How To Turn Your iPhone Into a Production Monitor With Accsoon’s SeeMo Pro SDI | No Film School

It’s always seemed a bit redundant to me to bring a portable monitor on set when a perfectly capable screen sits dormant in your pocket.

Of course, I know there’s traditionally been quite a difference between an iPhone screen and a higher-end production monitor both in size and quality, but as iOS devices advance in sophistication and ease of use, it seemed like the product to connect your camera and your phone was simply inevitable. Several brands have already released such tools, with one of them being Accsoon.

Now, Accsoon has released another tool to get you connected. The rugged new SeeMo Pro SDI is an update to the HDMI-only wireless video transmitter that was released last year. Is your iPhone Pro now truly a professional tool you can use on set?

Let’s take a look at this new small box SeeMo Pro SDI and explore how you can use it to turn your iPhone into your production monitor on set.

Introducing the SeeMo Pro SDI

Founded back in 2014 by a group of designers and videographers, Accsoon has been one of the pioneer companies behind gyro stabilization in film and video products. However, as their product line has grown, so has their innovation and focus on streamlining production workflows for teams large and small.

Designed off the technology of their original SeeMo HDMI model, this new SeeMo Pro SDI promises to finally be the tethering point for cameras and smartphones, which the industry was certain to land at one day.

A-huge-leap-for-video-creators-1024x558 Credit: Accsoon

The SeeMo Pro SDI can accept HD signals up to 1080p 60fps over HD SDI or HDMI from cameras, mixers, or any other wireless receivers. This SDI input can also be looped to allow connection to other downstream devices and is quite power efficient as it runs off Sony NP-F style batteries (or via a pro-grade 2-in DC connector).

Turn Your iPhone Into a Production Monitor

How does this new device actually work on set to turn your iPhone into a fully functional production monitor, you ask?

Well, it all comes from the SEE app (which Accsoon provides free), which can be used to transform any iPhone or iPad into a fully featured production monitor with a complete set of tools such as waveform, magnification, vectorscope, false color, peaking, and even audio level meters.

You can also apply and use your custom LUTs or tinker with image overlays to precisely line up your shots, along with some helpful control options to de-squeeze anamorphic video on-screen or flip video to help with any vlog-style self-shooting setups.

To get started, all you need to do is connect your SDI or HDMI camera to SeeMo Pro to unlock the vast world of iOS connectivity and apps. You can then edit, tag, stream, and even share your video from your SDI camera as easily as if it were shot on your iPhone to start with—which should make sharing clips with clients or partners across the globe as easy as transferring a file on iMessage.

Seemo_pro_featured_image Credit: Accsoon

Price and Availability

Those are just some of the basic steps and functions for getting started with the SeeMo Pro though. There’s certainly more to be unlocked by fully placing your iPhone at the heart of your production setup and with complete access to its iOS ecosystem.

The Accsoon Pro SDI is set to retail for $350 and should be available here in summer 2023. For more info, visit the Accsoon website.

Let us know your thoughts on this new interconnected camera and iPhone functionality and how you might (or might not) plan to use it in your production workflows.

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'Kitty the Killer' Director on Finding the Right Balance Between Action and Comedy

Balance Action and Comedy With 'Kitty the Killer'

Lee Thongkham discusses how he effectively infused pulse-pounding action with humor.

Blending action and comedy together can be tricky, but when it’s done right, it creates movie magic. Films like Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, Tropic Thunder and, more recently, Everything Everywhere All at Once are prime examples of this being done successfully.

The latest title to join the hybrid genre is Lee Thongkham’s Kitty the Killer, which follows Dina, a highly trained teenage assassin and her mentor, Charlie, as they unexpectedly join forces to stop a sinister plot and save millions of lives.

When Thongkham crafted the script, he focused on really building up the action, with the comedic relief stemming from one of the main character's journey and traits. It was important to him that the humor never detracted from the intensity of the action, but rather enhanced it in a way that made the movie more enjoyable for the audience.

When discussing the topic he says, “One of the biggest challenges of directing an action-comedy is finding the right balance between the two genres. To achieve this balance, we worked closely with our talented cast of actors, including our lead actor, who had experience in both action and comedy. We also spent a lot of time in pre-production mapping out the action sequences and choreography, so that we could ensure that they were both exciting and funny.”

Thongkham goes into this and much more in our interview below.

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