I realize that half the world’s population owns a cellphone, but I never thought that statistic would result in the creation of cellphone movie festivals.
The event debuted in France in 2005, but this year marks the first time Japan is hosting a version of the festival. The Pocket Films Festival, which organizers call a “groundbreaking event” in the nation, marks yet another use for the omnipresent portable tech device.
I’m used to people using their phones to make calls, exchange e-mail, surf the Internet, read novels and navigate miniature digital maps, but to shoot legitimate movies… now I’ve heard everything. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, making movies with a handheld device that some owners seem to never let go of was probably a logical next step.
But, who wants to watch thumb-sized movies?
Apparently a lot of people who live in Japan. Thousands of Japanese came out for the inaugural film festival where 48 minuscule videos (all shot on camera-equipped cellphones) were streamed on monitors of cell phones strapped to tables.
The entries featured everyday grainy shots and obviously lacked the grandeur of traditional movies (most of the featured films featured close-ups that didn’t rely on zooms or other fancy editing techniques), but what they lacked in clarity they made up for in creativity.
One of the most popular movies was a nine-minute film titled “Walkers,” whose main character is a pair of sneakers that takes a trip on a train.
Film buffs in attendance told news reporters that the miniature movies are “an emerging art form.” While others noted that the medium is opening up the world of filmmaking to masses of amateurs. It makes sense–after all think about how easy it is to capture images on your cellphone. Unlike regular films that require lots of money, people and time, shooting with a cell phone is an easy cheap one-person operation.
The visual quality may be lacking but viewers gets the picture.
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