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.
It's a showcase for Indy films. . . that doesn't mean films are going to be on subjects conservatives are going to like. The technologies that open film making up to the everyman is what is interesting.
BONGO!
He's gotten obscene in his trolling. . .
"Matewan" written and directed by John Sayles. I don't have a clue why I remember that, but my 3rd grade teacher back in 1961 sent a note home to my mother saying Swordmaker "is a garden of disconnected information."
“Swordmaker “is a garden of disconnected information.”
I love that, I hope your mother was very proud of you.
That seems to have been someone’s sleeper account.
I have a great script.
A Right wing President is elected and rounds up all of the homosexuals, laywers, and communists and sends them to the North Pole.
The he deports all illegal aliens and moslems, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Naw, All he has to do is round up all the Liberal Lawyers. Problem solved. The other crawl back under their rocks.
We use a Canon 5D MkII for shooting some of our features, and I gotta say, my iPhone takes almost as good a shot or film as the 5D!
I can’t wait for the Fall iPhone 6+ upgrade!
Ed
My friend’s cousin submitted a film a few years ago to Sundance, won some honors and the attention got the distro rights bought by some big media companies, its a pretty good venue for indies.
Ed
Or simply PRETENDS to be have done one of the two...
Thank you Squantos for a voice of reason...!!! Seriously refreshing!
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