Disabled Vegas User Seeks HD-corder Donation

Soniclight wrote on 1/26/2007, 1:51 AM

Hello,

-- First:

I know such a "miracle camcorder" is a long shot. But with Christmas behind us, maybe there is someone and/or a company who got the latest-greatest model or models and no longer has use for older equipment.

If you yourself do not have such a potential miracle at your disposal, please consider that perhaps a colleague or someone else you know may.

-- Second:

I am 52 years old and I live in West Los Angeles, California and I can provide proof of Social Security disability* income: the only steady income I have survived on for the last 15 years aside from occasional small windfalls.

* (My disability is a form of anxiety disorder which I've had most of my adult life though I didn't know it until I realized I needed some literally life-saving help), yet I am fortunately not physically handicapped.)

For some financial perspective, I live on about $850/month, half of which goes to rent. Not exactly a lavish Tinseltown lifestyle, but a great MBA in budgeting - lol.

-- Third:

You can get some sense of my envisioned project by visiting my website listed in my profile: the film project is very briefly mentioned on the homepage. However a few .wmv files of this type are available in a secured directory at my site for viewing upon serious offer.

While a simple with no bells or whistles site, it is all designed (former graphic designer) and run by me: so that also gives you a glimpse the who behind this what of this posting.

And speaking of which, some clarification:

I am not a production company or a seasoned pro; I am one individual who is doing everything himself at this point, incl. particle emitter fx (using ParticleIllusion 3 by Wondertouch), music composition and production (Steinberg SX-3 now owned by Yamaha), etc.

As to bring-it-all-together NLE software, all I have is Sony Vegas 6. But the more I use it, the more I'm pulling of some "Hey--wow, I actually did that?" surprises. One of my best "MBA" budgetary purchase choices.

--- "OK, but what is the added "$100" doing in a "donation" posting?"

Well, of course a straight-out donation would be ideal. Giving up $100 = 1/7 of my total savings (not jive) as a courtesy payment isn't my first choice. But if such would be fair, that's all I can afford and it's yours.

Last, but not least:

Be it donated or for $100, this would have to be a fully functional camcorder for I cannot pay for repairs with my type of wallet. Aesthetic/wear blemishes are no problem.

And, sure, any related I-don't-need-this-anymore-either accessories related to the camcorder or filming with it wouldn't be refused :)

Short Version
___________

This is not a scam, I'm for real and serious, and so are my creative goals. (Besides, my Vegas is registered here, so anyone from Sony Corp. could track me down and toss me in the slammer if I were some fraudulent weasel.)

The Simple Why
_____________

There is no point boring you with all the reasons I'd like to have decent camcorder. But there is the core and rather obvious one:

--- Whether we visual artistes like it or not, HD/higher resolution is here to stay.

All I have is a 6 year-old JVC DVL-120U. It's a 1-CCD, midrange, floor-sample consumer camcorder I bought new on eBay in 2003.
Aside from mentioned resolution/quality issue, it's very grainy in low light:

--- Most of the needed, albeit simple central scenes that I wish to shoot are of the "chiaroscuro" genre. The JVC also has no real 16:9, no optical zoom, etc.

In addition, as alluded to earlier in the opening moderator note and certainly as important: We all know here that Vegas can handle HD/larger resolution projects, files and rendering.

So I had better get with the times on the shooting end too.

______________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading this.

As stated above, any potential referrals would be welcomed also. If necessary, you and/or they can also email me via the "click here" link in the Contact/Feedback box located at the bottom of the homepage and of most pages at my website.

Direct telephone (and/or in-person meeting if L.A. area local) is naturally offered if such an opportunity-miracle were to be offered.

Comments

farss wrote on 1/26/2007, 4:44 AM

Unfortunately I think you'll find HDV camcorders are a bit too recent for anyone to be finding last models written down or off, although the very first HDV camcoder from JVC might fall into that category.

Either way, here's a thought. It's very hard to convince people to fork out cash or donate kit that's still got some financial value but why not try for the next best thing, a free loan? I'd suggest even trying the local rental companies, at certain times of the year / week they will have plenty of gear sitting idle, if you can work around the needs of their paying customers you might have a chance.

Bob.

mikkie wrote on 1/26/2007, 9:39 AM

Go for a grant?...

From what I've seen over the years, and as always FWIW, emphasize the project, the potential and real effects of your project's completion, & after a bit of research, point to other success stories & the positive impacts they've had, the challenges faced and conquered and so on. DO NOT even hint that someone might question your disability or anything else about you -- doing so only encourages it (self fulfilling prophesies and all that). If possible, stay away from what you've done. If you want to do promotion for your project online, set up a web page just for that, soliciting help -- folks have received incredible amounts for far less worthy goals.

Also I'd suggest not specifying what sort of assistance you desire -- rather than ask for a camera, talk about the project mentioning stuff like shooting HD. A small business, organization, club, whatever might read camera, nope, can't help, where with a different approach they very well might say, OK, what do you need, how can I help. You might also find that you'll get help in other areas you hadn't dreamed of, like Avid time etc... if you wanted it.

Finally I'd suggest contacting production facilities, related professional organizations, anything promoting the arts, that sort of thing, and ask them if they had any advise on soliciting the help you need to pull your project off.

Soniclight wrote on 1/26/2007, 12:26 PM

Thanks for input, and definitely thoughts to ponder. More realistic, and as suggested, perhaps more wide-angle possible outcomes of "miracles" :) The website idea is something I thought about but had spaced out.

One hears of well-known directors, writers and actors having it take 5, 10 or more years for a project to go from inception to screen.

It may take me 2 or 3 years to pull of the non-shooting parts, for it's pretty damn ambitious in the effects department and "global" look. Trying to pull of some Lucas stuff in a bachelor apartment setup - lol.

But if nothing else, it's therapeutic and keeps my mind from spiraling down into "been there, done that" places that are no fun, to put it mildly.

Meaning that as serious and fulfilling as this project creation is, I live very much on a one day at a time basis. Some days, I can't function very well at all and just need to rest. But planning or allowing for "miracles" isn't a bad thing either.

Without getting into specifics, the very fact that I was able to afford to build a computer and buy Vegas and so on was a real and unexpected miracle in and of itself.

As has been some input and information I have gotten from asking questions at this board. Finding out about Fraps, Celestia, to name a few -- and your above suggestions.

That is: "Count your blessings (and miracles)" in whatever size and shape they show up :)

mikkie wrote on 1/26/2007, 1:41 PM

"That is: "Count your blessings (and miracles)" in whatever size and shape they show up :)"

I'll 2nd that!

If it helps, rather than thinking about big name folks pursuing their dream, some disabled folks have done and continue to do some pretty amazing things. The author of Seabiscuit is just one example -- there have been a few books & films done lately by folks who happen to be disabled, and their list of sponsors is sometimes extraordinary. Check out Kim Snyder's "I REMEMBER ME'.

Soniclight wrote on 1/26/2007, 3:38 PM

I checked the "I Remember Me" a bit and it sounds courageous and uplifting, though intense. Sometime such films inspire me, sometimes they kind of freak me out (I'm a bit sensitive and can empathically "suck" in other's suffering).

Which is one reason I can't watch too much heavy, adrenaline-pumping drama, or local news. Even "24" which is a very well crafted TV show: it gets me too tense, so only see it on occasion - lol.

That said, I loved the fictional "Benny and June" in which Johnny Depp played an oddball, almost autistic artist who falls in love with a schizophrenic (Mary Stuart Masterson). One of those "low budget" gems.

In a small way, the developing script ideas for my project could have some minor conceptual parallels to "I Remember Me". Your mention of this film has gotten my neurons possibly rethinking some script elements.

That is, not to be ashamed of perhaps more strongly hinting at my own real life situation. And even though I frankly somewhat cringe whenever I use the word "disabled" for myself in such a public way as this board.

But since it looks like I have to cast myself due to no-budget and that it requires next to no dialog (I was lousy at memorizing lines in high school play attempts) but,,,

I have performed my own music on radio and a few stages many years go -- this should be no problem. There is a closet-actor in my anyway, and, hey,I'm also not bad at accents - lol

_____________________________

So thanks for mentioning all the above. Even though we're getting a bit off topic, I do appreciate the input and widening of possibilities it is engendering.