Olga Kononova - Mobile Filmmaking. 100 steps to making a movie with your smartphone

Illustrator Maria Kurtakova

Translator Ivan Sokolov

Editor Dosia Fire

© Maxim Mussel, 2019

© Olga Kononova, 2019

ISBN 978-5-4496-2702-5

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Technology will make it possible to concentrate in the hands of one person a quite inexpensive opportunity to capture image on film… In the end, everything will come down to the same thing that connects, say, the writer and his art: a pencil and a piece of paper. It should be the same in cinema, and it certainly will, sooner or later, but it will.

Holding workshops is a vital part of what I do to promote the idea of mobile filmmaking. I almost always begin with a story about my early days as an artist. Over 35 years ago, as a teenager, I was lucky enough to find myself in a unique place: an amateur film center for youth. We had everything that proper film students would have: scene studies, elocution classes, installing the lighting, writing scripts, screenings, and discussions. At the end of the program, we were to take exams and shoot a final project. My first film, as you may well guess, told the story of unrequited adolescent love.

Then I went to a tech school and spent a lot of years doing advertising and branding. A few years ago, I realised that I had hit the ceiling at my job and that I needed something greater. I again felt that I wanted to get absorbed in my art, to create art projects of my own. The creative drive I acquired as a young person was enough to get me back to making films. But the times were different now, and I went back to school and started reading smart books and taking classes from famous film directors. In the end, I managed to make a few documentary and feature films. And I felt an extremely deep disappointment in the production part of the process. I was only interested in making art and not in wasting a great deal of effort on negotiation, technological issues, getting other people to approve my actions, and simply periods of pointless waiting. I had very little time left for creating a work of art as such. I was losing heart, but I was not eager to give up on my dream. Luckily, a way out presented itself shortly as I once tried shooting a film with my smartphone, and then everything clicked into place!

Mobile filmmaking gave me a unique opportunity to be free and independent, to do everything by myself, from writing a script to promoting a complete work. Today I want to help you, my readers, to walk for the first time along an exciting and eventful path from a creative concept to its realisation in art.

As a screenwriter, I know only too well how difficult the path from script to film is. Too many people correct and approve the script, and often there’s nothing left of the author’s design, or, even more often, you write a script according to someone else’s idea or someone else’s rules. Stories that don’t get realised prompt a sense of disillusionment with the profession, with oneself, and with the world. Mobile film for me is what gives me support, what lets me feel free to try out some ideas of my own that do not fit an industrial format. It’s very interesting to put yourself into the shoes of a cameraman, director, and editor. It helps you get away from your routine and make something surprising, and it helps develop creativity and ingenuity.

We all barely ever let go of our mobile phones – we call, write texts and emails, use social networks, chat in messengers, take pictures on vacation, watch films, or read books on the subway. We use a smartphone for work, socialising, and entertainment. But that does not exhaust its potential or our needs. Every smartphone has a camera, and every person, a wish to create something beautiful, to capture their unique view of the world. Never thought of that? Only dreamt about it? Perhaps you’re waiting for a meteor to drop on your city, and then you’ll take out your smartphone. But you can use it for more than just to capture an incident. You can shoot a real film. You have everything you need for that in your hands, right now. Switch on the camera, and look for the first shot.

There are no authorities on mobile filmmaking yet; all you’re going to shoot will be fresh and unique. This kind of art was born not very long ago, around 2006. At least that was when specialized competitions appeared, and not much later mainstream film festivals started accepting films shot on mobile phones. There are no rules and standards here yet, only authors who are looking for a new visual language. And you can join them. You have a chance to find a new way shooting, a method of narrating, a unique story that can only be told with the help of a smartphone. But how does one invent something new?

All stories out there have already been told a few times in all formats – in film, literature, painting, and music. It’s difficult to find something absolutely new in today’s world apart from you, your own self. You’re a unique combination of experiences, passions, and memory. You can create something original, so your only task is to look into yourself and be honest. Tune into yourself more frequently and ask yourself, Is what I’m doing, what I’m choosing truly to my liking? Was I filming these shots deliberately, or was my mind asleep? Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. If you develop a true penchant for mobile filmmaking, if you’re not only happy with the result but also enjoy the process, then it’s your thing. So do what you need to do, and don’t pay attention to the words of those who are not as into mobile filmmaking as you are.

Take everything you do seriously because that’s what your life is made of. Spend your life only on things that make you happy, fill you with energy, and make you better. Try looking for a way to dedicate at least a part of your life to yourself. Then the necessity to earn money, create comfort, and maintain relationships with those around you will stop being so annoying. In mobile film, the sole distinction between professionals and amateurs lies in attitude. As long as there are no rules and standards, it’s up to you to establish them yourself.

Watch, watch, and watch the mobile films of others, and you’ll see for yourself that you can do the same. No, you can do better. Only then does it make sense to engage in mobile filmmaking. Study the works of others, try to get to the heart of the author’s message, to comprehend what they were trying to express and to what extent they were successful in conveying their message to the audience, what came out well and what you did not like or what remained obscure. Learn from the mistakes of others.