Hello from Melbourne Australia

Andrew Hood · November 1st, 2005, 07:45 AM

OK I'm not really from Melbourne, but I live where we make most of your power and have your backup water supply - in the Latrobe Valley. About 1.5 hrs drive, more if heavy traffic.

I need a 3CCD cam, but looking at getting one soon. Hopefully start doing some weddings, etc with it to help recoup the cost. That and provide ongoing non fulltime work. I'm very part-time casual at the moment with web development. The upside is I could/can train for cross country skiing.
I wouldn't mind doing a doco on the sport and some of the top athletes - I know a couple, and the coach at least so there's a start.

I'm really trying to assemble bits and pieces on a budget, but hopefully after some refinement I'll get the results I want. I too have just been using a sony handycam thus far - not bad for the price I paid, but nowhere near the big boys. Once I get a few more people interested I can probably think about a short. Maybe even one that involves snow. Either way it's bound to be bizarre if I have my way.

If I was closer I'd volunteer to help out - even just to get experience.
Hope all goes well.

Kyle Ringin · November 3rd, 2005, 09:10 PM

G'day Andrew,
I'm originally from the Valley too - moved to the smoke a couple of years ago - I actually think I may have met you before (around 10 years ago, Newborough area) if you're one of the Hood's I'm thinking of. Could be mistaken though.

Drop me a line if you want a hand at a shoot - I'm back visiting the folks reasonably often.

Good luck with the video work and shorts.

Cheers.

Joe Barker · November 9th, 2005, 11:14 PM

Hi from Perth, WA to all you guys in Melbourne and surounds.I'm in the same position as you Ron,I have the XL2 and the rest of the gear.I've been planning to make a doco for a couple of years now,so with the new camera I have no excuses not to start.I intended filming in June but I procrastinated for weeks,then went overseas and lost the plot completely when I got home.I am now reasembling my plans, and with a bit of luck I will get fully involved before the new year.At least one of my interveiws will be in Victoria,probably Dandenong, so if any of you XL2 guys are interested in helping out with the camera work or sound recording it would be fantastic. Joe

Kyle Ringin · November 17th, 2005, 11:34 PM

Hi Joe,
I don't have an XL, but I'd like to help with your shoot if I can - drop me an email when you know when you're heading over to Vic if you want.
Good luck.

Cheers

Andrew Hood · November 23rd, 2005, 06:03 AM

I finally got a 3CCD camera, PD150. Works quite well, have to look at more footage I've shot off it - trying not to shuttle the tape too much. When I get my new 320GB I can dump some of the Moon and cloud footage and speed it up, tweak it a little. Then I can wear out the hard drive instead of the tape.
And then hopefully have a go at DVC4.

@Kyle, if you're related to Kath Ringin and the Hibberts I would have met you before, it's just been a while. If so you'd probably be familiar with places like Bundilla - that would be good for some location work I think.

Kyle Ringin · November 23rd, 2005, 05:11 PM

Congratulations on the PD150 Andrew. Good luck with it. Is it new or second hand? where did you buy from?

Yeah that's me - incidentally I shot a bit of footage at Bundilla to make a video but I haven't found the time to edit it yet. If you want it as a location I can help you out.

Cheers

Matt Brabender · November 24th, 2005, 03:30 AM

Hey all
Good to see a few people near me - I live in the eastern suburbs of melbourne (blackburn).

If you need an editor, let me know as I'm very keen to do some work on a variety projects (at no charge of course).

If anyone even just wants to meet up for a coffee to chat about their camera or whatever, drop me a message. :)

Andrew Hood · November 24th, 2005, 04:13 AM

Hi Kyle

the camera was second hand. I got it from someone in North Fitzroy - I'd been looking at ebay and buy-n-shoot.com.au for weeks, but a google search found an add on cracker.com.au and that caught my attention. So I just found out as much as I could, took a trip to check it out and bought it. It came with a Miller DS10 tripod, plus 3 larger batteries and UV+Polarized filters. I'm still getting more audio gear, and looking at making a video light, plus a shoulder mount for starters.

It's been ages since I've been to Bundilla. A very scenic place. I'll have to do other general location scouting at some stage, keep a list of places for later projects, and get some stock footage. I've got few excuses now.

I keep getting that feeling there's stuff I need to be finding out about, stuff I've forgotten about. I think it's just acquisition mode - everything needs to be researched. I know my bank balance has dropped a bit this month, but it should be a good investment.

Ron Kofler · November 24th, 2005, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Barker

Hi from Perth, WA to all you guys in Melbourne and surounds.I'm in the same position as you Ron,I have the XL2 and the rest of the gear.I've been planning to make a doco for a couple of years now,so with the new camera I have no excuses not to start.I intended filming in June but I procrastinated for weeks,then went overseas and lost the plot completely when I got home.I am now reasembling my plans, and with a bit of luck I will get fully involved before the new year.At least one of my interveiws will be in Victoria,probably Dandenong, so if any of you XL2 guys are interested in helping out with the camera work or sound recording it would be fantastic. Joe

Hello Joe,
Been busy and forgot to get on and see there has been some movement with this thread.
If I'm not busy with acting or filming - I'd love to help - would be good for the learning curve with the camera and also learning other stuff. Actually my lovely lady of 6 years is from Perth. So I guess she might tell me I have to support a fellow Perthian. I promise to check back to the forum more often and when you get closer to filming in Melbourne - I'll try to be available to assist.

Andrew Hood · November 29th, 2005, 08:41 PM

Hi Ron

I thought I'd have a look on Google to see what you've been up to in the past. Looks like some interesting stuff with the Waverly Theatre, Act-o-matic 3000. That 24hr event sounded interesting too.
And stuff like The Laramie Project (You played 9 characters?), and Bedtime for Bastards, which had favourable reviews from what I saw. Pity I'm the better part of 2 hrs away, but it would be good to see what's on at some stage. What's in the works at the moment - if you're at liberty to say?

It seems like you have a fair bit of experience, something us younger members are lacking. But only one way to get it - do, and learn. And learn from people who know something who have done, to save a few mistakes.
Feel free to impart more wisdom - the comments in the other post about the Aus industry were interesting, and I think very true.

@Kyle:
Any plans for doing the DVC 4 comp? I'm in, but undermanned right now. Obviously if you're in Melb most of the time that complicates things. I still have to see who else I can coerce into it. My brothers GF got hit by a car while riding and broke her arm a few days ago - so that limits their help. Worst case scenario is it ends up a solo mission - good thing for no wall of shame this time ;)

Ron Kofler · November 29th, 2005, 10:41 PM

Hey Andrew,
It's been a while since I googled my own name. I have actually had a break since April, recharging the batteries. I was in The Laramie Project in March 2004 with Brighton Theatre Company and in March 2005 with a slightly modified cast (ie 4 original and 4 new) we performed it at Chapel Off Chapel here in Melbourne. It was so well recieved both times, but at Chapel it blew us away with the responses. Being a well known professional venue helped to get a greater cross section of theatre goers. We were all wrapped to get 5 stars in the Sunday Age review, we even beat the Melbourne Theatre Company. We also got drunk with Jackie Weaver the night she came to see the show. After that I performed in one of four one act plays that were written by Alan Hopgood (writter of And The Big Men Fly and actor in Bellbird). He had written the plays some 30 odd years ago and wanted to see if they might do well now. He was happy but I think the material was just a tad dated. As to what is next - I will soon start working on a play called BELOW. It's written by an ex pat pom who lives in Perth. (Can't remember his name off the top of my head.) The play was done at La Mama here in Melbourne some years back, so he is wrapped that it will see performance time again. It will be performed in April 2006, but I am working out in the gym as prep work for the role. Hope to soon shoot a short that I wrote for 24Hours. I am reviewing and rewritting and stroryboarding it to give it a feel for film seeing as it was originally written for stage.

Perhaps if you are in Melbourne in April you can come as see BELOW.

Kyle Ringin · November 30th, 2005, 07:02 PM

Andrew,
No I didn't have any plans to do DVC 4 - I'd like to though. It's pretty short notice though. How far are you progressed? I'll likely be in Gipps on Mon and maybe Tue - send me a PM if you'll be doing anything then. Sorry I'm not much help, but I'd like to help if I can.

BTW I hope your bros GF is ok.

Cheers.

John Hewat · December 25th, 2005, 06:21 AM

Hello all,

I stumbled upon this thread by searching for Miller tripods.

And I'm glad I did; I'm from Melbourne too - Berwick to be precise.

I'm glad to hear there are more likeminded people nearby.

I'm about to purchase the Z1 (or maybe wait for the Panasonic) and I am wondering about good, cheap, helpful places to purchase from. I have been on the phone a lot to www.videoguys.com.au but I don't know of many other stores with whom to compare prices.

Any advice?

Peter Garnish · January 10th, 2006, 08:16 PM

John,

Have you tried www.new-media.com.au

they are in south melbourne and I've found them to be really helpful and well priced.

Pete

Andrew Hood · January 12th, 2006, 11:04 PM

New Media usually have the audio gear a few $ cheaper than Videoguys. I wasn't looking at the video gear so much.

I'm still deciding about a wireless system, and it looks like SoundCorp in Northcote have some things cheaper than other places too.

Another video place it VideoCraft in Ashwood (511 Warragul Road, videocraft.com.au) and they have a few ready to go packages, plus specials on various bits. Shop around.

If you're looking for face-to-face advice, definitely check out the bigger places. Tasman AV in Collingwood have a few people who really know their stuff, but not everyone there does. You want somone who can answer specific questions, and who has experience with most or all the gear they're selling. They have several (about 10) mid to high end cameras setup at Tasman, good to check out just to see how they perform and compare.

November 9th, 2005, 11:14 PM	#33
Joe Barker Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Perth WA Australia Posts: 124	XL2 Shooters in Melbourn Hi from Perth, WA to all you guys in Melbourne and surounds.I'm in the same position as you Ron,I have the XL2 and the rest of the gear.I've been planning to make a doco for a couple of years now,so with the new camera I have no excuses not to start.I intended filming in June but I procrastinated for weeks,then went overseas and lost the plot completely when I got home.I am now reasembling my plans, and with a bit of luck I will get fully involved before the new year.At least one of my interveiws will be in Victoria,probably Dandenong, so if any of you XL2 guys are interested in helping out with the camera work or sound recording it would be fantastic. Joe

November 29th, 2005, 10:41 PM	#41
Ron Kofler New Boot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 11	Hey Andrew, It's been a while since I googled my own name. I have actually had a break since April, recharging the batteries. I was in The Laramie Project in March 2004 with Brighton Theatre Company and in March 2005 with a slightly modified cast (ie 4 original and 4 new) we performed it at Chapel Off Chapel here in Melbourne. It was so well recieved both times, but at Chapel it blew us away with the responses. Being a well known professional venue helped to get a greater cross section of theatre goers. We were all wrapped to get 5 stars in the Sunday Age review, we even beat the Melbourne Theatre Company. We also got drunk with Jackie Weaver the night she came to see the show. After that I performed in one of four one act plays that were written by Alan Hopgood (writter of And The Big Men Fly and actor in Bellbird). He had written the plays some 30 odd years ago and wanted to see if they might do well now. He was happy but I think the material was just a tad dated. As to what is next - I will soon start working on a play called BELOW. It's written by an ex pat pom who lives in Perth. (Can't remember his name off the top of my head.) The play was done at La Mama here in Melbourne some years back, so he is wrapped that it will see performance time again. It will be performed in April 2006, but I am working out in the gym as prep work for the role. Hope to soon shoot a short that I wrote for 24Hours. I am reviewing and rewritting and stroryboarding it to give it a feel for film seeing as it was originally written for stage. Perhaps if you are in Melbourne in April you can come as see BELOW. __________________ The 4th wall is as real as your imagination

January 10th, 2006, 08:16 PM	#44
Peter Garnish Tourist Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1	Places to buy gear John, Have you tried www.new-media.com.au they are in south melbourne and I've found them to be really helpful and well priced. Pete

November 1st, 2005, 07:45 AM	#31
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	OK I'm not really from Melbourne, but I live where we make most of your power and have your backup water supply - in the Latrobe Valley. About 1.5 hrs drive, more if heavy traffic. I need a 3CCD cam, but looking at getting one soon. Hopefully start doing some weddings, etc with it to help recoup the cost. That and provide ongoing non fulltime work. I'm very part-time casual at the moment with web development. The upside is I could/can train for cross country skiing. I wouldn't mind doing a doco on the sport and some of the top athletes - I know a couple, and the coach at least so there's a start. I'm really trying to assemble bits and pieces on a budget, but hopefully after some refinement I'll get the results I want. I too have just been using a sony handycam thus far - not bad for the price I paid, but nowhere near the big boys. Once I get a few more people interested I can probably think about a short. Maybe even one that involves snow. Either way it's bound to be bizarre if I have my way. If I was closer I'd volunteer to help out - even just to get experience. Hope all goes well.

November 3rd, 2005, 09:10 PM	#32
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	G'day Andrew, I'm originally from the Valley too - moved to the smoke a couple of years ago - I actually think I may have met you before (around 10 years ago, Newborough area) if you're one of the Hood's I'm thinking of. Could be mistaken though. Drop me a line if you want a hand at a shoot - I'm back visiting the folks reasonably often. Good luck with the video work and shorts. Cheers.

November 17th, 2005, 11:34 PM	#34
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	Hi Joe, I don't have an XL, but I'd like to help with your shoot if I can - drop me an email when you know when you're heading over to Vic if you want. Good luck. Cheers

November 23rd, 2005, 06:03 AM	#35
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	I finally got a 3CCD camera, PD150. Works quite well, have to look at more footage I've shot off it - trying not to shuttle the tape too much. When I get my new 320GB I can dump some of the Moon and cloud footage and speed it up, tweak it a little. Then I can wear out the hard drive instead of the tape. And then hopefully have a go at DVC4. @Kyle, if you're related to Kath Ringin and the Hibberts I would have met you before, it's just been a while. If so you'd probably be familiar with places like Bundilla - that would be good for some location work I think.

November 23rd, 2005, 05:11 PM	#36
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	Congratulations on the PD150 Andrew. Good luck with it. Is it new or second hand? where did you buy from? Yeah that's me - incidentally I shot a bit of footage at Bundilla to make a video but I haven't found the time to edit it yet. If you want it as a location I can help you out. Cheers

November 24th, 2005, 03:30 AM	#37
Matt Brabender Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 230	Hey all Good to see a few people near me - I live in the eastern suburbs of melbourne (blackburn). If you need an editor, let me know as I'm very keen to do some work on a variety projects (at no charge of course). If anyone even just wants to meet up for a coffee to chat about their camera or whatever, drop me a message. :)

November 24th, 2005, 04:13 AM	#38
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Hi Kyle the camera was second hand. I got it from someone in North Fitzroy - I'd been looking at ebay and buy-n-shoot.com.au for weeks, but a google search found an add on cracker.com.au and that caught my attention. So I just found out as much as I could, took a trip to check it out and bought it. It came with a Miller DS10 tripod, plus 3 larger batteries and UV+Polarized filters. I'm still getting more audio gear, and looking at making a video light, plus a shoulder mount for starters. It's been ages since I've been to Bundilla. A very scenic place. I'll have to do other general location scouting at some stage, keep a list of places for later projects, and get some stock footage. I've got few excuses now. I keep getting that feeling there's stuff I need to be finding out about, stuff I've forgotten about. I think it's just acquisition mode - everything needs to be researched. I know my bank balance has dropped a bit this month, but it should be a good investment.

November 29th, 2005, 08:41 PM	#40
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Hi Ron I thought I'd have a look on Google to see what you've been up to in the past. Looks like some interesting stuff with the Waverly Theatre, Act-o-matic 3000. That 24hr event sounded interesting too. And stuff like The Laramie Project (You played 9 characters?), and Bedtime for Bastards, which had favourable reviews from what I saw. Pity I'm the better part of 2 hrs away, but it would be good to see what's on at some stage. What's in the works at the moment - if you're at liberty to say? It seems like you have a fair bit of experience, something us younger members are lacking. But only one way to get it - do, and learn. And learn from people who know something who have done, to save a few mistakes. Feel free to impart more wisdom - the comments in the other post about the Aus industry were interesting, and I think very true. @Kyle: Any plans for doing the DVC 4 comp? I'm in, but undermanned right now. Obviously if you're in Melb most of the time that complicates things. I still have to see who else I can coerce into it. My brothers GF got hit by a car while riding and broke her arm a few days ago - so that limits their help. Worst case scenario is it ends up a solo mission - good thing for no wall of shame this time ;)

November 30th, 2005, 07:02 PM	#42
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	Andrew, No I didn't have any plans to do DVC 4 - I'd like to though. It's pretty short notice though. How far are you progressed? I'll likely be in Gipps on Mon and maybe Tue - send me a PM if you'll be doing anything then. Sorry I'm not much help, but I'd like to help if I can. BTW I hope your bros GF is ok. Cheers.

December 25th, 2005, 06:21 AM	#43
John Hewat Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Posts: 735	Hello all, I stumbled upon this thread by searching for Miller tripods. And I'm glad I did; I'm from Melbourne too - Berwick to be precise. I'm glad to hear there are more likeminded people nearby. I'm about to purchase the Z1 (or maybe wait for the Panasonic) and I am wondering about good, cheap, helpful places to purchase from. I have been on the phone a lot to www.videoguys.com.au but I don't know of many other stores with whom to compare prices. Any advice?

January 12th, 2006, 11:04 PM	#45
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	New Media usually have the audio gear a few $ cheaper than Videoguys. I wasn't looking at the video gear so much. I'm still deciding about a wireless system, and it looks like SoundCorp in Northcote have some things cheaper than other places too. Another video place it VideoCraft in Ashwood (511 Warragul Road, videocraft.com.au) and they have a few ready to go packages, plus specials on various bits. Shop around. If you're looking for face-to-face advice, definitely check out the bigger places. Tasman AV in Collingwood have a few people who really know their stuff, but not everyone there does. You want somone who can answer specific questions, and who has experience with most or all the gear they're selling. They have several (about 10) mid to high end cameras setup at Tasman, good to check out just to see how they perform and compare.