Having done more research in the last couple of months, I'm walking back on my previous disdain for cell phone cameras but with a few caveats.
1. Make sure you hook up an external mic to the phone because the onboard mic is going to be pretty awful.
2. Keeping handheld phones steady for a shot is a pain and since you're unlikely to be doing magic while taking a selfie video, spend the 20 bucks on a decent tripod. Some have flexible legs so that can hang them from fixtures like sign posts. These are good if you plan to be out and about.
3. Keep the memory in mind. Every year memory capacity gets a little better and a little cheaper, but you still have to be conscious of how much of it you're using when you're out in the field.
I'd also like to address lighting for a minute. Lighting indoors is tricky. You want it to be bright enough, but not too much so. The ideal lighting to be shooting in is natural daylight. It looks good on all skin tones, the camera will pick everything up very effectively and if the sun goes behind a cloud it still works because there's still plenty of light to go around. If you're up for a real challenge, try shooting at magic hour. This is a window of about 15 minutes it sunrise and sunset when the sun is on the horizon and turns all the light into rich, pastel tones. The movie
Field of Dreams shot many of the most important or dramatic shots at magic hour to give the film a more heavenly appearance.
If you're shooting indoors, daylight CFLs in 60-watt and above will generally do. Have one closer to you as your "key light" and one further back and coming at you from a different angle as your "fill light" to prevent the shadows from getting too deep or sharp. You want your face to have definition, not crags. Some filmmakers will argue that you need a back or "hair" light, but I would say you really only need that if you're wearing dark clothes against a dark background.
On that note, put aside any fear you might have of appearing gay and learn a little bit about men's style. If you're a woman and reading this, you should probably know this too. It's not as much of a problem across the pond, but here in the States we have a lingering conservative culture that's scared to hell and back of appearing not masculine enough. Get over it.
First figure out what looks flatter your figure. If you're overweight, it's okay to
sometimes not tuck shirts in as it smooths out your waistline. Don't wear sleeveless shirts unless you've got great arms. If you're skinny, don't wear baggy clothes to create an illusion of bulk as it just makes you look frumpy instead. This is all stuff you can learn easily.
Also, please do not be afraid of color. It's actually much easier to figure out than you think. First look in the mirror and note your hair color and how light or dark it is. Then shower, wait 15 minutes and look at the veins in your arm. If they're a bluish tint, then you're a cold tone. If they're more greenish, you're a warm tone. Now compare that to your hair color. It shakes down like this:
Winter: High contrast between cool skin tone and hair.
Spring: High contrast between warm skin tone and hair.
Summer: Muted contrast between cool skin tone and hair.
Autumn: Muted contrast between warm skin tone and hair.
If you're a Spring, your best colors are pale, soft tones. Black and white might even be too strong unless you have a darker skin color that can stand up to them.
If you're a Summer, pastels are your friends. Orange and black less so. The stronger the color, the more it risks overpowering your skin and making you look washed out compared to your clothes.
If you're an Autumn, you'll want to go with rich, muted earth tones and warmer colors like oranges and dark reds. Avoid jewel tones and monochrome black and white outfits. You can also rock olive for those pseudo-military looks if that's your thing.
If you're a Winter like me, jewel tones are going to be some of the most flattering. You can also do pure black and pure white easily and also pink. Forget the insecurities for a moment and trust me on this one: if you're a Winter you should have at least 1 pink shirt. Try it. I guarantee you'll like it. Stay away from washed out and most earth tone colors like beige and brown.
Check out some style blogs like
Style Girlfriend and
A Continuous Lean. Watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Netflix or Hulu. Get some books. Start a collection of pictures of famous people whose style you really like. The more you expose yourself to this stuff, the easier it gets. And you do want to take care of this. For better or worse, we are judged by our appearances and the better you look, the more seriously you'll be taken. This is doubly true because we're performers. We have to be bigger than the mundane.
I want to wrap this up on a slightly sadder note. Due to the demands of my business and some personal disagreements with members of the site, I'll be going dark for a while. I need time to work on my career as a performer and to let time soothe some of the tensions that are making my experience here... not so great. If you really want to get a hold of me outside of this site, shoot me a PM here or (better yet) at Ellusionist where I still pull mod duty in my downtime. I'll keep the email alerts turned on and will pop back in to let you know how you can reach me. Otherwise, I won't be returning to these boards to answer questions or the like for the foreseeable future.
Peace. And all that jazz.