Shoot a short film
A short film rests on two things: dialogue the audience can hear and a picture that holds up on a big screen. With a small crew, spend on sound and light before the camera. An audience will sit through a plain shot, but not through dialogue they can’t make out.
Book the grip with everything else. Stands, sandbags and apple boxes cost little next to an hour lost on set waiting for something to hold a light.
Booking a few things? Set your dates once.
Then add gear from any page with + Add; it all goes on the same booking.
Cameras
Sony FX3 Full-Frame Cinema Camera$180 / dayFull frame and clean in low light, with the XLR handle for a mic on camera.
Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K$125 / dayBlackmagic RAW and an EF mount for the Rokinon set. Plan on wall power or a V-mount.
Lenses
Rokinon CineDS Lens Kit$80 / dayFour matched cine primes with geared focus. Manual focus, so book a focus puller.
Sony FE 50mm F/1.2 GM E-Mount Lens$40 / dayA fast 50mm with autofocus on the FX3, for a crew without a focus puller.
Light the scene
Aputure LS 600X Pro Bi-Color LED$100 / dayA big key light that can play a window or overpower one. Give it its own circuit.
Aputure Light Dome 150 Softbox 59 in.$25 / dayA 59-inch dome. The bigger the source, the softer the light on faces.
Aputure P60X$25 / dayA flat, soft panel for fill or for lighting the background.
4x4 Diffusion Frame$5 / daySoftens sun or a hard light before it reaches the actors.
40x60 in. 5-in-1 Collapsible Reflector$5 / dayBounces light into the shadow side of a face, no power needed.
Dialogue the audience can hear
Tascam DR-10L Lavalier Microphone$20 / dayA hidden lav with its own recorder on each actor, as a backup to the boom.
Zoom F6 Field Recorder$40 / dayRecords the boom and up to five more mics, and powers the shotgun mic.
Sennheiser HD280 Pro Headphones$10 / dayFor the sound person, so a bad take is caught before the set moves on.
Slate/Clapper$5 / dayA clap at the top of each take makes syncing sound in the edit quick.
Grip and support
Manfrotto 504HD Head W 546B Legs$35 / dayA fluid head that holds a cinema build steady through slow moves.
C-Stand (Silver, 10.5')$10 / dayHolds lights, frames and flags. Every stand gets a sandbag.
15LB Sandbags$2 / dayKeeps stands from tipping when someone brushes past.
Kupo Nesting Apple Box Set of 4$10 / dayRaises actors, the camera or a light by small steps. The four sizes nest together.
Power and cards
Rolux 240wh V Mount Battery$20 / dayRuns the Pocket 6K or a monitor when there's no outlet nearby.
DTAP to Lemo 2 Pin Cable$1 / dayConnects a V-mount's D-tap to the Pocket 6K's power input.
SanDisk 128GB SD Card V90 300MB/s$2 / dayA V90 card, fast enough for high-bitrate recording in either camera.
Packages for the crew
Solo Boom Operator Kit$97 / dayShotgun mic, boom pole, windshield and the Zoom F6 for one person on sound.
Basic Cine Kit$264 / dayThe Pocket 6K with three Rokinon primes, a tripod and a light with a softbox.
Aputure Portrait/3 Point Lighting Kit$150 / dayKey, fill and back light with a dome, a lantern and the stands.
Director’s Monitor Package$114 / dayA 7-inch monitor on a wireless video link, so the director can watch away from the camera.