Someone once said that film could not truly be considered art until cameras were as common an pen and paper. If modern tech is a true indicator of this adage, then film is officially art. Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is a film called Tangerine, directed by Sean Baker. Tangerine is a comedy about two transgendered prostitutes in Los Angeles, and their merry misadventures therein. It was filmed using nothing bu the cemras attached to three Apple brand iPhone 5’s.
Indie films have been fighting an uphill battle in recent years, as big studios have been increasingly reluctant to distribute or co-finance smaller budgeted features. Tangerine was produced by Mark and Jay Duplass, the prolific indie producers/actors and masterminds behind the mumblecore movement.
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Notes for any aspiring indie filmmakers: Baker used an app called Filmic Pro to add a more sophisticated filter to his feature, and he attached an anamorphic lens to his phone to make it look more cinematic. The lead actresses were non-professionals at a local LGBTQ center. It appears that the ease of access to filmmaking technology has officially reached the people, and anyone can make a film that will premiere at Sundance.
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
