I just got back from Sydney, Australia attending the SF3 SmartFone Film Fest Gala where one of my mobile-shot short films was screened!
This isn’t my first rodeo for these kind of things but I’m always grateful whenever a film of mine is selected and shown on a big screen, especially to an audience that actually appreciate films like these.
What’s great is that with this mobile filmmaking revolution we’re in now, which democratizes the filmmaking process, potentially anyone can make a film and share a story that can be recognized by any of the countless film festivals all over the world.
That’s why I want to share with you now my 5 tips on how to make an award-winning short film with just using your smartphone!
#1 Choose a Film Festival
Choosing a film festival first before making a film may seem counterintuitive but its that whole adage of “keeping the end in mind.” When you have a concrete and specific target, then you can plan the necessary steps to reach that goal.
Deadlines, for example, can really motivate you to finish a film because I know for myself that if I were to do a passion project on my own terms I would most likely never finish it. But if there was a hard deadline, then that time pressure and sense of urgency would really push me to get a film done, even if I have to edit it right up to the last minute before submission.
Apart from time restrictions, other limitations or requirements imposed by film festivals can also help your creative and production process. This includes the maximum length of a film, a particular theme or genre, or maybe certain cameras or devices to use. It may seem to go against your creative instincts but setting such parameters allows us to hone in on our creativity and shape our ideas to something more concrete and immediate.
For example, the SF3 is a smartphone film festival that already limits submissions to films shot on a smartphone. Furthermore, there’s an award category for films that were not only shot but also edited completely on mobile. So that’s what I aimed for and essentially increased my chances of winning in a more narrow category.
Lastly, when I say target one festival, it doesn’t mean that’s the only festival you’re entering. Rather you’re using that one festival or deadline as a catalyst or excuse to get you to finish a film and from there go bananas and submit to everything else as well! If you browse the Film Freeway website, you can easily find relevant film festivals all year round.
#2 Have a Captivating Concept/Story
If you’re making a short narrative film then you have to have a pretty catchy or captivating idea or story to embody that short running time. Generally, you won’t have time for deep character development or a full-on traditional 3-act structure so its the idea or concept that will really sell your film, or a unique and interesting way of telling it.
Now, inspiration is literally everywhere. What have you watched or read recently that really tickles your imagination? What interesting or curious thing have you seen or observed while you were on your way to work or school? What do you dream about or wonder in your spare moments while alone or in bed?
“Write what you know” is an age-old advice in screenwriting, and it makes your story genuine. For example, for my recent film The Art of Living I was inspired by a new hobby and community I had just got into and decided to make a simple narrative of someone finding passion in the mundane through this hobby of building mechanical keyboards.
My idea was short and simple enough, relatable since I know many people struggle with trying to live a meaningful and passionate life, and hopefully interesting, introducing the audience to a new and colorful world of switches, keycaps and keyboard layouts.
Write what you know, believe in your story and be passionate about it. If you’re only halfhearted about doing something then it’s probably not worth doing.
#3 Embrace Smartphone Limitations
Smartphone cameras these days are so advanced and have so many advantages but at the same time they have their own limitations and quirks. Because of their tiny camera sensors, video usually suffers in low-lighting. Phone devices are also incredibly light making it prone to shakes and micro jitters. And there’s still that “smartphone look” with your footage, whether its because of the post-processed oversharpening or lack of dynamic range.
Some filmmakers compensate the smartphone’s shortcomings with additional gear and accessories like chunky rigs and DOF adaptors but it can easily get overboard and defeat the purpose that this is a mobile device. It’s very advantage is that its mobile, meaning its easy to carry around and set up and can fit in small production spaces.
Hollywood director Steven Soderbergh described this agile mode of storytelling as something like creating at the speed of thought, because once inspiration strikes you can literally pull out your phone out of your pocket and shoot. Soderbergh knows a thing or two about mobile filmmaking having directed two feature-length smartphone-shot films (Unsane and High Flying Bird) and of course his long Hollywood filmography including the ridiculously successful Ocean’s Eleven trilogy.
Like Soderbergh, instead of lamenting over your smartphone’s limitations, you can get creative and play to the strengths of the smartphone, for example, shooting in tight almost impossible spaces, or getting close to your subject without being imposing. You can take advantage of the inconspicuousness of the phone when shooting in public places for true guerilla-style filmmaking. A lot of the shots from my recent short film were just captured casually on my commute to work everyday.
#4 Elevate your Smartphone Footage
Almost contrary to my last tip of embracing the limitations of a smartphone, my next tip is to elevate what a smartphone can capture. “Shot on iPhone” doesn’t mean you just pull out your phone and have zero production value or effort. Take the recent Apple keynote event, which was shot entirely with iPhone 15 Pros. When the behind-the-scenes video was released, many complained online that “of course it looks professional because they have all this big budget lights and equipment that ordinary people can’t afford.” These naysayers kind of miss the point that, whether you’re shooting with an IMAX-format cinema camera or an iPhone 8, good cinematography and productions techniques still applies. Owning the latest iPhone doesn’t just magically make you an instant Christopher Nolan or Steven Spielberg.
You know what makes smartphone footage look good? Good cinematography. What else? Good lighting. What else? Good locations. What else? Good performances. If you notice, there’s a pattern here. It’s not the camera or smartphone itself that makes beautiful cinematic footage, it’s what’s in front of the camera.
For inspiration, I love watching Zack Snyder’s short film Snow Steam Iron which was shot with an iPhone 7, I believe, but has incredible costumes, choreography, and cinematography. Thoughtful shot composition, moody lighting, stunning scenery, and good acting are the kind of stuff that will increase your production value and make your smartphone footage look like a true piece of cinema.
In short, elevate your smartphone footage by increasing your production value. My first smartphone-shot film I made back in 2017 with a Samsung S7 I really went all out with the production, spending nearly a $1000 just on make-up, prosthetics, and surprisingly, food catering, because I had a small army of zombie extras to feed. Just because your camera may be limited, doesn’t mean your imagination can’t be unlimited.
#5 Learn Efficient & Effective Editing
My last tip on how to make an award-winning smartphone-shot short film is learn effective and efficient editing. Even if you’ve captured the most beautiful footage with the latest iPhone, in this medium these visuals are powerless without the totality of the story or sequence. Therefore, it’s important to know good editing principles such as pacing, structure and coherence.
You can take online courses on this or watch YouTube tutorials but the best way in my opinion to learn good editing is simply to watch good films and be mindful of their editing, particularly, how the editing serves the story. Great examples include Aranofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash or Everything Everywhere All at Once for some realy hard-hitting hyper editing but also check out more meditative and sombre films like Terrance Mallick’s Tree of Life or Celine Song’s Past Lives to see that good editing is not always about when to cut a shot but also when to extend a shot.
What’s great now about editing is you don’t need a computer or expensive software to edit a film. Just on your phone or tablet there are free and inexpensive apps that have more than enough features to put together a short film. Apps like CapCut and VN Editor have a really easy learning curve which is why they’re popularly used by tiktokers and vloggers. If you really want complete control over crafting your shots into a film then I suggest a more advanced app like Luma Fusion available now both on Android and Apple devices. If you have an iPad Pro with the more recent M-chips, Final Cut Pro and Davinci Resolve have also released powerful tablet-versions of their desktop editing software.
My award-winning film The Art of Living was edited entirely with Luma Fusion on my old Samsung S10. This is truly mobile filmmaking as I was able to edit my film while on my commute to work, while waiting for my daughter’s swim lessons, or even in the comfort of my own bed when everyone’s fast asleep.
My last piece of advice when it comes to editing is to feel your story. A lot of times it won’t be up to technical competency but rather intuition. Walter Murch, probably the greatest living film editor, went by the Rule of Six, a list of priorities when considering a good edit. Above all technical considerations and even story considerations, emotion is the number 1 priority when deciding a cut. Does your edit make an impact? Does it move the audience? If not, how can you edit it in a way that it will engage the senses, captivate the audience and even strike a chord in their heart?
Attending the SF3 Film Festival and meeting all the wonderful filmmakers there convinced me even more that just about anyone can be a filmmaker and visual storyteller, whether you’re a kid or a senior, an amateur or a professional, if you’re from LA or from Ghana, everyone has a story to tell and with the help of these pocket devices, your films can be seen on the big screen too and shared to the world!
