In the previous article we looked at why we chose to shoot our debut feature film on an iPhone over all the better smartphones out there. Few people asked us about the exact details of the mobile filmmaking gear we used. So here it is.

Mobile Filmmaking Gear We Used in Munnariv

Shooting Handheld With The Mobile Filmmaking Gear
Shooting Handheld With The Mobile Filmmaking Gear

The mobile filmmaking gear we used in detail are as follows:

  1. Two iPhone SE
  2. Moondog Labs 1.33X Anamorphic Lens – for iPhone 5/5S and iPhone SE
  3. Moondog Labs 52mm Filter Mount – for Clamp-on Anamorphic Lenses
  4. Hoya 52 mm Polariser Filter
  5. Tiffen 52 mm to 58 mm Step-Up Adapter
  6. Tiffen Black Pro Mist Filter
  7. Solar power bank by Poweradd
  8. Cheap phone holder for the tripod
  9. Sonia Pro 777 Tripod (that is designed to carry upto 10 kg; the irony!)

Diffusion Filters on an iPhone

We needed a particular quality of visuals for Munnariv. As the story progressed we wanted the visuals too to convey a sense of the protagonist’s increasing confusion and unclarity. One way of achieving this in-camera was to use diffusion filters like Black Pro Mist Filter and so on.

Diffusion filters are a secret tool of the olden day cinematographers. These were used to add softness to the visuals. They were regularly used in film photography as well as in early digital cinematography, but lost somewhere in the DSLR revolution.

Though we extensively searched for people who might have previously used diffusion filters on an iPhone, we couldn’t find anything anywhere online. Hence we had to take the risk on ourselves. We bought the Tiffen 58DVFMK3 58 mm DV Film Look Filter Kit 3 from Amazon.

Testing the Mobile Filmmaking Gear

There weren’t many experienced people around to whom we could discuss mobile filmmaking. Hence we had to become the experts ourselves.

Following the principles of Indian Indie Filmmaking, once we had all the gear we needed, we made two test short films. Yes, two! Such intensive testing of all the mobile filmmaking gear ahead of jumping into the feature film helped us identify some of the advantages and disadvantages early on. These we will look into in the following article.

Hey Aspiring Filmmaker,

I debuted my film career making a feature film for ₹5 lakhs ($7,000) on an iPhone. I’d like to help you do the same. So I wrote everything I learned into a book. It is now available on Amazon, called The Indian Indie Film (or Make Your Film for rest of the world). Enjoy!