Whenever someone mentions a smartphone and filmmaking in the same sentence, they usually say.‘You can film with your smartphone now! Practically anyone can make their own film!’ and whilst many of us can indeed achieve first-time director status with a phone now. That doesn’t make it easier to create angles and shots like a dolly zoom or a bird’s eye view.
Today I’m providing you with tips and tricks to make filming with your smartphone more straightforward and enjoyable.
1. Rule of thirds and framing
If you’ve read my photography tips blog, then you’re already aware of what those gridlines on your smartphone are. If not, here’s the basic rundown: The photo area is split into nine panels by gridlines. Those are there to help you with the composition and framing. In photography, it is usually best to keep the subject of the photo where the gridlines intersect.
You can do the same for filming. You can use the ‘Rule of thirds’ on your phone to frame the cinematography no matter the shot. It will give your cinematography a professional layout and enable the best quality film.
2. Lighting
Lighting is an essential part of mise-en-scene in filming. Mise-En-Scene is french for what’s in a frame. Lighting is critical as you can use it to highlight crucial things in the shot and put less important stuff of shadow. Lighting sets the atmosphere and can be different colours to symbolise other things on our screens.
For lighting, try to use as much natural light as possible as it’s the type of light a smartphone character can pick up the best. Depending on the atmosphere, also try to shoot with as much light as possible.
If you want a colourful lighting style, then another trick you can do is download your favourite colour from google images, put it on full brightness and then film with the coloured light. This is great for split lighting. You can also get a ring light that changes colour if you are willing to buy extra equipment.
3. Zooming in
Zooming in is another tip that got a mention in my photography tips blog. However, it applies to filmmaking on the phone, so it goes on the list.
When you zoom in with a phone, the image becomes more pixelated and blurry; the resolution is ruined. Unless you intentionally want close-up shots to be a lower resolution. It is better not to zoom in digitally with your smartphone and to physically move closer to whatever you want to be in the shot.
4. Fully charged battery
Whenever you go to film with your smartphone, always make sure it is on full charge because filming takes a lot of power and will take up a lot of battery.
And you don’t need to be in the middle of a shoot, and the phone goes down. I also recommend taking extra battery packs so that you can keep it charging whilst filming. So the phone doesn’t die, and you don’t lose any precious footage or shooting hours!
5. Storage
Like filming will take a load of battery, it will also take up a lot of storage. Make sure your smartphone’s storage and memory are as low as possible so you can make the most out of your video. Otherwise, you can lose footage, and it’ll be longer till filming is completed. If needed, delete old photos and apps you don’t use.
6. Storyboarding is still essential!
Just because your using your phone doesn’t mean you can grab your friends, turn up at a location and film! This will make shooting days longer because you’ll be trying to figure out the lighting and composition (among other things), which can be tricky.
Whereas if you storyboard the scenes beforehand, you can already have all that prep work sorted. You only have to worry about getting the physical action in reality. It saves time, helps you problem solve and issues with ease and gets you more organised.
How to layout a storyboard
If you have no idea what a storyboard is: Draw a square (which will represent the camera) and draw the scene in your head. At the bottom of the image, number the shot, what type of shot it is and what’s happening in the camera.
Storyboarding will help you set out the scene and make any changes before shooting day! Saving you from a bunch of hassle!
8. Get written permission!
Whenever you film out in a location that isn’t public property and privately owned, Always email or write to a manager, a person in HR or the CEO to get permission to film in their property or location beforehand. This will stop you from turning up somewhere and then getting chucked out or fined! Plus, it is polite and will give you a good reputation.
Those were my top tips and tricks for filming with your phone. I hope they help and that one day your documentary, mini-series or whatever it is you’ve filmed ends at Cannes or in a massive cinema somewhere!
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