Recording Movies With iPhone: A Growing Trend

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Geno Scala recording using an iphoneToday, billions of people use smartphones, and despite their overwhelming popularity already, that number is only expected to grow. Indeed, experts have predicted that total number of overall users will exceed 6 billion in as little as five years. For many of those users, smartphones are more than mere tools used for communication, rather they are used for everything from entertainment to telling time. And for the more creative and photographically inclined, they can be used to make movies.

Using one’s phone to shoot and publish video is not a novel concept, of course. Websites like Vimeo and Youtube exist mostly for that reason. Most of the user generated content on those sites, in which cell phone is used for recording, are rather casual, including tutorials, reviews, comedy and the like. However, in recent years, more and more individuals are using their mobile devices to create films, not merely for the entertainment of a few friends on social media, but to be released and considered alongside traditional media.

Such is the case for the 2011 short film, Framed. Created by French filmmaker, Maël Sevestre, the film was shot on iPhone 4S and recorded over the course of just a few days, using minimal materials. Yet, the film was lauded by critics for its beauty and simplicity, despite minor problems with regard to things like color. Similar to the writing and shooting process, the editing of the film was completed in less than a day and uploaded to Vimeo. It currently stands at nearly half a million views.

More recently, a movie entitled Tangerine employed this method, using a more updated iPhone 5S. The movie, created by Sean Baker, was released at Sundance, where it took both the audience and judges by surprise. Despite its lack of convention, the film was considered one of the best at the festival, and was the only feature to be shot almost completely on a smartphone (others had used one for certain shots or scenes, but not as a primary source).

These two are just examples of the many filmmakers who are beginning to employ the devices they use daily into their normal line of work. Of course, for both of the aforementioned films, the process was not just using an iphone in hand. There were a few apps, add-on lenses and tripods involved, in addition to editing; each was a completely professional endeavor which just happened to be made using instruments that are not so common within the industry.

What’s promising about these new developments, though, is both access and cost. Not only will more individuals have means to create somewhat professional films at their disposal, the cost of using iPhone versus other cameras is significantly less. Of course, the quality of the camera itself is not better than that of, say, a 35mm. However, it’s likely the quality of camera on smartphones will only improve with time, and, perhaps, it will become the norm.

Submit Your Script To Amazon For Free, Using The Company’s New App

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Guy on tablet, watching a videoEveryday, Hollywood is moving further away from the members-only, closed door machine it has notoriously been. The world of entertainment is more competitive than ever, and the popularity of content across the vast array of media presently available, has everyone on their toes, hoping to create the next big show with enough virality and excitement to keep the attention spans of the internet generation. This race to create content versus mere syndication of older shows, has been embraced by everyone from Netflix to Youtube, and even the major networks have upped their collective game, as I mentioned in my previous blog. Hence, there is a lot opportunity for aspiring writers looking to break into the industry.

In an attempt to solidify its product as a real competitor to Netflix, and with similar services popping up from the likes of Tidal, Amazon is making this process of acquiring talent a little bit easier and a lot more exciting. Just weeks ago the company launched its screenwriting app, which not only formats stories into screenplays as one types, it employs an offline feature, and enables uploads of common formats.

Of course, Amazon is not the first to develop a scriptwriting app. There are others, like Final Draft and Scriptly. However, what differentiates the product from others is that it allows users to submit the content created on the app directly to Amazon, to be considered for new shows and/or movies for the company’s Amazon Studios.

Prior the launch of this service, the company did allow individuals to submit scripts for consideration, but only those pertaining to feature films, comedies and shows for children and adolescents. With the Amazon Storywriter App, however, scribes will have the opportunity to submit dramas to the studio, as well; and if scripts are selected, writers will have the option of selling to the studio for an amount equal to a writers’ guild minimum–somewhere in the ballpark of $200,000 for a movie and around $50,000 for a TV show.

This new app creates a marketplace for experienced writers, who just need the right opportunity to showcase their talents, as well as for novices, who may not have as much experience but have great ideas for a story. It also puts Amazon slightly ahead of competition, putting the company in position to get first dibs on material created on the app, in addition to generating interest and positioning its content as being open to everyone.

Nevertheless, as arstechnica.com warns, writers should have their intellectual property adequately protected. By law, Amazon may have the right to produce and publish similar content, so long as the material isn’t “substantially” similar. It would behoove any interested party to establish an understanding of what substantial means and to what they are agreeing by granting the company rights to their work.