节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-11-27
难易度:Medium
关键字:attach, zoom, unique, helicopter, remote-controlled
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
Now every so often we are surprised by something new smartphones can do.
Remember two years ago, we learned people were using smartphones to create
music.
There were even smartphone bands.
Then we found that people were using smartphones as credit cards to pay for
things.
Now, believe it or not, serious filmmakers are using smartphones to shoot
movies.
And not just three- to five-minute clips, we're talking about full-length
feature films.
Let's open our magazines now to page 49 and learn about what many considered to
be the very first official smartphone movie called Olive.
Smartphone Moviemakers.
In December 2011, first-time director Hooman Khalili released the film Olive in
Los Angeles.
The film is considered by many to be the first full-length film shot entirely on
a smartphone.
Khalili used a Nokia N8 and attached a 35-mm camera lens to it.
His experience was anything but easy.
For instance, Khalili and his crew needed to find a way to turn off the phone's
automatic zoom and focus features.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
My name is Ryan.
Friends, we hope that yesterday you enjoyed watching the short film that Kaylah
and I made using only an iPhone.
I realize we're not professionals.
It wasn't perfect, but we hope you enjoyed it.
We didn't use a single computer the whole time.
That's right.
We used only the iPhone and the applications on it - the APP, APPs - to do that.
Exactly, so.
That is what we're talking about is now smartphones are so powerful,
and their cameras are such high-quality that professional filmmakers are able to
make videos on them using only them.
Now yesterday we talked about two filmmakers who made a series called
Goldilocks, and it won some awards in the iPhone Film Festival.
Now we're moving on to another director.
Now in December of 2011, first-time director Hooman Khalili released the film
Olive in Los Angeles.
OK. We see here he is a first-time director, or he was in 2011.
Someone who is a "first-time" something, that means it is their first time to
try it.
So he became a director when he made his first film Olive, and he released it in
Los Angeles.
Now to release means he shared it for the first time to the public.
Now the film is considered by many to be the first full-length film shot
entirely on a smartphone.
OK. First thing, Kaylah, if we consider something to be something else, that
means that we define it that way.
That is what we think of it, so.
If people consider this to be a... or the first full-length film, that means
they believe that it is.
Now it may not be the first one ever,
but we do consider it because it's the first one that was released and the first
one that was professionally recognized.
OK.
So even it's not exactly the first, it is still considered that way.
Yes. And they consider it a full-length film.
A full-length film is usually at least around 90 minutes, or an hour and a half,
in length.
Now it was shot entirely on a smartphone, which means all of the video recording
was done completely on a smartphone.
Yeah. I didn't even know this was possible.
I'll be honest with you - I did not think a smartphone could handle all that
video.
And he did not use an iPhone like we've been talking about.
Khalili used a Nokia N8 and attached a 35-mm camera lens to it.
Now this is a new idea - attaching camera lenses onto your phone.
Camera lens is... it looks like something a little... little bigger, and has
glass on it.
We know that smartphone cameras come with a lens.
Well, this is an external lens.
It's on the outside.
And it's 35-mm. That just means how wide it is.
Now it is... it was attached.
It doesn't actually come on his smartphone.
He "attached" it.
And that means to fasten, to join, or to connect it to something else.
So he had a smartphone, he had his lens, and he took it and he put the lens
right on the front of it.
I think this would look a little funny, Kaylah, to have a smartphone with a big,
old lens on it.
But, you know what, it actually got very high quality; and his experience there
was anything but easy.
Yeah, even though it sounds something interesting - we're like: Why didn't I try
that first? - it wasn't an easy adventure.
His experience, the journey, the process of filming was not easy.
He had challenges. For instance?
He and his crew needed to find a new way to turn off the phone's automatic zoom
and focus features.
OK. First let's look at that phrase: for instance.
That's another way of saying "for example." Instance means a situation.
So here we're looking at a situation that is an example.
Now Kaylah, on our short film, we had to find a way to do this too.
You have to turn off the phone's automatic zoom and focus.
If something is automatic, that means it doesn't need your help.
It can do it on its own.
Now a "zoom" is when you make something that is far away look very close.
And so when you take a picture and you... it's way out in the distance, maybe
there's an animal that you want to picture of way out,
you zoom, you push that button and it makes it look closer and closer and closer
so it gets bigger, that is a zoom.
And a lot of times your phone has an automatic one as well as an automatic focus
feature.
OK. And focus means when something that is farther or closer to your camera is
very clear, very easy to see, and it's not very blurry or "unfocused," we say.
Now usually on a smartphone, we'd be thankful for these smart features - the
zoom and the focus.
Why, Ryan?
Well, Kaylah, because it's easier.
We want the camera to be able to capture everything in high quality.
But we would not want this in professional films because you want to be able to
change them so people look at different parts of the film.
That's right.
You don't want the camera choosing where the focus is.
You don't want the camera telling everyone where to look.
You want the director, the person creating the film, to have that kind of
control.
Exactly, you want control.
And so this was actually harder to do than you might think.
So this is just one of the challenges.
And there are lots of challenges involved in making your own film.
And we actually have a video here talking about that.
So Kaylah and I have our own video that we made to show you the challenges that
we faced trying to make our own smartphone film.
Take a look.
Smartphones are great.
They let you talk to people around the world.
You can see your family.
You can surf the Internet.
All in something that fits in the palm of your hand.
They're small, they're mobile, and they connect you to the whole world, and fit
your pocket.
(Music).
When we're first given the task to use a smartphone to make a movie,
we started thinking of different ideas of how a smartphone is different from a
professional camera.
The idea of using a smartphone was fun because it gave you the ability to go
play things and do things you haven't done before because of the small size and
weight of a camera.
Since a smartphone can get a lot of interesting angles, we decided to use a
story from the perspective of a baby.
I have a lot of friends who have babies.
And I was wondering what it would look like to ride down the street in a
stroller or to have people come at you just all weird noises and hands.
So I wanted to know, well, what would it be like to be a baby waking up in the
morning?
When using a smartphone to film a video, you don't have the same tools that a
professional camera has.
And we saw that by actually using a toilet paper roll fixing it up, making a
little swing-type rig for the camera to slide into.
So you could carry the camera, and someone else could watch from the upside
picture... if the picture was framed properly.
Also, since we're using a smartphone, we decided to use natural lighting
settings instead of professional equipment,
simply to show that you can use nothing but an iPhone to make a movie.
Once you're done taking the video, you just move on over to the Video Editor on
the phone itself and just start editing.
However, editing on a phone means that the screen is really small.
Luckily, for those of us who have an iPhone and an iPad, we can use the Video
Editor on the iPad just as well as the one on the iPhone,
so we have a much bigger screen.
And also, if you're out there and you're making films and you're a Studio
Classroom listener, Studio Classroom friend, we'd love to see your film.
So make sure you send those to letters@StudioClassroom.com.
Or you can put them up on our Facebook page, and we'll... we'll catch you there
and see exactly what all of our Studio Classroom friends are doing with film as
well.
If you're thinking of making a video using an iPhone or a smartphone, it's OK.
It doesn't need to be professional quality.
Just use what you've got because your phone really ispowerful enough.