Filmmaking Career – use your smartphone.

With major film festivals like Sundance and Raindance now accepting films made with a smartphone, the method must now be taken seriously as a form of filmmaking. Using a smartphone might still be regarded by purists as slightly amateur, but opinions are changing quickly.

The most important element on your filmmaker’s resume is that you’re a working filmmaker.

The industry wants to see that you have the motivation and determination to see your projects to the end. An investor is far more likely to trust you with funding if they see you have a track record of completing projects. They want to see your filmmaking skills on display – not the fact you are rich enough to hire an Arri Alexa.

However, if you’re going to shoot your movie on a smartphone, it’s important to avoid making films that are outside of the capabilities of the technology. In the same way aspiring filmmakers shot on 8mm or 16mm film, using a smartphone (perhaps with some willing friends to play roles) is a great way to practice the art and craft of filmmaking. The simplicity of the technology means you will spend more of your time developing your film language skills.

There’s simply no better way to learn how to make a film than shooting some footage and editing it together.

The more time you spend doing this, the better you will get. And smartphone cameras are so easy to use, there’s less to distract you from getting the right footage.

When I say right footage, I’m talking about essential elements which have little to do with technology: framing, angles, length of shot, actors’ performances, pacing a scene, pacing a sequence and, indeed, pacing a whole story. You can certainly learn a whole lot about lighting and exposure; the basics of cinematography remain the same, no matter which camera you use.

Decades ago, perhaps a Coppola or a Malick could have turned to their crew of 20 and said: “Wait, I just want to try this weird shot…” These days, however, even multi-million dollar movies are made to very tight schedules. Using a smartphone camera, it’s so easy to experiment and be creative. This frees you to develop your own style without the pressure that comes with a big budget and big crew.

The modern smartphone can produce footage somewhere close to par with a 16mm film camera. And like that format used to be, smartphone filmmaking is close to becoming the bottom-rung format for serious filmmakers. Having said that, Sean Baker made his first film on 35mm before turning to a smartphone to make his Sundance hit Tangerine.

Here’s something else to consider. Maverick indie filmmaker Steven Soderbergh recently announced his most recent film was shot on a smartphone, which he intends to self-distribute. Why would a filmmaking heavyweight such as Soderbergh shoot a film on a smartphone? One possible reason: the budget can be so low it allows him to self-distribute and still make a profit.

This means he no longer has to worry about making a movie which will pay back millions of dollars to a studio. He retains complete control ownership of the film. If Netflix comes along and offers a few million, maybe he’d take up the offer. But if they don’t, the film isn’t sunk, waiting for a distributor to come along.

Thing is, this strategy is open to any filmmaker. Amazon have joined YouTube as a video self-distribution platform with millions of potential viewers. It’s now relatively simple to upload your movie to Amazon. Your revenue won’t match a big budget movie’s taking, so shooting on the smallest possible budget is essential.

Are we on the cusp of a self-distribution revolution?

Amazon turned self-publishing for authors into a phenomenon, will they do the same for film? Obviously, there’s a lot more involved in making a feature film than writing a novel. And that’s why it’s essential to find ways to reduce the budget (and speed up the process, in general) and focus on creating an engaging story well told.

To push your budget as close to nothing as possible, the filmmaking process needs to be cut down to it’s absolute essentials. Ask yourself – do I really need that? Recently I shot a quick video and captured the sound using the smartphone’s inbuilt mic. With some tweaking in Adobe Audition it wasn’t too bad. I doubt I’d shoot a feature this way, but it shows there’s often an alternative to the perceived “essential” equipment. If you’re filming without much budget, don’t be afraid to find a work-a-round.

When I was filming Third Contact (essentially without a crew), we had to film one scene on a street corner in London – a conversation between 2 actors. I didn’t have permission to film and I didn’t have a sound recordist. It was just me and the actors. As I thought about this problem, I realised I didn’t really need the dialogue. If I filmed it from a distance, as if spying on the conversation from across the street, the audience would realise a meeting had taken place.

This changed the scene for the better – now the audience would we wondering what the hell they were talking about. The film has a dark mysterious feel, so this idea fitted perfectly. Rather than hindering the film, my lack of equipment and crew forced me to re-think the scene and improve it.

So, we can answer the original question 2 ways. Will smartphone filmmaking help you to break into the industry? Yes, if use it as a tool to improvise and be creative. Yes, if you use it for it’s strengths and advantages over the more expensive alternatives. You could also ask yourself why established filmmakers like Sean Baker and Steven Soderbergh are turning from 35mm to smartphones. And what about bypassing the industry altogether with your own script-to-stream self-distribution set-up? A smartphone camera production might be a way to make it financially viable.

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