Lofar, can you at least show some of your work? May be it is so horrible that we'll tell you to become a writer instead :/ Or it could be totally professional grade where all of us will start asking you for tips how to do this or that.

And naturally, what is your your end goal? Do you want to be a filmmaker, DP, director, etc? I am sure you recognize that in some of these categories grinding your camera skills will actually move you further from your end goal due to missing out on opportunities of improving skills essentials to each of the aforementioned classes.

I bought this tripod a year ago for a set up similar to yours (80mm slider, camera, monitor, matt box, etc.):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KXC3TEE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_...

Works great together, feels sturdy, no wobble.

Oh, boy.......... How about changing things up. And instead of going: "I rented a camera, what do I do?" say -- I am doing XYZ project, going for ABCD look, what camera and post do I need to get there?

So far, you got your things really upside-down. And I mean it in a supportive way.

Any takers here? Looking at the trailer the production value already has to be at couple of Ks -- quite an investment given how remote the chances are.

Designing lenses for your film? Feels like an overkill to me. Oh, he wanted soft and warm? These things are for the post-processing team to handle.

If I were the studio I'd tell the DP to be reasonable: there is so much glass out there, does he really have to make his own?

But yea, I aint the studio, I'll just keep shooting on my point and click :/

Andy, nobody checked how audience perceives lenses. But it is impossible to prove a lack of something.

If you need to wrap your head around focal lens you could start looking at the properties such as distortion and depth of field.

Distortion is easy:

http://www.annenbergdl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Posing-101-with-Li...

Depth of Field is also easy:

http://2.static.img-dpreview.com/files/w/TS560x560?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww....

Tele lenses are better when it comes to portraits. Wide lenses are better for action. Each set can of lenses can do what the other set cant. I am sure you know this already. But it really takes practice to see for yourself the impact of lens choices -- thats when the light bulb is going to go off.

Wide lenses are good for highlighting using size -- other things being equal -- the importance of objects and actions. And this is rather a director's choice based on how he wants to handle an exposure of a set. I.e. Breaking Bad is famous for frequent use of wide angle:

http://images.wikia.com/breakingbad/images/7/70/2x2_Hank_kills_Tuco.png

http://visiondelcine.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Breaking-Bad-1x01...

The director just as well could have used a tele lens and achieved the same scene exposure although the composition, cuts, and camera movement would have to be adjusted accordingly. The end result for the viewer would be nearly the same though.

So both types of lenses are like shoes -- one type is black, another one is brown. You'll keep experimenting with them your entire life as long as you keep trying out different outfits. And I maintain that lens selection is a taste preference as this is how a director chooses to expose a scene.