Posted on 01/31/2015 1:47:34 AM PST by Swordmaker
What does it take for a film to be a huge hit at Sundance, nab a distribution deal, and get a nationwide theatrical release? Big Hollywood stars? Mass appeal? Expensive professional equipment? Short answer -- no!
Director Sean Baker's feature film Tangerine, which got picked up by Magnolia Pictures, is one of the most talked-about films at the Festival this year even though it doesn't exactly fit the profile of a buzzworthy entry. Firstly, it features unknown actors; no Kristen Wiigs, no Ethan Hawkes. Secondly, it's a story about two transgender women on a Christmas Eve odyssey through the many subcultures of L.A. to "get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor." So, mass appeal? No. (V appeal? Hell yes.) Lastly, it wasn't shot using an expensive, top of the line cinema camera. In fact, it was shot using the device I use every day to take notes, check emails, and dodge calls from bill collectors.
That device, of course, is the iPhone 5s. Tangerine was shot completely on the Apple device, but this smartphone camera setup also included the 1.33x Anamorphic Adapter from Moondog Labs, the FiLMiC Pro app, and external recording devices. Sound mixer Irin Strauss shared on Twitter how they went about recording the audio on a dual system with an SD 664, lavs, and boom mics.
As you might recall, we talked about Moondog's anamorphic iPhone adapter back when it was raising funds on Kickstarter. And FiLMiC Pro, which was used on that gorgeous Bentley ad, (also shot on an iPhone 5s), turns your "iOS camera into a broadcast worthy 2K HD video camera" by giving you manual control over focus, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, tint, and color temperature.
The overall cost of this setup -- a setup that shot a feature film that is just killing it at Sundance? Well, Moondog's adapter costs $160, FiLMiC Pro is $8 in the App Store, and iPhones range from -- what? $200 to $600 depending on service and features? So, you're looking at $168 to $768 to get high quality images for a feature film.
![](http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_wide/public/tangerine.0.0.png?itok=Ry3dQi2o")
Smartphone filmmaking is still a long way away from not only being fully on par with traditional feature filmmaking, but also being accepted as a legitimate form of feature filmmaking. Personally, I love it. I've always loved it. When the Moment lenses hit Kickstarter, I bought a set. When Moondog's Anamorphic Adapter hit Kickstarter, I bought it. Any app that can turn my iPhone into a little filmmaking tank of fury, I'm all over it.
When you shoot with an iPhone, are you loosing some control over your instrument. Yes. Are you losing image quality. Of course. Does it matter? Maybe not as much as you think, considering the fact that The Hollywood Reporter described the look of Tangering as “crisp and vigorously cinematic”, with “an aesthetic purity that stands out in a field where so much indie filmmaking has gotten glossier and less technically adventurous.”
I think part of the hang up with filmmakers about smartphone filmmaking is that they're not sold on the idea that people should start making movies with them. But that's just it -- it's not that we should, it's that we can. Tangerine has proved that once again.
I signed up for the mailing list.
The smart phones will only get better and more powerful. At times I question the Lumix 4K I bought but love it when I get to use it plus I am used to weight. Smartphones weigh nothing and I get the shakes too easy. Not everywhere has a prop surface.
A few years ago I transitioned out of TV to make a living and because of office politics of the network.
I helped on some indie film once and throw out some stock footage. At one time it seemed like I had half decent writing capability but that was years ago.
I signed up too.
I’ve been into photography forever but when I wanted to film my son’s graduation from Marine boot camp I actually got a little video camera. I love visuals but my problem is I can see the camera shaking with my heart beat! I am also so used to shooting stills that I forget to stop scanning and just shoot the scene for a minute.
I love movies with good music and just moments of transition where a still will intro into the next scene. I love “Horse Whisperer” because of the technical side, not only the story.
Yes, that’s amazing. Of course the sound is always the problem, so I’d be interested to see if they really were able to get good sound. If they could that’s pretty much a technological miracle.
My daughter takes great photos with her iphone, they are just amazing.
You would probably know, how do you record a video in the wind but not hear the wind on your mic? I go out in all weather but only go to the beach on stormy days or in the winter. I wanted to piece together some stuff for my daughter-in-law and will just use music at the rough parts but for future reference?
The pro who did our wedding years ago who has all the high end Canon stuff never uses the video side. It is a different line of thinking. I tend to machine gun stills since I think like a TV person.
Even with snapshots with the toy camera as a teen, people liked what I did.
TV was fun when it was allowed to be TV and not a dilbert-esque environment which it became.
I went into IT and became better off.
I'm always confused about this.
Is a "transgender woman" a man who had a chopadickoffame done, or a woman who had an addadicktome done?
Regardless, with a subject like this, the "artist" could have used animation of still shots made by a 50-year-old Brownie camera using 60-year-old black and white (heh, heh) film, and still got accolades.
...it's a story about two transgender women...
sundance is a joke.
May have to rig this up......looks like good quality videos if they’re honest on what was used.....:o)
Thanks for the ping......Stay Safe !!!
Apple or android ....I enjoy what works. Motorola Razr an my iPhone 6 both are flawless pieces of gear. Don’t understand the idiot phone snobs.... ya like brand X use brand X....gheesh !!
My opinion....
From the technology side...it means any kid with a summer school period off...could make a movie with a dozen people from the neighborhood,
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Didn’t Spielberg start with an 8mm camera as a kid?
The overall cost of this setup — a setup that shot a feature film that is just killing it at Sundance? Well, Moondog’s adapter costs $160, FiLMiC Pro is $8 in the App Store, and iPhones range from — what? $200 to $600 depending on service and features? So, you’re looking at $168 to $768 to get high quality images for a feature film.
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That accounts for the images. How about the sound equipment?
The smart phones will only get better and more powerful. At times I question the Lumix 4K I bought but love it when I get to use it plus I am used to weight. Smartphones weigh nothing and I get the shakes too easy.
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People have come up with steadycam type hacks for cameras. They’ve probably done the same for smartphones.
Gong!
Pointless trolling
Bingo!!!
Quentin Tarantino said you could make a feature film on an Iphone two years ago...
I just don't want to see THIS film. Not at all!
I get what you say about the story line. But I’d watch it just to see how it is.
I remember going to the movies and seeing a film by, oh I can’t think of his name, but he made some “independent” movies back in the day. I think “Matwan” (sp?) was his biggest hit. And “City of Hope” I think it was called, that people I knew liked because it was clearly about a fictionalized Jersey City.
The sound, in the one I saw was dreadful (earlier than both those I’ve named and I can’t remember the name of the movie either, sorry I’m so opinionated yet uninformative, so internet, eh?). I could barely pay attention, it was verging on static. That was when I realized how sound was the tricky part, cue Al Jolson, etc!
REALLY are you such a moronic 14 year old? Did you NOT get the message when your previous obscene post got deleted by the admins? Why post another to pollute the threads?
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