Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
This week, I came across a James Cameron remark that struck me and got me thinking about the craft of filmmaking:
“Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you’re a director. Everything after that you’re just negotiating your budget and your fee.” — James Cameron
I received a lot of contradictory advice before beginning the production of my first short film. Most people claimed that making the movie on a cellphone on a shoestring budget would be “a waste” of a fantastic screenplay. I followed this advice and looked for financing for several months so I could shoot with a “real” cinema camera.
So what changed my mind?
I watched Tangerine by Sean Baker. The film was shot using three iPhone 5S smartphones and the money saved on camera equipment was used to pay for shooting locations and to pay extras. They used the FiLMIC Pro app, a video app (to control focus, aperture, and color temperature, as well as capture video clips at higher bit-rates) and an anamorphic adapter from Moondog Labs (to capture widescreen), as well as Steadicam Smoothee to capture smooth moving shots.
Yes, compared to other movies made using “professional” cameras, the “pixel” portion of this one is of poorer quality compared to a Red Gemini or Alexa Mini. However, Baker’s inventiveness with the camera, the performers, the lighting, and the settings really stood out to me.
I considered whether I would want to watch a movie made with a smartphone by Baker or one made with an expensive cinema camera by a less imaginative person.
Baker and a smartphone, I decided at the time. After that, I gave up on trying to raise $15k to $20k. For the first day of filming, I chose a date. I began production on my first short feature film within a few months.
Click Here To Learn The 7 Important Steps To Making A Low-Budget Feature Film
Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
Do I really need a professional camera to shoot movies?
Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
Having the most expensive oil paints and brushes won’t make you a professional painter, and having more expensive equipment won’t make you a better filmmaker.
An accomplished guitarist can create amazing music with an old, $20 acoustic guitar, compared to those with limited talent but feel that having an expensive instrument and a recording studio is their first step toward success.
But the majority of us are aware that an inexpensive instrument is best for learning a musical instrument. Nobody will enjoy listening to your terrible musical manglings as you struggle through a song. Therefore, you must practice for the required number of hours, days, weeks, months, and years to become fluent.
But with enough practice (and ability, we must stress), you’ll one day dazzle your loved ones with a catchy melody. When that happens, you might start to hear affirmations like “you could be a professional.” However, training comes first.
Learn Without Being Rushed
Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
The same applies to filmmaking. You must practice in order to become proficient enough to produce a watchable film. Therefore, before spending money on professional equipment, does it not make perfect sense to master the fundamentals with the camera in your pocket?
How many times have aspiring artists become disinterested once the bar was raised in this manner? You won’t feel too confident if this is your first time using a camera.
Additionally, if you have invested $5000 in a DSLR and lens, you are placing a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself to produce quality work.
Your creative and learning processes may be negatively impacted by that pressure. However, nobody, not even you, will have high expectations if you’re only using your smartphone to take pictures. There won’t be much pressure on you to nail it on your first try.
Look, we need a private space to practice the piano in order to learn it.
We’re hoping that not too many people can hear us so that we won’t be as worried about making a mistake. The same is true of filmmaking.
Practice using your smartphone in the smallest group of people feasible.
In this manner, you experience less self-consciousness while experimenting with dolly shots, exposure settings, focus pulls, and other techniques.
Another justification for delaying purchasing professional equipment is as follows:
The Dangerous Slope of Filmmaking
Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
Let’s imagine that you recently spent six months reading every article and viewing every YouTube video there is about DSLR/Mirrorless cameras.
You might have been spending that time studying how to produce movies instead, you know. Imagine a pianist who spends six months seeking the best piano before ever playing a single note. You would doubt their way of thinking, wouldn’t you?
Anyway, you put in six months, and now you only want two mirrorless cameras. Finally, you decide after saving up. The glistening Thing of Filmmaking Awesomeness shows up at your door a few days later.
Do you believe your future as a highly successful filmmaker is bright? The problem is that you’ve built yourself up more as a DSLR/Mirrorless camera guru than as a filmmaker. Yes, after six months, you are now a seasoned DSLR/Mirrorless camera buyer. Congrats!
How much do you currently understand about the actual work that goes into making movies?
Nothing.
What do you anticipate will be your next move as a result? To produce movies or to begin looking into new filmmaking equipment?
The problem is that you’ve already created a mental precedent. Instead of learning how to make movies, you’ve learned how to do your research and choose the best filmmaking equipment.
You now feel far more comfortable purchasing equipment than you do operating it. That is simply the logical and obvious outcome of your conduct, isn’t it? Thus, you will suddenly find yourself believing you need “just one more” piece of equipment before you can start shooting films.
This starts the never-ending search for The World’s Best Filmmaking Setup.
It goes without saying that this is an unending search. There will always be that one shining item that is definitely necessary for results of a professional calibre.
I have a question for you.
Do you spend more time reading about filmmaking equipment than actually using it?
If the answer is yes, using this approach won’t help you improve as a filmmaker.
How then can we prevent falling down that slope? What camera requires the least amount of studying before use, then? It’s the camera in your pocket!
The easiest-to-use camera ever created is the one on your smartphone. Making them as idiot-proof as feasible has cost millions. What chance do you have with something more complicated if you can’t even make a passable movie with one of these?
The truth is that a talented, trained musician can create beautiful music with an instrument that costs only $10. I am aware of this because I have listened to many talented musicians in the hotel bar I work at that genuinely enjoy playing music as a hobby. In most cases, you can’t even stop them. If you give a musician 10 minutes to himself, they’ll usually start tapping out a beat or playing the closest stringed instrument at hand, whether it’s a Gibson guitar or a children’s guitar.
I urge you to adopt the same strategy if you intend to become a serious filmmaker. It’s a good indication that you are thinking like a filmmaker when you are anxious to start shooting something with whatever is at hand. But if you spend the majority of your time lusting after camera specifications, then…
Try This Film Exercise To Start
Best Reasons to Use Your Smartphone to Make a Film
Give yourself one week to use your smartphone to create a movie. You should try to keep this activity as straightforward as you can. So, no screenplay, no dialogue that has been prewritten.
Shoot a movie you can make alone, maybe with a friend or two to play extras. This could be a documentary-style movie following friends and/or family members, or it could just be a short, straightforward story.
Make a movie that lasts 3–6 minutes.
A small documentary as an example
Find out how your family members remember their first day of school by asking one or more of them. Then, capture their responses on camera. If you have an external microphone, use it. Edit the takes collectively, concentrating on the replies’ most intriguing details. Include “b-roll” video that may represent the topic matter.
Examples include filming old pictures of them from school. As though reflecting, capture them strolling around in front of their former school.
You can always make this document about yourself if you are unable to find a willing subject.
A simple fiction movie as an example
A person is excitedly awaiting an amazon delivery and every time they hear a knock on the door, someone else is there—a child, family member, friend, or neighbor. Each person rings the doorbell for an obnoxious reason…and so on.
Without using words, try to explain the story through images. For instance, a friend is giving back a film camera that was borrowed. The neighbor needs somewhere to hang out for a few hours since they are locked out of their flat, etc.
Conclusion
These are just a few that come to mind. You can probably come up with better narratives. The goal of this activity is not to win any Oscars. Just like a prospective guitarist strumming patterns with basic chords, this is simply for practice purposes.
However, this ought to be more enjoyable than learning scales, right?
Now, make these seven days count, and get started on using your smartphone to make a film!
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About the author: Trent (IMDB | Youtube) has spent 10+ years working on an assortment of film and television projects. He writes about his experiences to help (and amuse) others. If he’s not working, he’s either traveling, reading or writing about travel/film, or planning travel/film projects.
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