Hard Choices in Mobile Filmmaking
If you want to make a movie with your smartphone, what's stopping you?
The conundrum of mobile smartphone filmmaking is real! Everyone has an opinion of which phone is the best, which app is the best, what gear is the best. Even what you need to know before you start making your film with a smartphone.
How do you handle the irony of how much time and money you spend on a traditional film camera with how much time and money you spend on a smartphone camera, and rigging it?
Simplicity.
It’s true that someone with no experience in traditional filmmaking cameras can pick up a phone they already own, usually the last updated one and make a very successful film. What?
It’s also true that someone with experience in filmmaking but not as a camera person, can pick up an expensive traditional camera and make a not so successful film.
The learning curve for making a film with a smartphone is completely different than the learning curve to make a film with another camera.
Quinn Friedman was 17 years-old when he attended our film festival last year. His film was accepted into “The Rookie Award” category. He won. When I saw the talent and skill in his film, I asked him to come on my podcast to talk about how he made the film. He was passionate and fervently explaining how easy it was for him to make a cinematic film using a smartphone camera.
During the festival, he had already upgraded to the latest iPhone model using the Cinematic mode that was introduced by Apple®. During a break, a few film industry colleagues watched another film he had just produced with the new iPhone.
He blew away everyone in the room. We watched it on the big screen. His storytelling talent and skill were apparent but the film was incredible to watch, visually.
A 17 year-old can use a smartphone camera and produce a very good film within no time, compared to what is usual. He was proud of it. His point was taken and the proof was in front of us. He had not used FilmicPro. He used Final Cut Pro to edit and then color-graded it.
Complexity.
Any professional camera person will tell you that there is a lot to learn with even, prosumer cameras that many producers in video production and indie filmmakers use. I was a camera person working with Sony, Panasonic and Canon cameras as one of my jobs in video production.
I confess that it can be nerve wrecking when you arrive on location to make sure you’ve set up everything correctly, or you’ll regret it in post. I’ve worked with many camera people as a media manager, who were hired by an organization I worked with, to cover video interviews, events, etc.
Guess what? They sometimes forgot to do a number of little things that would frustrate me a lot when I had to log the footage because a lot of shots we needed were useless. So when professionals make mistakes with settings, you realize if you’re making a film, you need to really go to the bank hiring a camera person or DP, which is what you usually hire for a film.
Can you learn how to use a prosumer or professional camera for film overnight? No. Without experience in film and video, you cannot. Can you learn a new camera if you’re an experienced video and film camera person, overnight? Yes.
I worked with a colleague with many years as a video and film person. He had won awards as a cinematographer back in the day and always stayed up to date on his camera gear. One of the last times we met up he was in his studio spending a day learning his newly purchased camera because he had a shoot scheduled the following week. He wanted to make sure he understood the new camera and all the new controls he needed to understand along with how to access the controls he was used to. When I say controls, I am talking about functions and settings and controlling them.
Making choices.
Whether you are filming as a novice or professional, using a smartphone is going to cause you to put your learning hat on and get down with your camera. Cameras come with some sort of manual and a diagram pointing to where the functions are located on the camera and some description of them. But the nuts and bolts of what they all mean, if you need them and when you need them, are usually things you know as an experienced camera operator.
With a smartphone…good luck. Google? Proliferated with gurus and YouTubers showing you the ropes. New latest model? You’ll need to wait for them to produce their tutorials. Social Media? Welcome to a lot of chatter and much intimidation about things that you probably don’t need to worry about but makes them feel knowledgeable. Next day you can go back and read all their debates.
Fact: As a professional in the mobile filmmaking industry, and a pioneer, I personally know too many people I could refer you to. However, if I do refer some one at some point, you can count on them.
So how do you choose?
First question you and everyone has is: What phone has the best camera? Please don’t go there. There is no answer to that question…all there is are a bunch of debates.
Get the smartphone out of your pocket and start using it. Just start using it. Remember to do some very simple things like using a horizontal video format if you want a cinematic feel. Learn to record audio externally…not so much with the phone. Only search for solutions when you encounter them. Try and fail, correct and try again. Play your footage on a larger screen. Use a free trial video editor and put some shots together. Export as a .mov or .mp4. Watch it on a large screen perhaps on a computer, PC or Mac. Listen using external speakers.
Now do it again. Shoot indoors. Shoot outdoors. Shoot on a sunny day. Shoot in the shade. Spend a weekend with your phone experimenting. Maybe two weekends.
Then you can search for your phone model and brand online and enter the specific problem you have.
Whatever you do, remember that the best and most successful film you can make with your smartphone is the one you actually make with your smartphone.
If you go down the rabbit hole of problems and solutions, warnings and advice, and how-to do it books and blogs, videos, etc. You’ll probably never come out to actually do it.
Once you do it, once you begin shooting and try again, and again, making corrections—you’ll realize the 17 year-old mobile filmmaker that made a film that blew industry filmmakers away is right in your hands. That’s power!
The Final Choice.
Go back to simplicity. The learning curve. The cost. Don’t get sucked into the intimidation that you must learn this, that you must use this thing, buy that…just don’t. Forget about budgets at this stage. Think no budget at this point. Don’t worry about getting others involved at this point except to ask some friends or family to pretend they are acting in an improvised scene.
Need inspiration?
Subscribe to this publication and subscribe to my podcast with over 140 episodes all about making movies with smartphone cameras with my guest filmmakers that have been successful doing it.
Just in case you want to listen to my podcast episode with Quinn Friedman:
Hey, come meet a bunch of amazing international filmmakers making movies with smartphones IN PERSON during the 12th Annual International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego, April 28, 29 & 30, 2023.