Lesson 04: Mobile Filmmaking Gear | Sundance Collab x Xiaomi Studios

The 4th lesson of our #SundanceCollab mobile filmmaking course featuring our Xiaomi Creator Fred is here! In this lesson he will show you his essential mobile filmmaking gear as well as his DIY solutions.

Let us know your favorite mobile filmmaking gear in the comments below. We will pick one person to receive a #Xiaomi11TPro!

Learn More:

[kevintejas]

For me, my go-to-gear would be first power bank, I hate getting out of battery along my daily errands. Second, tripod for stable and perfect shots. Third would be a pack of light where it could greatly help during night time or whenever their is lowlight situations along shoots. All of this would be meaningful when you got the right accessories and equipment. Hats off to Xiaomi for pulling off this kind of lesson. Highly appreaciated!

[erickbrandone.botello]

essential gear for filmmaking and one of my must-have during a shoot is a powerbank. We all know that making videos is a challenge for our phone's battery so not to interrupt our workflow, powerbanks are so important. And one of my favourites is a gimbal due to the shots I can achieve, by giving them that smooth movements. And by my experience, another gear that's necessary is an external mic, most recommended for outdoors shooting in order to avoid the undesired noises.

[bharatt.]

The gear that I use the most for mobile shooting and film making is Zhiyun Smooth 4. It is such a wonderful gimbal that really adds a lot of value to my content and this gimbal really delivers cinema-quality video stabilization.

[Jezreel_]

for me, the pair of gimbal and wide lense feature have such good relationship in my mobile filmmaking experience. There's soo much motion involved in shooting videos specially when the lenses are exposed to more objects. Being able to stabilize the elements and control the view, perspective and interpretation of each scene with a gimbal is a mobile filmmaker's dream.

[soiiison]

my favorite mobile filmmaking gears would be...
1, grips - can give you the edge of adding external lights and mic for better filmmaking
2. powerbanks - for additional battery life incase your mobile filmmaking, will take more time as you expected.
and lastly my handy bag for safe keeping of my mobile filmmaking tools, and some more stuff just incase for a diy solutions.

you'll never know what to expect if your shooting out doors, just incase if you have additional tools or other stuff in your handy bag for more diy essentials for your mobile filmmaking.

[jeff.]

For me, Mobile Filmmaking is now very useful when it comes to making a videos or a films because people nowadays always bring their phones wherever they go and that's a huge leap to be able to capture some moments you want to share without using any expensive and bulky traditional cameras. Using your mobile to make a film is so easy by using your camera app and clicking the record icon or the pro mode if you have one in the settings and it is also easy to carry or put in your pocket all the time unlike traditional cameras. Many mobile filmmakers use their mobile phones to create films like music videos or for vloggings to create a contents. Grips or Tripods really is needed when recording video for stabilizing and maintaining the video without any shake or tilt. Proper handling of stabilizer is also helpful thanks to the tips and tricks that Mr. Steven Senshan shares to all of us mo fans
Being creative is the key to tell your stories and bring your ideas to life ♥😍
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[ogutuarnold]

The mobile stabilizer is my go to equipment.
Shooting videos would be so easy, lesser time on editing and more time saved.
I'd purchase without a second thought.

[bharatipatadiya]

My Favorite Mibile flimmaking gear is Stabilizer for more handyful and Headlamp for good light condition.

[cheflalitht]

Hi Steven, My most favorite gear right now for mobile film making is Moment lenses & filters, they provide so much versatility and are extremely fun to play with, I tried them a few years back & I just felt in love with them, Moment Wide 18mm Lens is my favorite right now from a collection of Moment lenses & filters that I own & use regularly. Its like having interchangeable lens for your mobile just like you have in DSLR's :)

[yajyaj]

A gear for mobile filmmaking that is one of my favourites is lights, or lighting equipments. In my observations, light is very important, not just in photography or filmmaking but also in our daily life, right? When it comes to mobile filmmaking light is very helpful especially when we are shooting in different places with different lighting situations. Me personally, I love cinematic videos with kinda like darker scenes, or shall we say, low-light scenarios. But even though it's a low-light scene, it still needs light, proper lighting in exact. For me, light is not just an important equipment in mobile filmmaking, it is also an equipment for our lives, our passion. We need light to guide our way towards our dreams in life. When we are doing mobile filmmaking, ourselves also needs light that will guide us through the whole process.

[boshiame]

My favourite Mobile Filmmaking gear should be the portable power bank that's connected to my phone when filming.

As for a combo, I'll just add the gimbal, the external microphone and the firm grip and I'm good to go.

[jayzamora]

I am a huge fan of cinematic videos, and I think using external lens or ND Filter for creating them is quiet great. Ever since I discovered this thing, I got interested in using it in creating my own films too. Though I haven't really tried it and I didn't even know how it looks like, I'll still add it in my favourite gears in mobile filmmaking since I am really interested in using it. I've been watching a lot of cinematic videos on the internet using various devices. Then I also watched those videos shot on mobile and then using external lenses and I can say it's really excellent. It helps the film to look more cinematic without adding intense colour grading. If I'll be given a chance to try these kind of lenses sooner, it will make my film perfect. The only problem is that, it's not widely available here in our place.

[souravsarker]

My favorite mobile filmmaking gears are stabilizer, ND filters, portable power banks. On the software end I love to use pro mode in native camera app.

[OLAYINKAJOHNSONflicks]

Gimbal stabilizers is my Mi favorite filmmaking gear alongside my Redmi Note10

[rogercabahit]

My favourite filmmaking gear is stabilizer because we are both steven’s favorite.

[johnstephenreyes]

It's also my favorite gear when shooting on a smartphone is using a gimbal like Mr. Luis it really is an extension of our arm, it help us to stabilize and have a good grip while shooting and you can focus more on your subject.

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[steed]

The only issue which I face while relying on smartphones camera as my main film making tool is that of stabilization, and to address that issue I use a DJI OM 5 which is my favourite gear at present, it does wonder to my contact and a small investment on good gimbal takes your content to unprecedented hights, Hi Steven these Collab videos are a great learning, enjoyed all the 4 episodes and can't wait for the 5th & 6th one 🔥

[anudeepajmeraajmera]

My personal favourite mobile filmmaking gear is Neutral Density filter (ND Filter) whenever I try to shoot outdoor pictures or videos mostly I got problems with lenses, somehow I can manage stabilization but ND Filter is a must filmmaking gear for me.... Thank you Steve for the great lesson #Sundance

[jameseldonhamilton]

My favorite mobile filmmaking gear is the gimbal, simply for the image stabilization that it provides. I have to say that another of my favorite gears include one or more portable power banks, each with sufficient capacity for several recharges of my smartphone. Supplementing my power banks, in remote locations or while driving, I carry one or more charging cords and cigarette lighter adapter (with included charging ports) so that I can recharge my smartphone, a depleted power bank, or both. I agree with both Fred in London, and #SundanceCollab mobile filmmaking course host Steven Senshan, that a ND filter is a fundamental and critical gear that may come in handy more often than realized. Of course, don't forget a good carry bag to carry and organize all of your gear and smartphone(s).

[johnlerryhernaez]

Headlamp is my favorite mobile film making gear. Lighting plays a major role in film making specially when it is shoot on studio. The headlamp is a greatway on highlighting scenes to make them impressive!. There are headlamps that can be muted to any amount of light emitted to create a mood.
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