Lowest budget gear

We're often asked by students what kind of gear to get, in order to make movies at a very low budget level.

Here are some suggestions (which are not meant as endorsements or guarantees, of course, and we have no affiliations, bla bla, and the camera will be superseded by a better, cheaper one in about five minutes)...

• The Canon T3i (a.k.a. 600D)
• SanDisk 16GB Extreme SDHC Memory Card (to hold the video you shoot)
  
• Zoom H4N Digital Audio Recorder (because the camera's audio isn't good enough)
• Sanken CS3 Shotgun Microphone (try to get one that's used but in good condition)
• K-Tek Boom Pole (to get the mic as close to the actors as possible)
• Shock Mount (to attach the mic to the boom pole)
• XLR cable (to connect the mic the audio recorder; at least 15 feet long)

Those are the absolute basic tools for making a movie. It helps to know how to use them, but you'll figure that out.

- PH