Among the first mentors to view The Dancer was Sean Baker, director of 2017’s Oscar-nominated The Florida Project, as well as the 2015 feature Tangerine, shot entirely on iPhone 5S. Baker, who edits his own films, wielded the iMac keyboard himself while surveying clips from Amigone’s shoot. Each take had been marked with the Movie Slate app on iPad, which automatically stores and logs the timecode data, facilitating this invaluable session with the renowned director. Together, they discussed Amigone’s backstory as well. A stay-at-home mother of a three-year-old daughter, she knows how to maximize time and resources. She not only served as writer and director, but also star and choreographer — a complicated dance in its own right.

Another strong collaboration developed between Amigone and Lionel Martin, an Apple Retail Pro and fellow filmmaker. During post-production, while Martin experimented with color wheels in Final Cut Pro X, Amigone explained the emotions she wanted to evoke as her character, the Dancer, performs for a piano accompanist under bright lights in a Hollywood dance studio. Color-correcting the palette of cinematographer Art Chong and production designer Sapna Gandhi, Martin and Amigone achieved a balance between the illuminated dance floor and the reverse shots of the accompanist in shadow. “This is working,” Martin said. “He’s getting the glow from her.” Amigone added that the golden light reminded her of Isadora Duncan, who danced from her solar plexus because that’s where the sun lives.