Giving “Low Budget” New Meaning

June 15th, 2006 by Alex

In the previous post, Tim asked “when are you media?”

Here’s an answer: when you have a cellphone with a decent video camera. From CNN.com:

Italian filmmakers used a Nokia N90, a higher-end cell phone sold around the world, to produce the 93-minute “New Love Meetings,” which they say is the first feature film to be entirely shot with such a tool. … “With the widespread availability of cell phones equipped with cameras, anybody could do this,” documentary co-director Marcello Mencarini said in a telephone interview from Milan. “If you want to say something nowadays, thanks to the new media, you can.”

In news gathering, early footage is often shot with a cell phone, and, in the case of major events, authorities and news outlets have been known to call on amateurs to come through with video.

When it comes to movies, though, cell phone cameras present limits, such as the difficulty to film in darkness or the lack of high-quality microphones.

As a result, the movie mostly features close-ups, and the image, while overall clear when seen on a computer, is slightly shaky. Mencarini said the movie could be viewed on big screens, though “it wouldn’t be high-definition.” The movie’s directors said no post-production manipulation was made on the image.

Sounds interesting — but will it match up to the images stolen from Paris Hilton’s Sidekick?

 
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