Smartphone Filmmaking – An Existential Crisis

We at the Mobile Motion Film Festival office were recently thrown into an existential panic. Mostly it involved Andrea and I. Meanwhile Micky the Cat remained focused on the continued far-too-slow-for-his-liking delivery of food by humans.

Luckily, he’s yet to figure out how to login to Amazon and set up a more satisfactory service. Now that I think of it, I’m sure Jeff Bezos is working on something along these lines, as I type. Pet accounts for Amazon? I wouldn’t put it past him. “Meow once for more. Meow twice for even more…” (Or “nochli mehr”. He is a Swiss German cat, after all).

So, what brought about this crisis? Well, it was the discovery of the Yongnuo YN450 (working title).

Is it a smartphone camera or not?

Apparently, it’s a mirrorless 4G smart-camera. And it’s made by Chinese camera and gear manufacturer Yongnuo.

Thing is, as you can see from the image, it runs on the Android smartphone operating system. So is it a smartphone or a camera?

Device specs

The camera has a 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensor alongside a Qualcomm 8-core processor. The camera will run Android 7.1 for its operating system and have 3GB RAM and 32GB storage (as well as up to 32GB of expandable storage).

In addition to 16MP rear photos (with RAW functionality), the camera can also shoot 4K video at 30fps and 8MP front-camera photos.

On the back of the camera is a 5-inch 1080p multi-touch display.

There’s also a stereo mic, GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, dual LED flashes, and a 4000 mAh battery.

There’s even a selfie camera.

But it will also support DSLR lenses and feature a large Four Thirds sensor. So, while we have all got used to phones that are also great cameras. This device is looks like it will be a camera that’s also a smartphone.

Blurring definitions

In a way, this is not so far from what RED are aiming to do with their launch into the smartphone market. RED CEO, Jim Jannard even says of his device “this really isn’t a cellphone, it’s a media machine that happens to have a cellphone included”. Which sounds not so far from a definition of the Yongnuo YN450.

So, we now have cameras and smartphones moving together from both directions.

You still haven’t explained why you’re in a panic

Oh sorry.

Well, our festival (like a few others) only accepts films shot on smartphones or similar mobile devices. But now the lines are in danger of getting blurred, how will we define a smartphone-shot film? Should we accept Hydrogen One shot films or Yongnuo YN450 (working title) shot films?

The whole philosophy behind the idea was to “level the playing field” for filmmakers. In other words, create a festival where the production funds count for less.

Well, we don’t have to worry about that just yet. But it’s certainly something on the horizon which we might have to get our heads around at some point.

I will always insist, anyway, it’s about the story and not about the equipment. And our aim here is to help you get making films and telling stories. For me, the reason to use a smartphone is to liberate yourself from the financial and technical obstacles which often stop us from going out and being creative.

And we at MoMo will always rank creativity above money and technical excellence. Last night I watched a film called Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot. In one scene, an art teacher tells his class: “Craft seeks for perfection. Art seeks for expression.”

MoMo is here to help you develop your craft and give a voice to your art.

Read Next: Best Smartphone Filmmaking Kit 2019.

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