Iphone, Smartphone

the future of cinema ?

 

This article is an appeal to thedesire to create, in turn, is more than a simple stacking of tips and tricks to be able to turn with your Smartphone.

We talk about it for several weeks now, Steven Soderbergh is going to release a feature film filmed entirely with an iphone X…in The end, it has used 3.

It is not the first to say so. Filming with an iphone it is possible and it makes for images that tear. Beyond the quality, the smartphone allows a real flexibility in the implementation of each plan.

I had already talked about some of the festivals that distribute and promote short films or films shot with this camera, but today we took yet a further milestone.

Why ?

Of the feature films have already been made with an iphone, a 5S , to be exact. But here, we’re talking about a movie that will come out in the dining room, directed by a master of cinema ! Immediately this fact to enter this mode from filming to another level.

Often, one uses the smartphone , because of problems of funding. We want to shoot quickly, one does not have many means, so we take the smartphone and here we go. But for Soderbergh the money is not a problem. It is therefore by pure artistic choice that he has turned this way. Well, I’m not going to get drunk with Soderbergh but I wanted to draw your attention to this fact.

Before you begin

It should be common sense ! That is to say :

• Put in airplane mode
• Check that the battery is charged
• Check that the space of storage is sufficient
• Clean the lens
• Have in mind what one wants to do and prepare in order to avoid wasting time or having to start over.

Let’s move to serious things and talk about the 8 tips for filming with a Iphone

 

1) Do not under-estimate the small equipment

This is for the movement or for static shots you need sometimes additional equipment such as :

• A DJ osmo, which allows you to have smooth movement fors as a steadicam and allows you to make panoramic super smooth.
• A microphone such as the rode video.

2) Consider turning to the Smartphone as a normal turning

This is not because you’re shooting with an iphone or a smartphone in general, you need to do everything and anything and do not respect the basic rules such as :

1. Take 5 seconds margin before you begin the plan or the scene
2. Take 5 seconds of margin at the end of the plan or of the scene
3. Do pay attention to the light (against the light, flare, etc ???)
4. Pay attention to the background of fields (the presence of technical objects, unwanted persons, etc…)
5. Do not film at night without additional light !
6. Do pay attention to the brightness. By tapping on a clear area or an area dark, your smartphone will darken or make the scene
7. Plan to take the sound to an external media with a real microphone !!
8. Avoid zoom ! You get closer to the subject to shoot (physically) and not by zooming. It’s ugly, the image quality is going to suffer and…it is amateurish.

 

3) The stability

The iphone or the smartphone is small and the slightest blow is mortal…With a camera, but with an object as small as a phone it is worse.

1. Be stable on your support. The feet well anchored to the ground and slightly apart as to not be destabilized. This solution moves closer to a plan called ” the shoulder “.
2. Use a tripod camera with a mount suitable for your phone
3. If you need to follow a character walking or running : 3 options
   1. The hand
   2. On a pushcart (shopping cart, skate etc…)
   3. On a Osmo or a Glidecam

4) The light

Here, I’m not going to not speak to you of projector HMI or big bazaar to inform your plans. If you’re shooting with an Iphone this is not by choice as Soderbergh or Gondry but this is because you can surely not do otherwise.

Then, for the light you can take one or more Softbox or reflectors.

5) how to hold his Smartphone

How many times have I seen people filming keeping their Iphone in the vertical !!! This is not possible. Think the broadcast format and think about the composition of your image.

You need to take your laptop to the horizontal, landscape mode, for a 16/9 format ! The format that will be broadcasted. Not only will you have more room to compose your image and your viewers will have really the impression to watch a movie and not stuff filmed with a mobile phone.

Unless…Unless it is a deliberate act and art of your part. You can take the advantage of filming in “portrait” mode type selfie keeping your laptop in the vertical position. But you’ll have to do a lot of work on the image and its composition.

6) The recording format of your videos

Then, I can only speak for iphones, but I am sure that on other smartphones you can also change it.

For the Iphone go to : Settings, Camera, format, and you can choose between :

• 720p HD at 30 fps
• 1080p HD at 30 fps
• 1080p HD at 60 fps
• 4K HD at 30 fps

Take into account that the more you approach the 4K the more your videos will be heavy. For example :

• 1-minute 720p HD video at 30 fps = 60 mb
• 1 minute 1080p HD video at 30 fps = 130 mb
• 1 minute 1080p HD at 60 fps = 175 mb
• 1 minute 4K HD video at 30 fps = 350 mb

7) Use something other than the native software

Here, I’ll talk to you about Filmic pro that some are probably already. This app is available on IOS and Android. Thanks to it you will be able to access many of the settings options such as Iso, white balance, color temperature, etc…But most importantly-gives you the choice in the format of the image such that : the cinemascope, the 16: 9 aspect ratio th etc…

8) The basic rules of the achievement and have a history

I could not finish this article without these two points. You can have an iphone X or a smartphone thing…Or even a super camera ! If you do not have the rules of realization of base :

• The field in contrast
• The input and output fields
• Fittings,
• The rules of 180°
• The composition of a frame
• The values of plan

And a scenario/ story that holds the road…And well all that is not used for nothing !

From now on you’ve no more excuse for you not to move and shoot your film.

That’s it for this article : 8 things to do for filming with an Iphone/ Smartphone

Please do not hesitate to ask me questions below this article.

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Soon

Tom