Self Filming w/ iPhone

[AvgOtdrsmnLf]

I have been wanting to start self filming and the advice everywhere is to just start with my phone so that is what I am going to do (I have filmed others with lower quality handy cams in the past). However there is a few things that are hanging me up on jumping in that I am hoping somebody with more experience/knowledge self filming with a phone will help me with.

1. LANC Remote for a iPhone? The thought of trying to get decent footage having to use my fingers to zoom in and out sounds miserable. I have tried to find a LANC remote type plug in controller for a phone and have not had any luck. How are other self filming phone users managing this? I have considered a small bluetooth remote off amazon and attaching it to my fluid head handle somehow but am concerned that it would be delayed control and the lack of ability to control the focus would be frustrating. Any solutions?

2. What is your favorite phone attachment device for on your fluid head? The idea of using a painted arrow mag head seems nice because of the simplicity of magnetism. Or is it better to go with a more formal attachment so that I am not dropping my phone 20 feet?

3. Any highly recommended simple cages that would allow the attachment of a wireless mic system and yet maintain magnetic ability for utilizing a painted arrow mag?

Thanks for the help!

 

[aks]

I do a bit of filming. Use what you have. My first investment for filming was a gopro.

 

[thunderchicken21]

We will be playing around with the Tilta Khronos setup this year with our iPhones. It will allow you to zoom and focus using a wheel in a compact setup.

https://tilta.com

If you need it fast, you can order them from amazon as well https://amzn.to/4jZFqxu

 

[Phatfisher]

Not really any answers to your questions, but some additional considerations when shooting on an iPhone.

The easiest way is using the default iPhone photo app and just record and live with whatever footage you get. Only considerations you would have to decide upon, is to determine HDR vs SDR (I believe HDR is the default with iPhones). If you plan on mixing iPhone footage with any other camera footage, I recommend recording in SDR otherwise you end up with really over exposed footage with your HDR clips when mixing with SDR / rec709 content.

Any basic video editing software will likely make do if you want it to be simple. Capcut, iMovie, Final CutPro, Davinci Resolve, ... etc.


However if you want to be more involved (color grading / creative looks),
If you have an iPhone pro model (pro or pro max) that's newer than the iPhone 14, you have Apple Log. Apple Log gives you the ability to color grade your own clips / extend the footage to be more creative with the look of your clips. This a great way to get introduced into the whole videography genre, as you'll be doing the shooting, color grading, and editing. I believe you can shoot Apple Log in the default iPhone camera app, but I don't recommend shooting it in the native iPhone camera app. As Log footage is "greyed" out and hard to see and know what you're looking at for the final product.

For recording in Apple Log, I recommend using the BlackMagic app. The BlackMagic app gives you a few more settings to manipulate compared to the native iPhone camera app ( WB, ISO, .. etc), but is still very limited. The biggest benefit in using the BlackMagic app, is being able to load LUTs. LUTs in layman's terms, transform your "greyed" out Apple Log into "colors" (which you'll be able to view real time). With the LUT applied, you'll see what the footage will actually look like when you put it into an editing program. Typically what you see, is what you get when using LUTs and you expose / set the settings of the BM app to what you want your product to look like (There's leeway in changing how the product will look like in post).

LUTs -
Tons of LUTs out there, but I'm a big fan of Phantom LUTs and use it on my Sony FX30.

Editing Programs -
I like Davinci Resolve (which is free) for editing and color grading (It'll likely be overwhelming initially, but you'll grow with it over time). I don't have any experience with Final Cut Pro, but imagine it's likely very similar.


iPhones are pretty powerful now days and are really a great way to get into videography without spending thousands on camera gear to figure out it's not for you. I think what I've written out are two ways to get started out (second is for intermediate level / wants a distinct look / someone who's interested in the whole process from start to end).