Anyone one these boards come from Toronto.

I am looking to meet people in the area who are interested in making documentaries, or any type of productions. So if you young/old, experienced or just enthusiastic, drop me an email.

If there any experiened Xl1s shooters out there, that would like to share some of their knowledge, to help make my work better, email me.

michaelds@digitalcrossing.ca

I'm just finishing up my first TV doc shot in Mexico, and looking for people to colaborate or talk (spitball) on other projects.(documentaries only, and maybe short films)

Michael

Well I used to live in Toronto...
...But I like Vancouver much much better. :)

michael, if i may ask, what kind of documentary did you film in mexico?

dom

Hey,

I've been lurking for a while because I didn't really have any thing to contribute. - Now that I have begun working on some projects, I decided I might aswell introduce myself.

I've spent the last few months working on a script that started out as a screenplay that later transformed into a short film script.

I am also working on a screenplay that I hope to finish during the spring. There was a time when I was really impatient and determined to achieve immediate success. I scoffed at the idea of doing a short film because I felt my 'brilliant' ideas needed a larger audience.

Now I am not quite so naive. And I am eager to take babysteps in my pursuit of being a storyteller.

After being inspired by some of the short films showcased on this site, I have generated some ideas that I am eager to pursue.

My first few projects will be voice over narrative driven stories. I don't have access to a boom mic write now and I don't want to destroy my initial projects with bad audio.


When reading the many rules and guidelines for this site, it seems to be much more rigid than any Internet community I've visited.

I never really though of an Internet handle as a facade or disguise. It just seemed like a playful and creative way of distinguishing ourselves while giving some kind of insight into our personality.

Anyway, this is one of the better filmmaking communities on the net, so I guess these 'rigid' rules must be a quality control thing.

Hopefully I will be able to put what I have learned from here to good use.

Welcome, Haasim! I'll be looking forward to reading your posts!



----------------------------------------
Dar deh be dar moon --- Farsi

Welcome aboard, Haasim! You are in a position that a lot of us
are in. Lots of ideas. Now is the time to start doing something
with em! I hope you'll be able to do things you want to do and
am interested to see what you'll produce!

And yes, the real names is part of the quality control that is being
done here. As you have noted, it seems to work!

Hi there,

I'm somewhat new to this forum... although i have been reading and posting liek a madman since i got my GL2.

I live in Toronto Ontario and was wondering if there were any people out there interested in doing some filming. Im totally open to concepts and I bring a good amount of NLE knowledge and special effects compositing to the table.

Hey,

I'm also from Toronto... I checked out your portfolio site, http://www.littlebearmedia.com - nice work!

I noticed you went to Seneca college. I'm currently attending the Seneca@York campus for Broadcast Journalism. I'm going to be in school during the summer, but I'd be interested to 'help out' if you work on any video projects.

Just like every wanna filmmaker, I've been working on a few scripts I hope to complete during my weeks off before the start of the summer semester. There is a cool production company founded by Kevin Spacey, they have a community called triggerstreet.com where storytellers can share their work and get feedback. Ever heard of it?

Welcome, Jason!

Just wanted to welcome you to the boards. I'm a bit of a commute from Toronto, but you'll find a few more people in your area here.

Good luck with your GL2.

Hey, welcome!
I used to live in TO.
Moved to Vancouver 8 years ago.

There are a few people scattered around SW Ontario...Myself and Frank Goertzen are in the London area. It'd be fun to get everyone together and throw ideas around.

My only contact with a GL2 has been on display at FutureShop. There's always a salesman hanging around when you're looking at a $4K camera. I just smile and inform him I've got his bigger brother. Not one has known what I'm talking about :P *shrug*

The idea of getting a bunch of people together sounds interesting. I've heard of alot of good things happening after people poling there skills and ideas. How do u suppose we get this going?

Hey, folks!

I just stumbled across this excellent forum of yours. I'm VERY impressed! It's been added to my favourites, and I'm sure I'll be frequenting it as often as possible (daily!).

I'm living in Toronto, and trying to keep as busy as possible. We've just finished shooting a couple of shorts on 16mm, as well as another short on Hi-Def, and a music video on Hi-Def. We try to mix up all these 'big' shoots with DV projects as well.

So, if you're in the Toronto area, give me a shout! (especially if you're an experienced DOP, or camera person with samples) ;)

Until then.

David

dpritchett@pendulumentertainment.com

http://www.pendulumentertainment.com

I'm sure we'd love to hear more about your work, particularly your HD and DV work.

Hey, I used to live in Toronto...

Go Leafs!

I'm in London, a stone's throw away. Pleased to meet ya.

Great to meet you guys!

GO LEAFS (indeed!!).

We're in post on our HD short right now. The route we went was to get the master HD tapes transferred to Digibeta, then to DVCAM, and then directly into the computer. We'll cut on the DVCAM, and master with the Digibetas. If the need arises, we'll take our EDL (Avid Xpress) to a house that has HD decks and make an HD master copy as well... However, this does pose a bit of a problem, as we have some 3D/CG work being done, and (right now) there are no plans for rendering out that footage at the HD rez. We'll see what happens :)

We're planning on shooting 3 spec commercials in 3 weeks time, so we're keepin' very busy. We'll also be shooting these on HD.

Keep shootin'!!!!!

David

P.S. This place rocks!

Welcome, David. You have indeed found the right forum for digital video. Let me know if you need an amateur to hang around evenings and weekends, getting in the way and asking too many questions.

David Hurdon

Hey, I used to live in Toronto...Go Leafs!Years ago I watched King of Kensington on TV. And after that, I watched the re-runs. Then in 1979 I moved to T.O. for a while. I loved the city! (And the funny people that hung out around the Maple Leaf Gardens at night.)

PS: I never did find that store that "The King" owned and ran. :(

Anyone in Toronto.. I am looking for a video club to join. A great way to x-change ideas and watch eachothers videos.
Maybe we can form a video/ film making club?
Say hello .
Thomas

I've heard of Toronto...
Oh wait, I was born there...
Then I got some sense and moved to Vancouver.
Leafs still rule though!

After 20 years in Toronto I know one person who shares my interest in digital content creation, and he made his living in video for those years. I'd be very interested in a local group with shared interest and I hope some of the other guys and girls I've noticed from Toronto here and on other groups would be too.

David Hurdon

What kind of gear do you both have? We may have the hardware to put something together. I live outside of Toronto, but frequent the area for a car club I am involved with.

Hi Toronto Canada video'ers!

If anyone on here will be in Toronto Canada the rest of this week and maybe want to hookup for some beers and talk shop let me know. I've got a shoot from Tuesday to Friday in Toronto.

Any good bars in town??

Murph

Hi Christopher. I'm sorry I didnt see your posting earlier or I would have tried hooking up. Where in Toronto are you shooting? What's the project?

Regards, Myron

Hi Myron, I was in the theater district on King St.

The shoot was a corporate HP thing (they're on King St.), so that was during the day. At night I was partying at all those cool places like the Kit Kat....and this one place where all the babes were hanging out the windows! What a cool place...man, there are some hot women in Toronto. The only bummer is that most of them smoke! What the deal with huge smoking population!

Also, the day I rolled in was the day of the massive smog over the city (Tuesday). It was bad that day and that night there were huge storms too.

Sorry I missed you, but I'd like to come up there again. It's got some great clubs!

Murph

It's not that there are a lot of smokers, its that it is illegal to smoke inside a bar or club, so anyone who does smoke groups outside together, giving the apperance of more smokers than there actually are.

Montral is where all the smokers live ;)

Hello everyone.

My name is Joseph and I'm an indie from Toronto. I've made 2 short digital films and am currently trying to get a feature together.

I mainly shoot on the Sony VX2000, and still feel that it is a camera that can't be beat.

Check out my site to view the trailers of my 2 short films:
FISH'N CHICKS and PILGARLIC.

The movie FISH'N CHICKS can be seen at 3btv.com in the UK and undergroundfilm.org.

I'm glad to finally be a part of DV Community.

Best regards

Joseph

www.deleoproductions.com

Welcome aboard Joseph! Good to have you with us.

Thanks for having me.

I've been shooting videos for 3 years at the recreational level, mainly for maxbimmer.com and for personal social events. My videos are far from professional though. My current (and first) camcorder is the Sony DCR TRV-17.

It's a great camcorder to use at the beginner level, but now I would like start filming more at the professional level.

I am eventually going to purchase a new camcorder, but I'm on a tight budget. I noticed that while fliping through a digital video magazine (forgot the title), the mail-in-order companies seem to offer their product pricing much lower than a retail store or even an online retailer like B&H Photo. What's up with that and should I go via the mail-in-order route?

I'd appreciate it if I can get some input on this,

Thanks, and this forum is awesome!

In short: Run away. Far away. Shred your magazine to prevent any urges for a 'great deal' you may have.

They will take you for a ride, insist on buying 'accessories' that are actually part of the retail package you'd get from reputable companies like B&H, Zotz, EVS, ZGC, at inflated prices. Then, give you a run around unless you agree to buy said accessories.

You may also get a 'world wide' warranty which Canon does not recognize in North America, so forget any warranty support.

Need I go on?

Welcome to the forum!

Andrew covered most of it, but forgot to add:
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

There, now we covered it. :)

if you can find used gl1 canon ---cain"t go wrong for small investment!

Hi Mike!
My name is Diogo and I lived in Toronto for the past three years and half (I'm back in Brazil, now)...
Well, I got amazed that a lot of people doing video in Toronto weren't familiar with the name Trinity Square Video. TSV is an artist-run centre, and they are the folks you want to talk to. Plus, you will meet a lot of great video artists and make wonderful connections. I miss everyone of them, Jason, Roy, Ian (even though I wasn't the most frequent among the members) etc.
Their location: 401 Richmond St W #376 (Richmond at Spadina, you can't miss it)
Phone number: 416.593.1332
I'm quite sure they'll help you with whatever question you have... where to find good products in Toronto, who to buy from (or to rent from, you know you don't need to own a production house to start shooting, eh?)...
There you go,
Diogo.

Hey everyone,

I am a DOP in Toronto.

To do away with all the pretention, I am actually not way too experienced, I've been shooting seriously only for about 3 years and have shot a couple of music videos, a couple of TV commercials, lots of shorts, and one feature film on HD.

I graduated from RyeHigh Film school a couple of years ago and have enjoyed being a part of this small, but very competitive community.

My goal is to shoot narrative work, so for all you producers and directors out there, go ahead a take a look at my work and we shall talk about some cool colaborations.

Kevin,

www.4lanes.com

Hey guys. I'm new as well, and currently living in Toronto.

I'm planning on shooting a feature I wrote in Cape Breton, NS during the summer. I have some investor interest, he wants to see the paper work before he gives me any money, so that's what phase of production I'm in now...trying to make my first ever budget for $40,000.00

I need a DOP, too bad you guys weren't in Nova Scotia...

Hey Brad,

Congrats on your leads towards your first feature.

Can you tell me more about the project?
I've made it a point this year to get more into narrative work so I don't mind travelling (on me) to working on interesting projects.

I'll send you a reel if you'd like and we can talk more.

Kevin,

Kevin, thanks for the interest.

It's a sendup to cheesy 80's horror movies. My inspirations are 'The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra' and 'Psycho Cop'

Lost Skeleton being an influence because it's a sendup to bad 50's alien movies...just made a year or two ago, great movie.

Psycho Cop being an influence because it's the worst 80s horror movie in the world.

So it's a comedy, but it will be filmed completely serious, it has to be done deadpan...nothing like Scary Movie or Club Dread.

I'll be shooting in July/August on an 18 day schedule. It's pretty basic for actors & locations. I have a really good makeup effects guy in CB who studied here in Toronto for all the blood and gore. I've got a Locations Manager, Assistant Director, and a few other people back home interested in being part of it.

So basically all I need is a real DP, I've got a guy interested who's done some work for basic cable, but I want this to look like a movie, not a low budget tv show.

Anyway, if you're interested in travelling, I'd take care of the travel expenses. Do you have your reel online? Also, do you know anyone in Cape Breton that you could stay with? Let me know! Thanks again,


BRad

Hey Brad,

Sounds cool. If you would like to take a look at my reel you can go to www.4lanes.com and go into the reel section and look under DOPs.

You could email me directly at kevin@4lanes.com if you can any comments/questions.

Hope to hear from you.

Thanks.

Kevin,

Hey all. I live in Chatham, Ontario which is about 3 hours west of Toronto close to Detroit MI. I am an electronics tech by trade and took up videography about 4 years ago so I coud pursue my true love.....acting and of course film making. I shot my first short a year ago and have just finished a rough edit. It is 20 minutes long and I have to say I am very happy with it. In fact we are entering it into festivals and hoping to use it as a calling card to acquire grants and funds to do a feature length. To eat I shoot weddings, corporates and whatever else that comes along.

Brad, I wish you great luck as a fellow coaster. I grew up in the Dartmouth area and have done a lot of hunting in Cape Breton. In fact my family has a camp in Margaree.

Hey Tom, nice to hear from you. I have relatives in the Valley too =P Yeah hopefull I'll be able to get some things going in CB, there's a few of us doing some stuff now to get it started. We're forming a Cape Breton Production Guide, a list of people who want to work, and what they can do.

Hi there, I just signed up after checking out the site and some posts. So since I'm new I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm definitely interested in video but lacking experience and most probably equipment.

I'm a 3rd year student at George Brown College and enrolled in the Graphic Design program.

I recently made a music video for a school project (video & audio class), the video is 4 minutes and 38 seconds in length . This was my first real video project.

As for equipment I have a Panasonic DV Camcorder PV-GS70 (which probably isn't as good as what most of you use). I use a basic tripod (didn't know they have names) and that's pretty much it.

My skills and knowledge lie more in design/creativity and software. I have and know (only listing video relevant programs), Premiere Pro 1.5, After Effects 6.5, Final Cut Pro (don't have this actually), Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS, Flash MX 2004, and 3DS Max 7. I'm going to learn Adobe Encore DVD 1.5 so I can make dvd menus, mainly because I want to make a proper dvd for my music video(s).

I'm presently working on another music video- it's not for anything particular, just for fun basically. I'm still in the storyboard stage and trying to work out any shooting problems.

I can't do very much with my videos as I used Natalie Merchant's song "My Skin" for the first one and Dido's "My Lover's Gone" for the second one. I think I can post them on my website but not certain if I would need their permission. Well, once I make my website I can post them.

Hmm this is turning out to be a long introduction.
The main reason I joined the forums is because I was looking for a forum where people discuss making videos and any problems. My problems lie in lack of actors (people don't want to be on camera or don't have the time), equipment (for achieving certain shots), background (location is everything), and wardrobe (I make do, but I wish I had more options). I was planning on posting to ask for advice when I have a specific problem.

I like japanese music videos (well from the ones I've seen) and those are my main inspiration. However I know I probably won't be able to make music videos or even assist in them, it's something that can at least be a hobby for now. As for a career, I'll be a graphic designer.

welcome to the industry, there are few pro's here from T.O.

Seems like you understand what it takes to make it in this industry. I started by making my own documentaries with my own money. I learned a lot, made some mistake, and learned a bunch. I now make films for Disocvery/Animal Planet.

Good luck, you can find a ot here on these boards.

michael

Hello... Andrew from Saint John,.. or Halifax,... or montreal depending on the day... (Saint John right now)

Maybe these inspire some solutions to your problems:

My problems lie in:
1. lack of actors - My experience is that when shooting in a big city you shouldnt have this problem.. i suspect you arent paying them.. so try putting an add in the classifieds next time for auditions for the video and remember to put that your not paying.. Lots of actors would probably like to do it just for experience and credit. Shooting in a small city like saint john using this method brings actors to auditions. Toronto shouldnt be a problem.

2. equipment - join a film co-op.. i;'ve seen them in every city i've lived in :saint john, halifax montreal, victoria. For the membership fee most coops give you free use or really cheap rental prices. Also a good place to find yourself crew members for free that know what they're doing.

3. background - you live in toronto . open your eyes :) Its a big place.

4. wardrobe - use the crap out value village. find the sizes of your actors or take them with you. You can find any style of clothing plus some uniforms that could hlp too.

Hope some of this helps
I've been lurking for a LONG time on here so i thought this would be a good start

Hi everyone,

Canon GL2 user from Toronto, Canada here. Video production is a hobby of mine, which I'm trying to dedicate more time to. I've done some small personal projects including a wedding and a vacation video.

I'm looking forward to learning and interacting with all of you!

Welcome aboard (H)DVInfo.net Ryan! Good to have you with us, sorry for the
late welcome. Enjoy your stay!

Greetings all, I've noticed a few of us are from Toronto. Speak up if you are, I'm interested to know how many of us from the t.dot are here. I'll start it off by introducing myself, my name you already know. I've worked in the film biz here in Canada for about 16 yrs. primarily in Toronto and Vancouver and I live down on the harbourfront.

GO LEAFS GO...

Greetings all, I've noticed a few of us are from Toronto. Speak up if you are, I'm interested to know how many of us from the t.dot are here. I'll start it off by introducing myself, my name you already know. I've worked in the film biz here in Canada for about 16 yrs. primarily in Toronto and Vancouver and I live down on the harbourfront.

GO LEAFS GO...

Although not from the TO, I'm only a short few hours away in Windsor! When will you Leaf fans just give up? The Wings are where it's at. haha

Hey. XL2 user form TO.

Nice ot meet ya