Think you're the next Martin Scorsese, but don't have the Hollywood funds to get a hold of some heavy-duty camera equipment?
You're in luck. Pick up your smartphone and call... oh no, wait.
Just pick up your smartphone. And press record.
Anyone who owns a smartphone is basically carrying around a relatively inexpensive, light and easy-to-use film camera.
Don't believe it?
Award-winning feature film Tangerine, which appeared at Sundance Film Festival and was in competition at Sydney Film Festival this year, was shot almost entirely on an iPhone 5S. Not that you would ever know watching it.
The brash breakout hit about a transgender prostitute in Los Angeles searching for the pimp who broke her heart was directed by Sean Baker and shot on three iPhones - a fact he managed to keep secret until its world premiere.
Baker also used an app called FiLMiC Pro that costs just $9.99, a Steadicam Smoothee ($69.00) to get that fluid feel and make sure there was none of those shaky hand-held issues, and an anamorphic adaptor that enabled the film to be shot in widescreen.
But what he really splurged on - and his one piece of advice for budding filmmakers - was to get professional sound.
"It's what really separates the amateurs from the professionals," Baker told AAP.
"If you had seen us shooting in Santa Monica, the only real giveaway that we were a professional shoot was our boom pole and sound gear. We didn't scrimp on that at all."
Baker says it's all about exploring and experimenting with the various products and apps available.
"You could simply lift up an iPhone and use just the video function on the phone and get something that you could cut into a found footage film, something like a Blair Witch Project and you would be fine," he said.
"But if you want to emulate film or shoot in a more conventional manner, you have to employ different tools."
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