A Millennial’s Guide to Smartphone Filmmaking

Written by Liz Pekler 

Millennials are typically practical and results-oriented. They are interested in engaging themselves in an activity they see worth working hard for and with progression. The professional film industry we know is now taken over by aspiring and optimistic millennials with only their smartphones as a gear since the boomerang generation opts for a handy yet powerful device that can fulfill their demanding filmmaking needs.

They cannot do this though with smartphones alone. Some practical hacks, equipments and applications can aid them in matching professional film quality with their smartphone-born films. Here are some useful hacks and recommendations to master the booming industry of smartphone filmmaking.

Smartphone Filmmaking Hacks

Drive to Pan and Track Shoots

Is keeping your smartphone steady been a problem in your shoots? If you have the best smartphone in the market but you can’t keep your hands steady when needed, shooting will be a waste of time. Purchasing mounts and tripod aren’t an option since you’re operating on a low-budget. Why not use your car? Ask a friend to drive. You can either shoot from the window or if you’re willing enough, shoot from the trunk. This hack will not only enable a steady video footage but also smooth transitions.

Call your Smartphone Friends when in need of “Studio Light”

When in an indoor shoot and you need to utilize studio lighting effect, you can ask for help from other smartphone user friends. The built in flashlight feature can be an alternative for external lighting device. With your friends holding another light source, you can direct and control how much lighting your subject will receive. Looks like a win-win situation!

Tapes are key for Time-Lapse Shooting Technique

Keeping your smartphone resting against a wall for time-lapse  may work fine but tapes can work magic. It rules out the chance of your smartphone to fall and ruin the shoot. Masking tape can work well for this hack since it does not leave marks on your phone.

Alter Camera Default Settings

Your smartphone is capable of more so long as you learn how to utilize its features by adjusting its default settings. Take high-quality and professional films by rendering them at the highest viewing display possible. Also look out for that High Dynamic Range (HDR) setting to capture greater detail in your films.

Smartphone Filmmaking Equipment and Apps

Lens Attachment

A smartphone is integrated with a lens with a fixed focal length limiting users’ zooming capacity. If you zoom your smartphone camera, it will create unwanted noise and deteriorate quality imaging. Smartphone lens attachment widens your filmmaking capability not only in zooming but also in creating new perspectives with fisheye, telephoto and macro lenses.

Pocket Spotlight

A pocket spotlight is suited for a smartphone’s earphone jack. It can amplify details in your film composition by giving off even and soft studio-like lights. It offers continuous and convenient lighting that can smoothly pivot into several directions.

Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer

A film composed of unwanted vibration will most probably bore and irritate the viewers. Before, filmmakers only have to trust their steady hands to capture that perfect video angle while panning. Today, panning and tracking shoots need not to be a hassle because of the new camera stabilizing technology. Gimbal stabilizers revolutionizes smartphone filmmaking by producing shake-free and vibration-less quality videos.

Attachable Microphone

Quality audio is not that easy to achieve even if you have the latest smartphone model. Usually, background noise is incorporated with the footage. This noise is considered as audio distortion and distraction in videography.This recording issue can be resolved by using external smartphone microphones.

Camera Zoom FX

Camera Zoom FX is a third party camera application for both iOS and Android platform. It has full manual DSLR controls and supports raw capture. Users can combine several shooting modes such as timer, HDR and time-lapse.

Adobe Premiere Clip

This flexible post-production tool is devised to be simpler than the Premiere Pro CC for desktop. It has the basics of a video editing tool where you can easily drag and drop your footages in a timeline display and add transitions and music. You can import special effects from alternative Adobe CC tools. Your film after editing will be available in a Creative Cloud for safekeeping.