Don't Hold Back: The Only Camera You Need Is The One That's With You!
It really is true when photographer Chase Jarvis said, “The best camera is the one that's with you.” Waiting on expensive gear is just an excuse for you not to create when you have a very powerful tool in your hand. Come up with an idea, bust out your iPhone and make a movie! Telling a story in the 21st Century has never been more accessible! The films below were all shot on early models of iPhone with some simple lens setups.
Night Fishing (2011)
Night Fishing (Original Korean title: 파란만장; Paranmanjang) is a South Korean fantasy-horror film written by brothers Park Chan-Wook and Park Chan-Kyong. At the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, Paranmanjang won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film. This dreamy and fantastical flick has a vintage quality and that is due in part to the way it was captured. The entire film was captured using an iPhone 4 with a series of extra lenses and filmmaking equipment. It centers around a casual man who has gone fishing and his line catches an unsuspecting misadventure. This film demonstrates that with an open mind and a desire to create something unique, you can make it happen.
Tangerine (2015)
This American comedy-drama premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Director Sean Baker Radium Cheung shot the film using not one iPhone 5S, but three! This is brilliant, because they were able to pay for shooting locations and to pay for extras with all the money that they saved on film equipment. The best part is, it doesn’t distract from the story at all. The story is follows a transgender sex worker who is on a journey to find her cheating boyfriend and pimp. Complications and meandering storylines create a dynamic adventure with culturally relevant topics to Los Angeles and the world.
I Play With The Phrase Each Other (2014)
This self-aware film creates a narrative through the use of phone calls. The phone calls are really more like vignettes of mini-spoken essays rather than a tête-à-tête amongst two characters. Filmmaker Jay Alverez has created something very unique commenting on young adults struggling with a disgruntled economy. The choice to use an iPhone hearkens back to constraints instilled upon young filmmakers by Lars Von Trier's Dogme95 manifesto where dialogue is limited to phone conversation dialogue. This groundbreaking film really captures the grainy quality of yesteryear’s 35mm cameras but it was captured using nothing more than a simple iPhone.
Having access to fancy film equipment doesn’t need to hinder your creative drive to tell a story. The resolution, fancy rigs, and red tape didn’t hold back any of these creators. They had a vision and they executed it. That is more than most filmmakers can say who get caught up in gear and never seem to release anything! Get out there and make something awesome!
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