Two years ago a group of friends asked me to direct an indie feature they had written called And Uneasy Lies the Mind. Their David Lynch-inspired script called for a very unconventional aesthetic. After research and testing, I fell in love with the look and feel of the iPhone 5 images when attached to a 35mm lens adapter, shooting through 35mm lenses. It was grainy, textured, heavily vignetted and saturated, with high contrast.
An iPhone’s unique characteristics are its size, ease of use, high-contrast image, and adaptability to all sorts of aftermarket lenses. Sure, you’re not going to shoot Lawrence of Arabia with your smartphone, but in the right context, it can make for powerful, cutting-edge cinema. And the recently released iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, with their 240-fps-capable cameras, have just opened up a wealth of new possibilities. Make the most of your phone’s versatility with the following tools, many of which I used on my own set. MORE...
