The tools of media creation don’t come cheap and I’ve invested my fair amount of cash in cameras, lenses, computers, software, etc., etc., and there’s still a ton of gear that I would love to have that would make my work so much easier to execute but there’s only so much money especially now that I’m alone in the freelance world. My solution, then, has been to craft some of the gear I need myself.
For the most part, I’ve been building lighting equipment, the tools to properly light a scene for video and/or photography. Working mostly with PVC pipe, salvaged light sockets, and CFL bulbs from the local WalMart, I’ve built a variety of equipment including a very serviceable umbrella light.
I have taken the majority of my inspiration for these projects from Scott Eggleston’s Frugal Filmmaker blog. Scott shares a variety of low-budget, do-it-yourself alternatives to the big-ticket gear the pros use. He’s the one who inspired me to build light stands, camera supports, and even a table dolly for my Canon T2i, thus it was a great honor when he wrote to me this morning in response to some photos I shared with him saying:
Thanks for the great letter–it’s my featured post today! I also have to compliment you on your PVC builds–they are amazing. When you get some pictures of the stabilizer and table dolly, please send them along. Your stuff is awesome!
And HERE‘s the link to Scott’s blog featuring my letter and the link to my DIY lighting gear from the Frugal Filmmaker blog!
While I consider it a great honor to be featured on the blog that inspired my own work, I sincerely hope that I can inspire others that it doesn’t take a lot of money and the “right” gear to achieve “proper” production values. In my career, I have worked with a number of small organizations providing media services that are out of their financial and technical reach and I’ve long wanted to help people in this position to achieve a high-quality look while staying within their limits. With high-quality cameras coming down to “reasonable” prices within more people’s reach and computers and software for production being equally as inexpensive and attainable, it’s just a short leap with a few, simple pieces of DIY gear to be able to make something of decent quality for not a lot of money. I hope that seeing what I’ve built, more small operators will see that it is possible to achieve the “pro” look without the “pro” cost.
