Since the introduction of phone camera technology, there has been a steady increase in popularity of amateur footage shot on mobile phones, who hasn’t seen or taken part in a drink-fuelled mini flick as part and parcel of a Saturday night’s shenanigans – they doubtless seemed hilarious at the time. But are mobile phone cameras a threat to our privacy or a wholly democratic new filmmaking genre?
If you haven’t already got a mobile phone that has video capability, research suggests that by 2007, over half of all mobile phones will be video-equipped. Up to now, there has been little purpose-made professional video designed for the mobile phone market but all that is set to change and the Edinburgh Film Festival this year was host to the première of some of the first, pioneering made-for-mobile films in the Pocket Shorts project.
Less frivolous is the huge amount of amateur news footage shot on camera phones seen notably in recent world events such as 9/11, the Asian tsunami and the London Underground bombings. In some cases, police and investigators seeking to build a full picture of events have welcomed the footage.
Amateur film efforts are not always so enthusiastically received. Cinemas are constantly faced with copyright issues and have on occasion banned mobile phones in a bid to deter the film pirates. Corporate security is similarly under threat, with cases of cell phones being targeted by security personnel at conferences. There is an alarming trend in youngsters who acquire tasteless phone footage of accidents and horrific personal injuries for, what seems to be, the pure entertainment factor.
In that now familiar manner, the media and the public are divided as to the possible benefits and damage caused by use and misuse of the new technology. In response to what is viewed as intrusion into private lives, in India recently, Vanga Geetha introduced a private member’s bill seeking a ban on use of camera phones in public places. She also wanted the legislation to regulate the use of such phones by children.
It is not without a whiff of controversy then that this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival sees the première screenings of the Pocket Shorts films, special new short films made for mobile phones. They were commissioned back in July 2004 through an initiative supported by NESTA, (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), Short Circuits-who screen and commission short films, and Oyster Partners & Carbon Based Games as technology partners.
In a delicious mix of science and art, filmmakers based in the North of England were lured with the promise of being at the cutting edge of this new film genre, using technology that is universally seen to be here to stay. The successful film-makers were well supported along the way, receiving production funding of up to £2000, a film industry mentor and full technical back-up to help distribute the commissioned films.
Each film is either one-minute long – downloadable only from a WAP site, or is four 15-second films which can be sent via mobile or downloaded.
Presenting the films is the custom-made new device: Bluevend, a purpose-built vending machine with a touch screen and Bluetooth technology designed for the wireless distribution of creative mobile phone content. As well as the artistic achievements of the films, NESTA has said, “this (new distribution channel) will…create a new business model by providing a space for companies to emerge and promote their work to a global audience.”
All new technology has its teething troubles and according to the Bluevend website , “some of the films are taking longer to download than originally expected. The shorter 15 second films coming down within 1 minute and the longer films using more action and complex imagery on occasion taking as long at 3 minutes.”
But don’t let this deter you, the films themselves sound like great fun. Among the mix of live action and animation shorts on offer is Andy Sykes’ ‘Evil Fun With Zimmy’, a 60-second tale about being disillusioned with a novelty bar of soap. ‘My Inner Short’, by Matthew Austin, is a series of 4 x 15 second shorts based on four of the most popular text messages – such as ‘Where are you?’ and ‘While You Are Waiting’ by Andrew Quinn and Gary McKeown, a series of 4 x 15′ live action sound scapes which reveal that rhythm is all around us even when we are waiting for a kettle to boil.
Pocket Shorts is not the only incidence of filmmakers trying out this new technology. The mobile phone giant, Nokia has been running a competition since 2003 to find quality short films to be shown on mobile phones. Previously though, the films have been shot using conventional film technology. It wasn’t until this year that Nokia set the challenge to actually shoot the film using a mobile phone.
To promote this they commissioned established UK filmmaker Shane Meadows (A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS, 1999) to make a 15-second short on the Nokia N90. Shane’s film, THE STAIRWELL can be viewed online at www.nokiashorts.co.uk
Finalists in the Nokia competition will screen at Sundance; director and founder Elliot Grove was quoted in The Manchester Evening News as saying: “It’s the most democratic form of film-making. You don’t need expensive equipment, a big budget or large crew, just a great idea and a mobile phone.”
The Pocket Shorts initiative has been a great success so far, the Bluevend technology that is so integral to the films, will tour the UK at other festival venues during the remainder of 2005 and you can get all the details from Bluevend’s Lisa Roberts: lisa@blinkmedia.org
In addition, NESTA announced last week that they are now looking to extend the Pocket Shorts commissions to Scottish-based Filmmakers and Content Providers with the additional support of Scottish Screen and Scottish Enterprise. In this commissioning round, a further eight Scottish projects of up to sixty seconds will be commissioned with an increased maximum budget of £3000 each. It is expected that half of the films commissioned will be live action and half animated. To coincide with the call for entries, a series of free workshops will take place during September, full details from the NESTA website.
So, grab your phone and start getting creative!
For further information please see:
www.pocketshorts.co.uk
www.blinkmedia.org
www.edfilmfest.org.uk
www.nesta.org.uk
www.bluevend.com
