A beginner's guide to smartphone cinema
Smartphone film-making is playing a role in democratising cinema. We spoke with Jason van Genderen about how to plan a smartphone film project and what pitfalls to consider.
Until relatively recently, film-making has been a pursuit of only those with money or connections, and while this may continue to be true in Hollywood for some time to come, a shift in the cost of equipment required to make a short film is helping to democratise the art form.
Jason van Genderen is this year's winner of the Telstra Mobile Masterpieces category of Australia's Tropfest short film competition, a previous winner of Tropfest New York for a short that he shot on a Nokia N95 and author of the Pocket Filmmaker's blog. We asked van Genderen to take us through some of the major considerations of creating a new project with a smartphone and some of the pitfalls to consider, and to show off a few of the gadgets that can turn an iPhone into an important film-making tool.
If you're interested in the attachments, lens mounts, dollies or tripods seen in our interview, van Genderen makes them available through his website.
Also, check out The 53rd Hour below, van Genderen's award-winning short film from Tropfest this year, shot entirely on an iPhone 4S.