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 from Canada Toronto
 

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

Greeting from Toronto, Ontario, Canada!
 

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!

Toronto
 

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

Come on Toronto people, speak up.


PS: Hi Matthew and Steve

By the way, any Toronto folks heading to NAB this year? I'm trying to go, first time, can't wait. Love the toys and LOVE Vegas.

A wise old man once said... "Vegas wasn't built on winners"

From Niagara here. Using a GL2/Firestore setup.

Chris

I live in Toronto. I also like Vegas... my favorite NLE and color correction program.

Hey,

I'm an Fx1 user here in TO. What kind of work do you do?

Right next door in Hamilton here.

Big shout out from the T-DOT
 

I'm from Toronto, right downtown. I'm shooting with a DVX100A and just switched from premiere to FCP since I bought a G5. I'm a member of LIFT (Lift.on.ca) and Trinity Square Video (trinitysquarevideo.com). TSV is a great resourse for DV filmmakers.

I'm always up for get togethers to talk about the craft.

Toronto Film Challenge
 

In case anyone is interested there is a 24 hour film challenge going on in Toronto (torontofilmchallenge.com). I've signed up and it's my 2nd 24 hour challenge. It like film school crammed into 24 hours. I might need a camera operator/sound person if someone wants to participate but doesn't want to form a team.

Cheers

I'm next door in Guelph!

Down the road a bit in Hamilton

Does anyone know of a dv group that meets in the GTA? I would be interested.

I'm close to Toronto as well - living in Mississauga, but I'm in Toronto a lot. I actually use quite a few different cameras on a regular basis, but interestingly enough, don't own one myself - yet (trying to decide between DVX100B and XL2, but that's a whole other discussion). I do have my own editing system set up - G5 and FCP5.
yeah, if anyone knows of any good clubs, please inform us because I'd be interested as well.

Greetings...are you talking about a "Pro" group or hobbyists?

I'd say hobbyists and pros. Just people who love the craft.

Bump...
 

So, I was going through all the threads in here just to see how "worldly" DVINFO has become. Wow, congrats and kudo's to you Chris, people from all over our fuzzy little planet.

Anyway, just putting us from Toronto back up on top of the list to see if any others have joined.

Cheers: Jipsi K.

I'm originally from Toronto, lived near/in LA for quite some time...

...but still a Leafs fan. Beauty.

I'm in the Niagara area now going to college but hopefully in a couple years I'll end up in TO.

Editor from Toronto
 

Well, since I've been posting for a few days and introduced myself in the Wedding section, thought I may as well say Howdy here as well.

I'm an editor in the Toronto region though I am taking jobs all over southern Ontario now as well as the Detroit area. I have been in the video business for over twenty years; a few quick sojourns in television, some copy writing, ran a gov't sponsored training program but mostly I've been a post-production specialist.

Currently I'm a freelancer, taking in script/editing chores for companies that specialize in the corporate/industrial market as well as editing and producing wedding videos for myself and half a dozen other studios

I have a couple of Mac based suites running Final Cut, DVD SP and all the other suspects but I've also editing with Premiere, the Video Toaster Flyer and various flavours of A/B roll suites. Heck, I started off on 3/4" U-Matic cuts only suites (first titles over image I ever did we cut them out on Letraset then supered them over a studio cam) Yikes, we've all come a long way

Hi Victor, welcome aboard DV Info Net, good to have you with us!

hey from Toronto
 

I'm pretty lucky living here. Anyways I'm Andrew I'm 17 and I'm pretty new I have been making videos for a year and a half now. though it was through my high school film program (with there cameras). Just recently have become a proud owner of a XH-A1. WOOT WOOT.

Other things about me is I attend aa art high school. Am involved in many aspects of production. I'm in the theatre program, I take a sound and lighting class, and I volunteer at a theatre.

and question?

im here for networking

Hi Andrew, welcome aboard DV Info Net, good to have you with us!

Congrats on your camera purchase.

thanks Rob

First day here.
 

Well, my name is Nathan DuMoulin and I work in the Toronto area. I know very little about cameras and such, however I'm currently producing my first movie-based product.

My background is mainly in post production (computer graphics, 3d animation, compositing, and DVD authoring). I'm hoping to gain some insight on digital video practices, while maybe providing some help for anyone who has questions about post production.

Also, I'll soon be requiring the services of an independent camera crew and a director of photography, so perhaps someone here will be up to the task.

Anyway, just figured I'd say hello and let you all know who the random new guy is. =P

- Nathan

Welcome to the community. Lots of good people and info here!

Welcome to DVinfo Nathan, it's great to have you onboard!

Hello from Toronto
 

Hello,

Nice to finally join this wonderful community. I am a corporate video producer with a few shorts and some broadcast work under my belt.

I am swapping over my cams and suite to HDV this winter and am looking forward to drawing on the resources here to finalize my choices.

Going from:

Sony PD-150
Matrox RTX 100 / Premiere

to:

Sony HVR-V1U or Sony HDCAM-EX
Matrox RTX2 or Matrox Axio or Premiere & Cineform or Macpro

Cheers,