Think you need an ARRI Alexa, RED, or an expensive cinema camera to make a “real” movie?

Think again.

Some filmmakers have taken the camera already sitting in their pocket and used it to create feature films that went on to play major film festivals, receive theatrical distribution, win awards, and—in some cases—make millions at the box office.

If you’re an aspiring filmmaker waiting until you can afford the “right” equipment to make your movie, these three films are proof that the most important piece of filmmaking equipment might be the one you already own.

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Phone: iPhone 7 Plus
Budget: Approximately $1.5 million
Worldwide Box Office: Approximately $14.3 million

Yes, an Oscar-winning director made a feature film on an iPhone.

Steven Soderbergh, the filmmaker behind Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich, shot his psychological thriller Unsane using an iPhone 7 Plus. The movie stars Claire Foy as a woman who is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility while trying to escape a stalker.

The film received a wide theatrical release and ultimately grossed more than $14 million worldwide against a reported production budget of approximately $1.5 million.

What makes Unsane particularly interesting for aspiring filmmakers is that Soderbergh wasn't simply using the iPhone as a gimmick. The small camera became part of his filmmaking approach.

A smartphone could be positioned in places where a traditional cinema camera would be difficult to put. It also allowed the production to move quickly and contributed to the movie's uncomfortable, claustrophobic visual style.

The lesson:

Your limitations can become part of your visual language.

Instead of trying to make your phone behave exactly like an expensive cinema camera, ask yourself what your phone allows you to do that a traditional camera can't.

Director: Sean Baker
Phone: iPhone 5s
Budget: Approximately $100,000
Worldwide Box Office: Approximately $936,000

Before Sean Baker directed The Florida Project, Red Rocket, and the Oscar-winning Anora, he made one of the most famous smartphone films ever produced.

Tangerine was shot using three iPhone 5s smartphones and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. The film follows two transgender sex workers through Los Angeles on Christmas Eve.

The movie was made for approximately $100,000 and ultimately grossed roughly $936,000 theatrically.

But Baker didn't simply pull an iPhone out of his pocket, hit record, and hope for the best.

The filmmakers used the FiLMiC Pro app, stabilization equipment, and anamorphic lens adapters to give themselves more control over the image. Baker has explained that choosing the iPhone initially helped the production reduce equipment and crew costs.

The result didn't feel like a compromise.

The saturated colors, wide lenses, energetic camera movement, and ability to shoot discreetly on the streets of Los Angeles became part of the movie's identity.

The lesson:

Low-budget filmmaking doesn't have to look apologetically low-budget.

Choose an aesthetic and commit to it.

Directors: Hooman Khalili and Pat Gilles
Phone: Nokia N8

Long before shooting a feature film on an iPhone became relatively common, filmmakers Hooman Khalili and Pat Gilles attempted something much more unusual.

They shot Olive on a Nokia N8 smartphone.

The film, starring two-time Academy Award nominee Gena Rowlands, was billed as the first feature film shot entirely on a smartphone to receive a theatrical release. It played theatrically in Los Angeles in 2011.

And remember: this was 2011.

Smartphone cameras weren't remotely as sophisticated as the cameras we carry around today. The filmmakers reportedly had to modify the phone to disable features such as autofocus and auto-zoom, and they paired it with traditional filmmaking equipment and lenses.

The lesson:

Filmmakers have been finding ways around technological limitations for as long as filmmaking has existed.

The question isn't necessarily, “Is this camera good enough?”

A better question is:

“How can I make this camera work for the story I want to tell?”

My entire point is that if you want to make a film, you can. Our smart phones shoot better quality films that we could when I first started in the industry! 

And my entire CREATE YOUR OWN CONTENT course literally walks you straight through how you can make your first 3 minute film, today with just your phone. 

There's a phrase aspiring filmmakers hear constantly:

“I want to make a movie, but I don't have the equipment.”

Twenty years ago, that was a legitimate obstacle.

Today?

You may already own a camera capable of shooting 4K video, slow motion, stabilized footage, and cinematic-looking images.

Does that mean shooting a feature film on your phone is easy?

Absolutely not.

You still need good sound. You need lighting. You need production design. You need actors. You need locations. You need editing. Most importantly, you need a story worth watching.

But your camera doesn't necessarily have to be the thing stopping you.

Tangerine didn't become successful simply because it was shot on an iPhone.

It succeeded because Sean Baker and his collaborators made a compelling movie.

Unsane didn't make millions because audiences were fascinated by an iPhone 7.

It worked because Steven Soderbergh understood how to use the limitations of that camera to support his story.

That's the bigger lesson.

We've all been beginners.

If someone asks whether you know how to do something and you don't, say so.

"I haven't done that before. Can you show me?"

That's a perfectly respectable answer.

Your classmates may eventually become producers.

Today's PA may become tomorrow's coordinator.

That assistant may eventually become an executive.

Treat people well regardless of their current title.

Study filmmaking.

Watch great movies.

Read scripts.

Learn theory.

But eventually you have to make something.

Your first film probably won't be your masterpiece.

Make it anyway.

Then make another.