How the Filmmakers Behind Sundance Hit 'Tangerine' Shot on an iPhone & Got Cinematic Results

Directed by Sean Baker, the much-buzzed-about Sundance film Tangerine is now in select theaters, and No Film School spoke with co-Director of Photography Radium Cheung, HKSC about how the film was shot only with the iPhone 5s, and why that worked for this film:

If you haven't seen it, here's the Red band trailer:

Shooting on the iPhone

By utilizing the iPhone 5s and anamorphic adapters, the Director/co-DP Sean Baker and co-DP Radium Cheung (who was shooting FX's The Americans when he got the call to shoot this film) were able to capture the film in a way that gave them maximum mobility, a unique look, and quite a bit more stealth than if they were using larger cameras. The anamorphic adapter is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle here, and it certainly helps take the footage to another place compared to regular old mobile video (especially with the lens flares).

By using the FiLMiC Pro app, they were also able to avoid the constantly changing exposure that normally comes with shooting on a phone (though there were times in the film that focus was not locked). If you can see the film on the big screen, it's absolutely worth it not only because it's both funny and heartbreaking (and just a good film), but because it shows just how far these tools have come. The footage reminded me of digital films from the early and mid-200s, but it completely worked for the subject matter. Due to the small physical size of the iPhone, they were able to do some camera movements that were amazingly electric and would have been much harder to do with larger cameras — and it gave their characters even more energy at times.

Here are the tools they utilized to capture the images:

  • Moondog Labs 1.33x Anamorphic Adapter for iPhone 5s (this gave them around a 2.40:1 aspect ratio from the original 16:9)
  • FiLMiC Pro App (this helped lock exposure, focus, white balance, but also gave them better compression)
  • Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 5/5s

Sean Baker Tangerine with Steadicam Smoothee iPhone 5s

The anamorphic footage had to be de-squeezed in post (though newer versions of the app can show you de-squeezed footage in-camera). Needing to look at the squeezed 16:9 footage proved a bit difficult for them at first, but they eventually got used to shooting with an incorrect image, and framing their actors in a way that made sense once the image was corrected in post. 

Lighting

From ASC magazine, here is a little bit more about the lighting used on the film, which was almost non-existent:

For the 22-day shoot, Cheung brought only three battery-operated Rosco LitePads — 1’x1’, 6”x12” and 3”x12” — “just to be able to fill in and add some eyelight every now and then,” he says. Bounce material picked up at a 99-Cents Only Store was used occasionally. “We had no C-stands, no conventional movie lights,” says Cheung. “We staged our actors with existing light on locations, to some degree, and I turned those existing lights on and off selectively.”

By being smart about the places they shot, they were able to avoid using traditional lighting for the most part, and not only did this help them shoot faster, but it also made sure that less attention was brought to them when they were shooting on busy public sidewalks that they didn't have the budget to close down. The only time a scene was traditionally lit was in the bar, but Cheung simply used the Par Cans that were already hanging overheard, focused them, and gelled them to his liking. 

The Look

Here's more from that same ASC article about how they decided on the look for the film, which pops with energy the way its colorful characters do:

It was during prep that Baker discovered another key component of the movie's look: its amped-up color. Again, this was a 180-degree turn. “The sort of films I make have this urban social-realist thing,” Baker says. “What I normally do is drain the color because for some reason, that adds to the reality.” But after trying that with test footage in Final Cut Pro, he pondered other options. “Because these women are so colorful, I decided to try going the other way, and I tried pumping up the saturation instead. Almost immediately, I was sold. One movie critic called it ‘pop vérité,’ and that was exactly the combination I was looking for.”

Here are a few more clips to get a better sense of this look:

It's also mentioned in that same post that they added grain throughout the whole film, to try to get this camera and the footage looking as cinematic as possible. 

The Sound

While they utilized relatively inexpensive gear to shoot the film, they did not skimp on the sound gear. Veteran sound mixer Irin Strauss used the Sound Devices 664 mixer/recorder along with some other high-end stuff to capture the best audio possible. Here's a taste of what he used thanks to ProSound Web:

In addition to his 664, Strauss used a Lectrosonics SMV wireless system for his transmitters, along with Sanken COS-11D lavaliers. He employed a Schoeps CMIT5U shotgun microphone and, occasionally, a T-powered Schoeps CMC 4U for locations with low ceilings and little head room. 

As has been said a million times, audiences are more willing to forgive image than they are sound, so if you're deciding to go with a lower-end camera, if you skip good sound the whole thing is going to suffer.

Interviews with Sean Baker

Sean recently spoke with the terrific Film Courage, and here are the first two videos in that series that go a little deeper into the conversation about shooting the film and what advantages the filmmakers had choosing the iPhone format:

If you're wondering, no, this was not a marketing ploy on the part of the filmmakers, especially since they kept it secret until after the film premiered:

This featurette also goes into some more detail:

Should You Shoot Your Next Film on the iPhone?

This film, like most movies, could have been shot on any number of cameras that could have fulfilled a similar purpose, but the filmmakers chose a format that allowed them to not only put the cameras anywhere they wanted, but also let them blend into busy city sidewalks and easily shoot inside vehicles. There are a number of cameras that can accomplish this task now, but plenty of you out there probably already have an iPhone or similar camera in your pocket. That's the biggest advantage in my opinion to what they did, is that not only could their camera actually fit into a pocket, but this also let them use super small support gear.

If you're thinking of shooting on a small camera to avoid permits, that's one strategy, but the filmmakers had the correct permits, and were allowed to shoot on these locations (though if you're trying not to draw attention to yourself, a small camera like a smartphone is a great way to do that). There are definitely more forgiving cities than Los Angeles to try to shoot a movie guerilla-style, so that's something else to keep in mind. 

As Baker has said, the idea for this film came a long time before they decided to shoot on the iPhone. If you're choosing a smartphone as your main camera, you should be doing it because you actually want that look for your film and for your story. It will become less novel as we see more films shot on smartphones, so it not only has to fit the specific aesthetic quality that you're going for, but it also has to be a better choice than some of the small and cheap cameras out there — both in terms of controlling the image on set, but also making it easier on yourself in post. As Baker says in the interview above, he likely wouldn't shoot on a phone again. It seems like shooting on a phone would make your life easier, but there are plenty of complications that come from choosing this format, especially not being able to change focus during the shot (and if you don't lock focus, you're bound to get the camera hunting for focus in the middle of the shot).

How many of you have shot narrative films on a phone? What was your experience like?     

Your Comment

106 Comments

Keen to hear a bit more from that interview. Seems like a shame to get all those people in the room for just 2min on some iphone lens attachment. Enough on the gear...

July 23, 2015 at 2:29PM

10
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matt
843

More is coming from that discussion, much more than gear.

July 23, 2015 at 9:11PM

0
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Joe Marine
Camera Department
7291

Looking forward to it Joe

July 24, 2015 at 3:44PM

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July 15, 2018 at 1:11AM, Edited July 15, 1:11AM

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celebs
photographer
78

LOVE that this film is getting the exposure it deserves and that it is pushing the boundaries of what we can shoot with. This article makes an excellent point, however, that just because you CAN shoot on an iPhone, doesn't mean you should. I feel that with the advent of the new Black Magic Micro Cinema cameras and the Alexa mini, you will be able to keep your footprint very small and get away with some similar scenarios as the filmmakers of Tangerine did. I'm excited to see how this film will open up and inspire a new world of filmmaking apps and accessories to better shoot with your smartphone.

July 23, 2015 at 2:45PM, Edited July 23, 2:44PM

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Bryan Tosh
Director of Photography
647

Hows the story?

July 23, 2015 at 2:49PM, Edited July 23, 2:49PM

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Joe Gonzalez
Filmmaker/Editor/Photographer
140

I actually want to watch this movie now, just from the trailer. Shooting on a phone might be a gimmick but everything else seems good.

July 23, 2015 at 4:22PM

21
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The story is great. Obviously this post isn't a review of the film, but the film should be getting attention not just for the iPhone stuff, but because it's a real film about real people, but doesn't ever look down upon or judge its subjects. It's not taking advantage of the subject matter — just showing a situation how it is and you root for the characters based on their actions, not because of what they look like or sound like.

July 23, 2015 at 7:59PM

0
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Joe Marine
Camera Department
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February 5, 2018 at 12:46AM

0
Reply

Gear doesn't make movies. People make movies!

July 23, 2015 at 3:18PM

0
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The image looks great , good job and congrats to the DP.

July 23, 2015 at 5:36PM, Edited July 23, 5:36PM

0
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Director of Photography / Filmmaker
72

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January 31, 2018 at 9:21AM

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GutenMorgen Sprüche
director
74

This is short film shot on an iphone 6 where i was the DP:

https://vimeo.com/132223674

constructive criticism is welcome

cheers.

July 23, 2015 at 10:20PM

0
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Arturo Chu
DP
152

Nice Film.

July 24, 2015 at 9:35PM, Edited July 24, 9:35PM

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Zachary Will
Cinematographer
1014

Well done

February 28, 2016 at 4:36AM

0
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Lena Nozizwe
Producer | Director | DP | Editor | Multimedia Journalist
81

What this film has is a story and cinematography. But that said it does look like it was shot on a smartphone with a moondog anamorphic adapter. Doesn't feel particularly cinematic to me. All this film shows is that story, actors, cinematography are important. But I think we already knew that.

July 24, 2015 at 1:47AM, Edited July 24, 1:47AM

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Completely agree, Cinematically, I don't think it looks very expressive at all based on the trailer.

July 24, 2015 at 6:13AM, Edited July 24, 6:13AM

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January 31, 2018 at 10:36PM, Edited January 31, 10:36PM

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Wouldn't the conclusion be that you can make a good film with a number of different cameras; since the film wasn't ruined?

July 24, 2015 at 10:05AM, Edited July 24, 10:05AM

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Maybe it wasn't ruined, but it just looks like it was shot on a phone. Which it was...

July 30, 2015 at 3:51PM, Edited July 30, 3:51PM

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I'll surely catch hell for saying this but, I think the iPhone hurts the movie. It doesn't really look cinematic. An anamorphic adapter and some lens flares/streaks don't equal cinematic.

I don't mean this as a slam but it looks cheap. The movie is probably really good but, the way it looks doesn't help make me want to see it. But, I tend to gravitate to movies that have a certain aesthetic.

I just watched Two Men In Town. OK movie but, beautifully shot by Yves Cape.

July 24, 2015 at 11:02AM, Edited July 24, 11:02AM

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Richard Krall
richardkrall.com
2087

The problem I have with the looks of this movie is that it's all shot with the same wide-angle (well obviously), and you can clearly see the high shutter speeds in all daytime shots.
These problems could have been easily avoided it they had used any kind of "real" camera with interchangeable lenses. There are a lot of very affordable and very small cameras available these days (Sony NEX, Blackmagic Mini, whatever)
Shooting the whole thing on an iphone sounds to me like it is either a commercial for Apple, or somebody wanted to proof that "it could be done"

It can be done, yes. The movie seems to be really good, yes. But it still looks like it was shot on a phone. If that was the purpose, okay (I don't get it, but okay).
But don't tell me they did it because the iphone was so small.

July 30, 2015 at 3:47PM, Edited July 30, 3:47PM

4
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Image quality is crap.
The iphone thing is obviously a publicity stunt... "Maximum mobility" my ass. Could have had both mobility and decent image quality with any mirrorless. dslr, pocket cam, whatever.

July 24, 2015 at 3:50PM

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Ezi Seel
577

The audio from the two different mics on the first video is out of sync.

July 28, 2015 at 8:04AM, Edited July 28, 8:04AM

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John Hrindo
Editor
183

One of the worse movies I've seen as far as picture quality and acting and story, really! So I'm not sure this should be taken as a reference.

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