On Friday 13 November we welcomed Rife alumni, Director of Photography and camera expert Jack Edwards to the Studio talk to us about making movies with your mobile. Here are five things I learned:

1. Most people have the tools necessary for making a great film in their pocket. There’s no cheat sheet for making films with your mobile, but learning how to use it to its full cinematic potential can open up filmmaking to a much wider community. 

2. Mobiles are great at capturing visuals but not so good at audio. It’s worth looking into alternative microphones depending on the content of your film. For example, interview audio can be easily captured by affordable lapel mics.

3. There is a suite of apps available to make the editing process easier. Jack suggested trying out Filmic Pro, Cinema FV-5 or iMovie. Another practical tip Jack shared was how to lock the exposure on an iPhone to stop it auto-adjusting for light levels. Press and hold on the screen when it has focused to turn on “AE/AF Lock”.

4. Unlike professional grade film cameras, smartphones allow us to capture immediate footage and to be responsive to our environment and film unexpected moments.

5. Here’s Jack explaining why smartphone cinematography is important, and Studio Producer Verity making a movie on her mobile: