The Misconception Of Mobile Film
Yes, it's a real film.
“Oh, yeah a found footage film, that’s incredible how far smartphone cameras have become!” Is this you? Have you heard this?
There have been many independent films shot with traditional cameras that have experimented with “found footage” filmmaking. Or movies that show the P.O.V. (point of view) of someone who happened to be recording a home video or a live news report or documentary.
Mobile filmmaking with smartphone cameras is not that. Yes, you can use it for that too. But the native camera on your new phone is too good for that. You may have to purposely try to make it bad. The internal stabilization on your phone camera is getting better and better with each new model.
Films shot with smartphone cameras are shot by professional filmmakers and novice filmmakers. Many of these filmmakers are making films you cannot distinguish from movies shot with other cameras. You don’t always need an app. You don’t always need gear. You do need to believe you can make a very good film for the cinema screen and to be enjoyed by a wide audience. You need a great story. And to know what a good story is when it’s told as a film.
You also need fantastic audio and good actors. Do not overlook this.
What you should never do is underestimate the quality of the film you can make.
You would never make a movie with another camera and say, “Well, that’s good enough for a DSLR.” or whatever camera you use. Your expectation of the film you can make should never depend on the camera you have access to. It should be based on the vision you have of your film. Then you go about using what you have access to and work diligently to turn your vision into a film.
It may take longer to make the “perfect” film. And of course there is no such thing as perfect. But being meticulous is well worth the effort in the end.
In my podcast, I’ve talked to many mobile filmmakers whose films I’ve personally watched. One thing I hear the most from filmmakers who make exceptional cinematic films using smartphones, even years ago with older phone camera models, is that they put a lot of effort into making the “perfect” film.
Filmmaking is never easy. The process is about creation. Enjoying the creation of a story put into a film format is a key part of it.
Filmmaking is an art and a science.
When I launched IMFF in 2009, it wasn’t about a notion I had that someday films could be shot on a phone and be cinematic. A lot of people, especially my professional network of video producers and filmmakers, were in disbelief with what I was doing.
That’s because I’ve always presented this as a certainty. There was never a question, for me. It was not an “interesting idea” or conception. And of course, that can be annoying. Because it’s hard to convey something you believe in as fact, when it hasn’t happened yet. Especially before iPhone 4, or 5 or 11. Before Sony introduced 4k. Before Apple brought “cinematic mode.” Before Tangerine, or Steven Soderbergh made two films with iPhones.
In 2009 I decided to “finally” get the ball rolling. I believed this would be a “thing” or whatever you want to call it, since 9/11. I saw it then clear as day and believed it 100%. So to wait, and wait—and continue to wait for it to magically happen left me feeling impatient after so many years. And I could see a push needed to happen for manufacturers to make those types of cameras for the phone.
While I waited, I was involved in video production where we were telling other people’s stories for them. I was working on films with crew members, and interns, who were networking and begging each other to work on another film with the same director or producer with the hopes they could make their own…some day.
Many good stories were put to rest without ever being made into films. Many stories were told by others in ways that the writer did not intend.
Finally, I decided to get the ball rolling without a path in front of it.
Imagine you bend down and toss the ball forward and there is nothing there. Would it just fall down into a hole? Would it just float into space? Why would you even expect a ball to roll forward where there is nothing?
But I saw that path, I tossed that ball with the intention for it to reach a destination that I saw back in 9/11. And we are here. It’s happened. Everything now is just cherries!
So the next time you hear someone refer to mobile films shot with smartphone cameras as “found footage,” remember: that’s just not a real depiction of what mobile film is. When someone says they are not “real” films, ask them to define a real film.
They’ll say, a real film most likely ends up on Netflix or Amazon or is seen on a theater screen. Remind them that Tangerine by Sean Baker had a theatrical run and was acquired by Magnolia Pictures and may even to this day, still be streaming on Netflix.
How many films, shot with other cameras by well known directors are streaming on Amazon, or Netflix, or Tubi, or any other streaming service have never had a theatrical release? Are those not real films now?
Get the word out. Films shot with smartphone cameras are real films. The fact a novice can begin with a smartphone camera is a stepping stone, not to make “real” films but to make better films.