’t have a dedicated grip and electric team, that portability changes what’s possible.
I ran them without the need of portable battery chargers (here) that I kept on standby. The output was solid for interior work, and the RGB unit gave me options for practicals and motivated color that I wouldn’t have had otherwise without hauling gels and extra fixtures.
I loved these lights so much I’m buying more. For the money, for the size, for the output, they’re now a permanent part of my indie kit.
The Unsung Hero: A Portable Table
One more recommendation that has nothing to do with cameras or lights. I’ve been traveling with a portable folding table (here) since 2008. I’ve taken it overseas on shoots. It sounds like a strange thing to recommend in a gear post, but if you’ve ever been on a remote location with nowhere to set up your monitors, your DIT station, or just a place to organize batteries and media, you understand immediately.
It folds flat, it’s light, and it’s saved me on more sets than I can count. Almost two decades of use and I still bring it to every location shoot.
What’s Next
The film is in post now. I can’t wait to see it finished and share it on my director page. Stay tuned for that.
What I took away from this shoot is that the gap between “network TV production” and “indie short you can actually pull off” keeps shrinking. Not because the work is easier, but because the tools are better and smaller and cheaper. The whole camera and lighting package for this film fit in a rolling case and a backpack. That would not have been possible ten years ago. You still need the eye. You still need to know where to put the camera and why. But the barrier to executing on that vision with a skeleton crew keeps getting lower.
More on the finished film soon.
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[AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Gear links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.]
LINKS TO INSERT:
1. Sony FX3 (Amazon) — https://amzn.to/4tViFhX
2. DJI Ronin RS gimbal — https://amzn.to/4tilOIF
3. Neewer inflatable bi-color light — https://amzn.to/48bafui
4. Neewer inflatable RGB light — https://amzn.to/4vGzuie
5. Portable battery chargers — https://amzn.to/4e4iGvn
6. Portable folding table — https://amzn.to/42ko8Tw