- [Narrator] It's 2022 and phone cameras
are better than ever.
So good, in fact, that most people can't even
tell the difference between a phone
and a professional video camera.
(people chattering)
So today, I'm giving you a complete breakdown
on how to shoot a movie on your phone.
So I was recently contacted by Disney
about their new movie for Disney+, "Hollywood Stargirl."
- [Man In film] First up, we've got Stargirl.
- [Other man] Stargirl. - [Other man] Stargirl.
- [Woman] Stargirl.
- [Narrator] A movie that takes place
right here in beautiful Southern California
and is all about getting out there
and making stuff.
You know, just doing the darn thing.
(laughing)
- [Woman] That was a keeper.
- [Narrator] In fact, a major part of the movie
is that Stargirl and her new friends,
Evan and Terrell,
make a movie right on their phones.
- [Man in film] Let's roll.
- [Narrator] So I thought, how cool would it be to show you
how to use your phone, to shoot a movie
just like they do.
- [Man in film] So if you want to be in our movie
- [Woman] (giggles) All right, let's do it!
- [Narrator] First, I recommend shooting
in a third party app.
You want to be able to control your exposure,
mainly your shutter speed.
24 frames per second, one over 48th shutter speed
ISO as low as you can go.
These are the settings used all across Hollywood.
You'll also need one of these, an ND filter.
It helps you control your shutter speed
by limiting the amount of light that can hit your camera.
Second, you need a gimbal.
A major advantage of phones is how light they are.
You can put them anywhere and fly them on a gimbal
just like they do in motion pictures.
Third, be conscious of what native lenses your phone has
And if you want, throw one of these over them.
It's an anamorphic lens.
The one that they actually use in Hollywood Stargirl
which replicates the look you see used all over Hollywood.
It gives you that wide screen look.
Fourth, sequences.
All films are made up of them.
We'll dive more into what these entail later,
but for now, just know we'll have three scenes
and from each scene, we will have three to five or more
shots to be used in our sequence, which
in turn makes up our entire film.
Lastly, big thank you to Disney.
Honestly thought the email was spam when I got it
but it's real.
So let's go.
- [Man In film] Welcome to Hollywood.
- [Narrator] Okay. So first things first.
Movies have three crucial aspects to them.
For character, you just need someone
or multiple people in your film.
In Hollywood Stargirl,
Stargirl is the main character.
Terrell, Evan, her mom, et cetera,
are supporting characters.
Environment basically comes down to where you are filming.
Inside, outside, in farmland.
In Hollywood Stargirl,
They center around the city of Los Angeles
and bounce between downtown LA
and the beautiful surrounding areas.
In terms of conflict & action,
it just comes down to what is actually happening
in your film.
What is at stake?
What is the problem or thing that your character
or storyline is trying to solve?
Again, in Hollywood Stargirl,
Stargirl is moving all the time.
So that's the first point of contention in conflict.
And then, the conflict becomes
if they can make their movie or not.
And ultimately, when her mom is laid off.
The additional thing here for conflict & action
is that you need a resolution.
You need the story to have an ending.
Now I'm not gonna give away any spoilers here
but in Hollywood Stargirl, there is a resolution
to those conflicts.
For the movie we're making,
we have Natalie, our character.
We are in Malibu. So location, check.
And the conflict in action is her adventuring around
looking for a place to picnic.
Simple. I know, but simple can be a great place to start.
And for the sake of demonstration,
it's helpful.
And go.
Shooting a movie.
Sheesh. Sounds overwhelming, right?
Well, yes, but it's a lot simpler and easier to break down
if you think of your movie in terms of scenes and sequences.
Movies are made up of dozens of them.
And that is how you move your story along.
Thus far, all of these tips and lessons can be applied
to any kind of film with any kind of camera.
But what specific strengths do phones have when shooting
and what are their weaknesses?
First, they have great dynamic range.
They are very mobile.
They are easy to use
in the speed at which you can set up a shoot
is very high.
In terms of what they struggle with,
the main thing is depth of field.
You'll notice in Hollywood Stargirl, there's a lot of Boca,
a lot of depth of field,
which is the blurry part in your image.
To solve for this issue,
I recommend just not shooting a ton of super tight shots.
But if your film calls for it,
and you do need that super tight shot,
then I recommend using a third party app.
So you can more fine tune your focus.
The phones also struggle with overexposing.
Your phone is naturally gonna wanna brighten up the image.
And I always find myself
whether I'm shooting in the native app
or a third party app underexposing.
Films are often dark.
So you wanna make sure
that you are replicating what you see in Hollywood
which is making sure that your shot is not overexposed.
It's just gonna look more cinematic.
So you've heard me mention sequences thus far
and what a sequence is, is three to eight shots
or even more
that make up your scene.
It is the entire coverage of the scene you are shooting.
Now, sequences need shot diversity
which typically means you are using different focal lengths
and different compositional techniques.
The first place to start
and easiest to comprehend
is your wide, medium, and tight.
Your wide is typically gonna have the whole person in frame.
The medium usually cuts them off at the waist
and the tight is usually just their face or head.
Another framing technique here that I love to use
is implementing foreground elements.
Just makes the bottom of your frame more interesting
and helps direct the viewer's eye
to what you want them to focus at.
When I'm shooting an individual walking
or some sort of follow cam.
I love doing a mid shot
where I'm either shooting waist up
to make the character feel powerful and important
or shooting eye level.
Those are my two favorite shots.
- [Man shooting film] So there's waist level.
And then here's waist level looking up.
Can I get you to walk?
- [Narrator] But a good composition can only get you so far
because the next important thing is what is actually
happening in your scene.
What action is occurring
because you need something to happen.
You need something to transpire.
Is your character walking, looking for something,
laughing, crying, unsure of what to do?
You get to decide.
The point here is they just aren't standing there.
You need to give your character some direction.
- [Man shooting film] Okay, cut.
Now let's move in for a tight
of her hand
in the basket with her blanket.
Okay. Ready?
And go.
- [Narrator] And just as the light
was starting to hit that golden hour period,
look what we have here.
A bunch of fog rolling in.
And yes, the fog is actually beautiful
but it's a completely different vibe
than we had set out to make.
The lesson here is that you can't change the weather
and you just got to roll with it.
But notice here how the mood has completely changed.
That sunny, beautiful light
in this beautiful field
now looks completely different
with a sun completely blocked out.
When you're going to make your film,
have a good idea of what mood you are going for.
The sun in bright warm colors often just represents joy
while moody overcast tones represent some sort
of melancholy feeling.
So the action thus far has been mainly
our main character Natalie,
walking around and looking for a place to picnic.
Now, my whole idea for the resolution
was that she finds this beautiful overlook
of the ocean as the sun sets.
And that's where she decides, yes, I'll picnic here.
Now the fog completely changed that.
Fortunately, we stumbled across this bench
which the bench, to me, signifies the resolution.
She finally has found a place to sit and be comfortable.
- [Man shooting Film] That's a wrap.
- [Narrator] Now I know this was a lot of information
But go out, apply it in practice.
The best advice I can give to aspiring filmmakers
is that, find people who are close to you,
your friends, your family,
who are willing to go on these types of adventures
and make stuff.
It really takes a crew of people
who are just willing to be a little bit adventurous.
The whole mantra of Hollywood Stargirl
has just been to put yourself out there
and a big part of filmmaking is doing just that.
(dancing music)