Technophile: Shot between the thumbs

You no longer need to lug heavy equipment to shoot your docu. A filmmaker duo says your phone is capable of winning you an award

The last few years have seen a dramatic shift in the way we create and consume content. Smartphones are becoming more powerful with each new generation getting better processors, higher storage space and better cameras.

Microphone

So much so, that filmmakers have started opting for smartphones for some, if not all, shoots and videos. Pushing the envelope are Manil and Rohit Gupta, who have shot the next season of their Netflix show, Creative Indians, on the iPhone.

Audio recording system

The brothers, also artists who have experimented with a variety of media including painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and design, say that shooting on a phone offered them freedom they did not have with the previous seasons.

Battery pack

"Earlier, a couple of shoots got cancelled because the artiste said, 'I thought it was an interview. If you bring 15 to 20 people into my studio, I am not okay with it.' Now we are a six-member team," says Manil. Using a smartphone helped bring down a truck's worth of equipment down to a backpack.

Tripod

"The Nawazuddin Siddiqui shoot [Creative Indians discusses the journey of India's most creative minds] for example, got cancelled because the housing society where the set was put up, said, 'too much equipment'. So, we sent the equipment back and kept the bare minimum, which was essentially six phones," Rohit adds.

Phonesx2

With a majority of users in India now consuming content on OTT platforms and YouTube, inexperienced producers need not adhere to the strict standards of size and sound applicable to broadcast television. The size of the phones and the fact that the content is not heavily regulated also means that interviews can be more candid and intimate.

Portable lights

Goregaon-based film school Whistling Woods International has tied up with Apple to offer a module that uses iPhones and iPads, teaching students not just how to make, but also edit movies on the fly.

Gimbal

Chaitanya Chinchilikar, CTO and VP - Business Development at the school, says, "It was honestly just a matter of time before filmmaking, content creation and acquisition moved to the phone. We have been doing mobile film workshops and tests for the last year and a half." It also helps, he adds, that companies are making competent accessories for phones. "So, it is now easy to turn a phone into a structured mobile filmmaking course."

Filmmakers Backpack

Some of these accessories include phone cradles like Beastgrip that give the filmmaker a better grip with options to attach lenses, LED lights and external microphones to the phone. Other equipment includes gimbals, tripods, LED lights, audio recording gear along with a variety of microphones for better sound.

Filmmakers Manil and Rohit Gupta conducted a phone filming workshop at Whistling Woods International. Pic/Jaison Lewis/Illustration/Uday Mohite

While the course only uses iPhone and iPads to teach the basics, software for shooting and additional equipment work with an android smartphone setup as well.

The Guptas, who shared their experience with students at the institute, said you do have to watch out for sound, especially when you need clear audio since that remains difficult to achieve without better equipment. For their interviews along with the audio recorded on the phone (used purely for synchronising), they always record audio with professional equipment.

For most phone-based shoots, they used the software Filmic Pro which is also available on Android. Filmic Pro uses the phone camera directly, offering features that let you shoot professional videos. Additionally, the app synchronises with popular gimbals giving you full access to all video and gimbal features in a single app.

The two also stress the importance of light. The smartphone camera, being small, is limited in the amount of light it can capture. However, instead of fighting it, it works better to incorporate the graininess of a dark shot creatively into the scene," Manil says.

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FIFA 20

FIFA 20 has released its yearly installment of football goodness, but the main game feels a little light on enhancements, though the focus is still on fun rather than accuracy. However, all is not lost. The Volta mode, which is a street style football game that occurs in a confined closed space adds another dimension to the game. This mode alone, more than makes up for the lack of innovation in the main game. FIFA is still great for parties but if you have the previous version, you can still use that to extract as much entertainment. Unless you really need Volta or the latest version of the game regardless.

Rating: 3.5/5
Developer: EA
Publisher: EA Sports
Platform: PC, PS4, XBO
Price: Rs 3,999

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