Basic Gear for Digital Filmmaking.
If you're really lucky you'll find some great people to work with who have their own equipment, especially a videographer, sound recordist, editor, etc. but if you want to be a guerrilla filmmaker and put together your own equipment package, you'll have to raise a bit of money.
Camera
People are shooting video on anything from phones to consumer grade point-n-shoots, handicams to prosumer video cameras and on up to higher end pro cameras depending on their budget. What you shoot with is often less important than the creative vision behind the lens. The best camera in the world can't improve a bad script or bad acting.
If you're shooting with a smaller camcorder you can find suggestions for low cost accessories here
The current trend in video filkmmaking is shooting HD on a D-SLR like the Canon 5D or 7D. You can check out a sampling of low budget gear that's available for video shooting on these cameras here
Sound
For professional sound recording you'll need a good shotgun mic as the mic that is built into your camcorder is better for capturing room tone than recording professional quality audio.
Rode makes an excellent XLR shotgun mic, the NTG2 . If you're shooting with a camera that has a mini-jack input you can use a shotgun mic such as the Rode VideoMic which connects via minijack instead of XLR. If you want to use an XLR mic with a camera which only has a minijack input for audio, you'll need an XLR to minijack cable or an adapter by Beachtek.
You can also use wired lav mics or wireless lav mics for recording.
Another option for sound recording is a digital recorder like the Zoom H4.
A small hand bracket called the Mini Rover is quite popular for under $100.
Other options are shoulder supports, monopods, Manfrotto's Fig Rig, Joby Gorrilapods, supports from companies like Zacuto, DVTec, etc
Portable LCD Field Monitor
This is especially useful if you want to shoot video on a DSLR.
Other Gear
Some other useful equipment you can either rent or buy to add to your kit as your budget allows
Camera bag
Boom pole
Tripod
On-camera light
Lighting kits and accessories
Cables
See a full range of video accessories here
Post-Production:
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Once you've shot your movie you'll need software which
works on either Mac and Windows to edit your film.
Find some info here
Resources:
To find more information on setting up your own DV film production company, here are more resources:
Video Production for Beginners
Cast & Crew:
If you can't do it all yourself, here are some places to help you find talented people to work with :
Script
Scoutz
Job list where filmmakers can post ads for screenwriters/scripts
wanted.
Mandy.com
Find cast and crew in every part of the world.
Books & Blogs:
Find filmmaking guides here
