Ultimate setup – guerrilla cinema
Monsters' director Gareth Edwards takes us through his essential guerrilla cinema kit
Canon 5D Mark II £1950
Considering it shoots ‘cinema resolution’ with a narrow depth-of-field, this is amazing – like owning your own 35mm movie camera for the price of an exotic holiday.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3X £300
This optical viewfinder with 3x magnification makes focusing much easier, which won’t seem too important – until you show your film on the big screen.
Litepanels LP-Micro £200
Modern camera chips are already strong in low-light, but if you need some extra illumination these dimmable lights are so portable you’ll forget you’re carrying them.
Adobe Production Premium £1815
With Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere, this is a complete post-production facility in one box. For real film-making it’s practically essential.
Autodesk 3DS Max £3425
Excellent 3D software that comes with a ‘drag and drop’ creature animation plug-in called ‘Character Animation Toolkit’ which saved me weeks of tedious foot-planting.
Flourescent vest £1.65
Cheap as a cut-price bag of chips, invaluable for keeping busybody officials at bay, and also pretty handy as a piece of safety equipment, especially if you have to cycle home after the shoot.
Cinekinetic Cinesaddle £340
More versatile than a tripod, this stabilising cushion lets you keep your camera steady either on the ground or hanging out of a car window. A great alternative to a dolly.
Micron Explorer-100 System £1000
A professional sound kit is much cheaper than flying in your local non-actors to replace their dialogue in a recording studio six months after the shoot.
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Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 