![]() The budget was very small and one of the money-saving decisions the team made was to shoot on an iPhone, rather than film or high-end digital cameras. The Duplass brothers helped support the film, setting Sean up with a pair of producers. The script was fleshed out a bit further, then Baker went out to try to get backing for the production. This helped the film have a true transgender voice behind it. When Baker saw the pair together he knew he had his leads.īaker and Bergoch wrote a ‘scriptment’ (part script, part treatment), then gave that to the girls to give their own input and eventual approval. She brought Kitana Kiki Rodriguez over to meet them too. She told them her story and those of her friends and neighbours. ![]() They met Mya Taylor around the Donut Time area and she was very enthusiastic about the project, so agreed to help them out. So Baker and his co-screenwriter Chris Bergoch scouted it out and spoke to people there in search of characters and stories. With a group of transgender sex workers operating in the area, it seemed like an interesting place to explore. He’s often drawn to locations as inspiration for projects and on one of his bike rides around L.A., he came across an intersection that was home to a Donut Time cafe. If you’re after more information on Tangerine’s journey from storyboard to screen, have a look here – and for more insight into the world of small-scale filmmaking, you’re already in the right place, at the Filmstro Blog.Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Alla Tumanian, James RansoneĪcclaimed writer-director Sean Baker tends to make films that are vivid slices of life. If you take one message from this blog, let it be that - never be afraid to try different things. As Baker put it, “we’re at such an early stage of using devices that aren’t cameras to make films that you can do whatever you want! We just experimented and said, what benefits are to be found here? Let’s just try different things”. While Tangerine can provide a wealth of ideas and a host of kit to add to your wishlist, remember that this is a developing field. If the $150 price tag is a little steep there are cheaper options on the market, like the Glide Gear or Fomito Professional. One famous scene was shot from the back of a moving motor scooter.Ī steadicam rig is essential is you’re shooting on a phone. "So you needed the Steadicam rig to stabilize it." Baker used a $150 Steadicam Smoothee to keep the picture still, and the results speak for themselves. "These phones, because they’re so light, and they’re so small, a human hand - no matter how stable you are - it will shake. No app will transform your video on its own, but for only $8 this two-time winner of camera app of the year will give you that essential control over your shots that you’re used to from a full camera. It also allowed him to achieve 24 frames per second. This is worth prioritising if you want that sweeping cinematic feel.īaker used the FiLMic Pro iPhone app to lock focus and exposure, control white balance and give better compression. "It truly elevated it to a cinematic level."Īt $175 Moondog’s Adaptor isn’t cheap, but it’s an awful lot cheaper than Anamorphic lenses for a movie camera, or even a DSLR. "To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have even made the movie without it," Baker says. The iPhone 5s shoots in native 16:9, so to achieve a 2.40:1 ratio Baker borrowed a prototype of Moondog Labs’ 1.33x Anamorphic Adaptor. Before beginning his month-long shoot Baker ran extensive tests, searching for an aesthetic he was happy with.How many times have you wished for just a little more money in your budget for actors, sound, or location fees? So let’s take a bite out of Tangerine, and see what we can we learn for our own projects.īaker achieved his startling results with three pieces of equipment: Released in 2015 to widespread critical acclaim and featured at Sundance, Sean Baker’s film gained instant attention for being shot entirely on multiple iPhone 5s devices.įor the cash-strapped filmmaker it’s certainly an enticing value proposition. Big Screen Dreams: What Aspiring Filmmakers Can Learn From Sean Baker's Tangerine
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