Why so many lowbudget independant films look so crappy

My name is Devin Gibson i have been directing films for a very long time
i have worked on big budgets and small budgets, i use both film and digital cameras, now i know that film cost alot of money to shoot on and yes it is true that shooting on film does have alot of high resolution but this is the problem with independant filmmakers who shoot digitally they feel that film is the better medium so they treat video like shit and shoot it like shit. i've seen alot of films that were shot digitally and some were more then amazing and some were unwatchable but the ones that were great, you can see that the filmmakers really took time to shoot the film, i believe that once you take time to shoot your film an really plan the staging and the blocking of the scene before shooting you can end up with a very good digital film that looks cinematic and the cinematic look is what all digital low budget filmmakers are after. I believe that us as filmmakers have to crave ways to add prodution value to our short films, feature films, music video, ect. i also hear of alot of a battles between which format is better sd or hd and to me it does not really make a diffrence they both are really great formats but still neither one can compare to the luxury and richness of 35mm film or even super 16mm film, that's why independnt filmmakers shouldn't rap themselves up in technical stuff and learn to use what they have to create a masterpiece, for years i have been using a prosumer ag dvx100 camcorder and i love the images i can create with that tiny camera, i also use a 35mm lens adaptor and i'll tell you that you can get a very cinamatic looking image, just remmeber that film or video is just painting with light and once that concept is understood it would make a change on how we create our films. what are some of you guys here on the foum thoughts on why some low budget films look so crappy.

My understanding on why a lot of digitally shot stuff looks crappy is perhaps the failure of someone failing to udnerstand what is possible with digital or the fact that they are starting out, borrow a simple camera and hope for the best.

When you look a digital in comparison to video in the 80's and early 90's the change in picture quality was huge and I think this leap alone let people to believe that the camera will do everything itself. Not to mention most cameras do have a Complete Auto function with auto focus, auto exposure, auto shutter, auto mic level auto white balance. These settings are great for shooting small things of your baby starting its first steps, the children playing on the swings or wanting to send stuff off to funniest home videos. But when shooting narrative, documentary or something not adhoc, then these settings are a killer, a many people who shoot digital who are shooting their first short or other project are unaware of what the camera can or can't do.

This is my opinion and I love the ease of shooting digital, and will continue to shoot that way until I can afford to shoot film, and then, I have a choice as to what I want to so with the medium from a creative stand point, and not need it to be a cost choice. But with my next short being shot on HDV and my previous ones shot on DVCam it will be interesting to see what the difference is going to be.