As an independent film maker, there are many things I worry about on a regular basis. Weather, getting a permit to film on the high street so I’m not chased off by bobbies, finding a lorry big enough to carry all our gear then finding the money in the budget to pay for all the extra petrol, dealing with the building society to wrangle more money for a project, wondering if I’m going to end up on the dole because I can’t get financing in place to start any new projects. The glamour never ends in this business.
I was recently shooting an advert in Kensington (I’ve been accused of being a sellout, but film doesn’t come cheap and I have to pay the rent somehow), and the blasted battery pack on a handheld cam we were using for a documentary effect died. You’d have thought we would have packed the recharger and a spare battery, but somehow that detail escaped us. What a clanger that was. The evening at the pub the night before might have had something to do with the oversight, but now it was eating into our schedule and time is money. There was a druggist nearby and I sent someone in to buy replacement batteries. The good news was that the store actually carried the battery we needed; the bad news was that Rodney was back within minutes complaining that he didn’t have enough cash because the battery pack was so expensive. I couldn’t believe how much they wanted for a bloody battery pack. We took up a collection and were still short, so I had to find a cashpoint and withdraw forty pounds before we could get back to shooting.
I was telling the story a few days later while sipping a pint at the pub when one of my friends called me out as being daft for leaving things like that to chance. He carries a battered old MacBook everywhere and he whips this thing out and shows me a website that not only carries virtually every battery known to man, but it sells them at prices that are up to 75 percent off retail prices. If it sounds perfect for film makers on a tight budget, well it turns out that these guys are in tight with the television and film industry. Based out of the UK, the site carries all the major brands and offers same day shipping.
I placed an order and the quid I saved compared to my usual supplier was enough to bankroll my next project.
Winston James knows all too well how expensive it can be when shooting on location and having to buy duracell batteries when one of his cameras has died. As a veteran of the television and film industry, he prefers to equip his crew with professional grade equipment and that includes industry-standard brands such as procell that simply aren’t available in high street outlets.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/shopping-articles/film-makers-can-stock-up-on-procell-online-1376910.html
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Originally posted 2009-10-25 00:29:15. Republished by Old Post Promoter
