Making movies with a smartphone - WHY?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Taurus, Sep 19, 2014.

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  1. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    I just found this article concerning the excitement over using the new iPhone 6 series for amateur/indie filmmaking. I could only make it past the first paragraph before coming here to ask about this confusing (to me) trend: when you can buy a REAL video camera from Panasonic, Canon etc for only a couple hundred bucks with a much better/larger objective lens & other various useful features found on a device dedicated to capturing moving images, why would someone use a camera crammed into a cell phone?

    On a side note: this is just me, but I just don't get this......extreme fascination.....with smartphones by some people (and yes, when I say this to people 30 and younger most seemingly look at me like "oh dear, he's old and just isn't able to understand the modern world". Sheesh, whatever [fyi: I'm in my late 40s]).
     
  2. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic

    For individuals, the question is more like "Why would you spend a couple of hundred bucks on a video camera for your home movies when your phone will take HD quality video"?

    Having said that... Yeah. Anyone who thinks it's a good idea to make actual movies with iPhones is a bit wrong in the head. Especially if they film the whole thing vertically like most idiots have started doing... :D
     
    chilinvilin and Mark Nelson like this.
  3. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    As long as they don't shoot in portrait (aka "vertical video"), I say who cares? It's an easy way for people to get into amateur film-making. People who are dedicated enough will obviously want to upgrade their equipment at some point. I see no reason to be bothered by this.
     
    Simon A and Billy Infinity like this.
  4. kevintomb

    kevintomb Forum Resident

    That vertical video stuff is nearly unwatchable to many people, including me.

    HD from a "Smart" phone...laughable.

    The lens and image sensor is crap on even the best phone.

    Not even a possibility.
     
  5. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    One of the worst things ever invented was putting video on a smartphone, so tired of seeing that frame on television when someone sends in something they feel is news-worthy...
     
  6. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Whole lotta "Get off my lawn!" going on in this thread.

    :magoo:
     
  7. michaelscrutchin

    michaelscrutchin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX (USA)
    Quite a few "actual movies" have been made with iPhones (and other smartphones) and most of them look a lot better than the DV indies of the late '90s/early '00s. There's nothing wrong in the head with using tools you already have to make a movie. As Stanley Kubrick once said: "The great thing about underground films is their great disrespect for the technical problems of making a film. It's about the healthiest thing that has ever happened in movies."
     
  8. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Part of the reason is because the users are technically very stupid and unsophisticated; another is that they have grossly unrealistic expectations of the technical quality available in a device as limited as the iPhone. The very fact that the audio and video levels are automatically controlled prevents it from being used in a creative, reliable way for a narrative project.

    I don't have a problem with people using low-cost cameras to shoot little movies provided the cameras hit a certain minimal level, plus there's a known workflow where you can take the pictures through the post path and not run into any insurmountable issues. Noted DP Shane Hurlbut did a terrific job shooting Act of Valor on (mostly) Canon 7Ds, and the movie looked terrific and made over $70M. So it can be done provided you're inventive, talented, and have good people working for you. Shooting on an iPhone... not so much.
     
  9. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I see no reason not to make a movie with an iphone...why not? it's fun...
     
    Dan C and Rooster_Ties like this.
  10. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Not if you're trying to entertain people with a coherent story and craftsmanship. It's like recording a rock album on an iPhone: sure, you can do it, but who would want to listen to it?
     
    Hutch, KatyA, stumpy and 1 other person like this.
  11. They didn't have much time.
     
  12. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    Sure, for casual uses like home movies, spontaneous situations llike a family pet doing something memorable, etc a phone works out fine.

    But I'm really speaking of movies & other similar projects that (IMO) deserve to be captured in a more accurate manner, unless of course the filmmaker desires a visual style created by low-quality optics/image sensors and associated electronics.
    If that is all you have to work with and you've got a great idea you need to get recorded without delay, again, a phone can fill that need. But even so, it seems even in that situation the cost of setting up a shooting location, transportation costs (fuel, vehicle maintenance, etc), food for the actors & production people, etc etc will greatly exceed the cost of that basic Canon camcorder* I mentioned in my first post. So why not make the device being used to record all that hard work is a decent one?


    * like this one. It's equipped with an image sensor with "only" 3.28 megapixels but AFAIK it's not just the number of pixels that determine a camera's image quality but the quality of the individual pixels. Btw, the Curiosity Mars rover's color cameras use sensors with only 2 megapixels.
     
    Mark Nelson likes this.
  13. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    Part of the brilliant documentary Searching for Sugarman was filmed with an iPhone using an app called 8mm Vintage Camera. The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary.
     
    Billy Infinity likes this.
  14. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Because they can!
     
    rburly and Encuentro like this.
  15. aussievinyl

    aussievinyl Appreciator Of Creative Expression

    If it gets people to create, why not. It might encourage budding actors, writers etc. to do that. It's similar to making music on a computer - you previously needed a lot of money to record your songs and use effects....now you don't. I'm in favour of creation, pure and simple.
     
    Chip Z, BuddhaBob, drasil and 8 others like this.
  16. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

    If you're making documentaries in a dangerous or restricted area, shooting video on your phone is less noticeable.

    Wasn't that film shot at Disneyland , Excape From Tomorrow, shot on phones?
     
    BuddhaBob likes this.
  17. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Have you naysayers actually viewed any examples or listened to any rock music recorded using a phone? I think you might be surprised.
     
    BuddhaBob, crispi and Billy Infinity like this.
  18. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Digital SLRs.


    I've shot little movies on the iPhone. The advantage of their being inconspicuous is definitely a huge plus. The disadvantage is their lack of a real lens. They are fine for normal and wide angle shots. But they completely lack telephoto capabilities and digital zooms just suck. Take your iPhone to film your daughter's graduation and watch the ants marching across the stage. I am interest in using the iphone 6 because it now has a physical stabilizaton system where the lens and the gyroscope talk to give you real stabilization. That will be nice. Also it will now refocus while shooting. This is a feature that these compacts have lacked. My favorite thing about shooting with an iphone was being able to shoot INSIDE a hamster cage!

    All that said, to shoot a movie completely with an iPhone (include building a len system on front of the iphone as some have done) is in large part just a gimmick.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2014
  19. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    You can fix that in postproduction. :D
     
  20. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    No, as we photographers know, you can fix that by getting your butt down next to the stage! It always used to be funny watching people shoot rock acts from a hundred yards away with the little flash cubes on their Kodak Instamatics. "Honey, our pictures came out black!!"

    (consequently, my daughter hates when I show up with my camera :shh:)
     
    Deesky likes this.
  21. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    youtuber's
     
  22. paulisme

    paulisme I’m being sarcastic

    Location:
    Charleston SC
    Are we ****ting on any movie in particular or just making blanket statements like "any movie made with an iPhone must be terrible"? How do you know there isn't something out there that shatters your preconceptions about what creative people can do with a certain technology? The great thing about art is that it thrives under technical constraints. The tools an artist uses is often as important to artistic expression as the work itself.
     
    Dan C, eeglug, minerwerks and 2 others like this.
  23. keef00

    keef00 Senior Member

    Excellent point. Give an artist (especially a director) all the time, money and technology they want, and the end result is usually way overdone. There is someone out there that doesn't even realize they're limited by having only an iPhone. They will overcome the limitations of the tools.
     
    MarkO likes this.
  24. paulisme

    paulisme I’m being sarcastic

    Location:
    Charleston SC
    George Lucas is living proof.
     
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  25. Damien DiAngelo

    Damien DiAngelo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
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