Whilst we’ve all been busy recording gigs and nights out or watching kittens chase shoes on our iPhones, Hollywood has created everything from heart-wrenching film shorts to feature-length thrillers using just their smartphones.
Each generation of technology has revolutionised filmmaking and thanks to smartphone capabilities it’s now an extremely accessible and low-cost medium to enter. The barrier to entry for amateur filmmakers is as far away as their pocket, which combines with ease to use and the immediacy of results to make a very appealing case for would-be directors.
Filmmakers first started using smartphones to shoot with in 2005. Since then a wave of movies have become available online, with the most impressive even winning mainstream awards. Park Chan-wook - director of Oldboy - used his iPhone 4 to shoot his 2011 short; Night Fishing. He made the entire movie for less than $150,000 and yet the fantasy-horror still won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. And let’s not forget last year's fantastic Oscar-winning documentary; Searching for Sugar Man, directed by Malik Bendjelloul and shot on integrated 8mm film and iPhone video. Meanwhile, critics are going crazy for this year's Tangerine, which was shot entirely on iPhone (well, three of them). So far it has swept the board at 2015’s film festivals and won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival.
Lower stakes means filmmakers are free to experiment and take more risks when filming with smartphones. Sascha Ciezata filmed When Lynch Met Lucas entirely on his iPhone and was the first person to create an animation in this way. The video uses audio from a speech by David Lynch as he recalls a meeting with George Lucas regarding his possible role directing the Star Wars sequel; Return of the Jedi. Speaking to Indiewire, Ciezata said: "I'd worked in live action and animation, but in 2010 I didn't have money to shoot the Lynch story on film, so I decided to try using my iPhone as the camera using a trial-and-error process. I simply made things up as I went along." The film quickly went viral and attracted extensive media coverage as a result.
Smartphone movie making is now so big it has its own network of festivals and awards surrounding it, including the iPhone Film Festival and Mobile Motion Film Festival.
And it's thanks, in part, to tech’s quick reactions that this revolution has evolved so quickly. These days, most phones are capable of filming in HD and many even offer manual controls on exposure and white balance. There are also numerous apps designed to help you out such as Movie Slate which lets you log footage with notes, and Sun Scout which shows you how your shooting location will look at different times of the day.
If you’re still not sure about it all, a good way to begin your smartphone movie education is with these films. Check out Framed, filmed on iPhone 4s, Olive, a full-length feature and I play with the phrase each other, which stormed the Sundance Film Festival with it's portrayal of phone calls, made on a phone.
Sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy this new wave of smartphone movies. We definitly are.
