New to film making

[Regd]

hey,

I am currently a high school student and i am interested in making pro looking movies and entering them in contests ect.... i am 100%new to cameras and editing(i used the free online version windows movie editor, lol) at the moment i have $700.00 ( i kno its not much) to spend on getting a camera and editing system ect.... can anyone post some cheap gear that i could look into. At the moment i have a scd67 DIGITAL CAM, also i was woundering in films there is an effect where it can focus on a certain image(person) and kinda semi blur everything else out. is that a camera effect or a editing effect?

 

[Digigenic]

Regarding your question about a subject being in focus and the surroundings being out of focus...
This is typically achieved in camera; it's called "reducing the depth of field" and/or “shallow depth of field”. Reducing the depth of field is generally more difficult to achieve with a video camera lens, but it can be done if you position the camera at a significant distance away from your subject and optically zoom into the subject and pull them into focus, this is will put your lens into telephoto, and it will reduce the depth of field and crush the surroundings of the subject.
Otherwise, there isn’t much else to do. There is another little trick called the "softscreen", which is simply a hazed screen that is placed directly behind the subject to create a fake shallow depth of field. I believe this particular method was used in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But, keep in mind that not everyone has the same artistic intent as Michel Gondry; so the softscreen doesn’t immediately promise the same results as featured within another production, especially when considering the comparison is between film and video.

In terms of cameras within your budget...
Almost any camera from Canon, Sony, Pansonic, and JVC within the price range you've specified will perform about the same. Though, the feature sets will vary slightly, be sure to lean strongly towards whichever model offers more manual control. I suggest looking into Panasonic because they're starting to employ 3 CCD's into their lower end models. Having 3 sensors allows for more accurate color reception. Most of the other consumer models offered by Canon and Sony only have one CCD. Generally, 3 CCD's can only be found in prosumer and professional model cameras.

For software…
After getting one of those cameras, there won't be much left for a strong editing application, but if you're able to scrape up around 100, you'll want to consider Sony or Pinnacle. They have some pretty decent consumer editing apps for around 100. If you had a Mac, I'd suggest Final Cut Express for an extra 100.
8)