This afternoon I went to a seminar in London called Filmobile – about content for mobile phones. We heard from producers who have actually used the device for capturing at least some of their content. These included:
Camille Baker, has embarked on a PhD on the subject of how individuals can use mobile phones for non-verbal expression and how the mobile can become part of a sort of collective consciousness. Her fascinating project includes an examination of how biometric sensors built into the could phone could be used to adapt the service/device behaviour. Parameters such as heart-rate, blood pressure and skin conductivity could all be factored in determining how to represent the state of that users ( and what content or services might be appropriate to offer to them).
Max Schleser (Mobile filmmaker and researcher), who uses the constraints of the mobile to provide artistic effect in a cinematographic experience (a movie). The mobile’s limitations almost seem to become virtues in his hands.
Daniel Florencio (Filmmaker and Current TV pods producer), who demonstrated how and why he had used mobile phones in documentary making – in his native Brazil for example. The mobile phone is simply less threatening in sensitive situations, with subjects who might be otherwise nervous about being filmed. Their comfort is not well grounded since the mobile phone’s video capture performance is powering ahead.
This is changing the who business of news since footage from cameraphones, is likely to be available long before the camera crews can arrive. It’s the freshness of news rather than the picture quality that counts. Mobiles are democratising news – though it still seems to be important to have some trusted ‘hubs’ to sift through, host and highlight the best stuff.
Our London seminar was hooked up by video conference to a panel and audience at the Mobilefest in Brazil. From Brazil:
An MTV producer noted that he likes using mobiles because the presentation is fresh and original. Although the shooting is fragment it comes across as being a more ‘honest’ representation than the polished professional camera output.
