Making movies with your iPhone can be fun, simple, and effortless. That’s because a movie can be about anything: your kid scoring an unbelievable goal in soccer, your roommate telling a crazy story about what happened last night, a hard-hitting documentary about your coworker stealing your lunch from the mini fridge, or the simple beauty of a sunrise. Having one of the world’s most portable and easy to use cameras in your pocket at just the right moment can be invaluable for those kinds of movies. But what if you want to shoot something requiring more planning and even, dare I say it, a budget? Nobody in their right mind would spend the money on locations, crew, gear… not to mention the blood sweat and tears involved in extended shooting, all to use an iPhone as a primary capture device, right?
I just watched it again. Wow. Weird. But still it looks intriguing. The point is that this is really happening. People are making movies on their iPhones. The revolution will not be televised… because its going to be shot on an iPhone and viewed at places like iPhoneFilmmaker.com.
Make no mistake though. This movie was not made with the iPhone alone. First and foremost, it was made the way any filmed narrative should be made. Someone sat down and thought long and hard about a story they really wanted to tell. Then they wrote a script and agonized over it. Then they planned out every shot, rehearsed extensively with their actors, and got a passionate (and in this case probably very experienced) crew together to help realize a vision.
The first piece was ALM’s OWLE bubo - which is now the mCAM. Its a great form fitting case that helps give a more stable grip to the iPhone plus a way to mount it to a tripod. It also comes with a great wide angle lens and microphone adapter. I found the OWLE bubo on Amazon for $160.00, but you can buy the mCAM from ALM’s site for the same amount.
The other piece works in conjunction with the mCAM case. It’s EnCinema’s 35mm SLR lens adapter. It attaches to the front of the mCAM and allows you to put a 35mm lens on your iPhone to achieve that amazing 35mm big lens depth of field. You can also conveniently purchase this adapter from ALM’s site for $220.00.
mCam used in conjunction with the “Almost DSLR” app, which is $1.99 in the app store (there is a free version as well with ads), you have an amazing amount of control over your image. But if you’re going to go through all that trouble to make your iPhone like a DSLR, why not just use a DSLR? Yes, I know. Its the nagging question everyone asks inside their head when approaching the idea of shooting something on a phone.
One example from “Night Fishing” is that since everyone on set already had an iPhone, their dedicated 2 camera shoot at some points inadvertently became a multi-camera shoot. They were actually able to use some of the footage that the crew shot with their iPhones. Now that’s pretty cool. Good luck having a crew suddenly pull out their DSLR’s and shoot B-roll for your film. Also, I know it has the word “phone” in its name, but do you really think of your iPhone as a phone? Just because it has that capability doesn’t mean that is what defines it. Maybe I need to spend more time cultivating friendships, but I barely use this thing for the purpose that is encompassed in its name.
To me, its really more of an iNewspaper, iBook, iEmail-checker, iAssistant, iBest-Friend (I know I’m a sad human being), iFacebook-machine (ok, mostly an iFacebook-machine), and last but truly not least it is my iCamera. Whether still or video, I have shot more on this thing in my pocket than any other camera I’ve owned. It has forever changed how I think about documenting the world I’m passing through. Now that the 4S shoots in 1080p, why not think about taking the extra steps and making it really sing when it comes to shooting video? We are living in the future. You can make something great with your phone, and that is amazing.