RTE Ireland journalist, Eleanor Mannion refers to herself as a mobile journalist and she is breaking all barriers known to traditional journalism formats on how content is supposed to be captured, created and delivered. She captures all her content on a smartphone, and then shares her productions online. She filmed an entire movie called “The collectors” in Ireland on her iphone 6s in 2016. Times have indeed changed, and in her presentation she talks about creating mixed media content and what equipment and applications to use in filmmaking.
Mannion says her documentary was well received and it’s budget was a quarter of the traditional television documentaries.
The kit she used to capture,” The collectors”, film consisted of the following:
- iPhone 6s- to capture video, essentially because the quality of video recording is superior
- Filimic Pro app- able to set and lock focus and exposure for good quality, adjust frame rates, record time-lapse and recognizes external microphones
- Powerbank- to ensure that your phone is powered throughout filming
- Tripod- is essential in recording stable video
- Shoulderpod- for support and works well for movement and keeping the video recording stable
- Lumafusion app- 3 multi-audio and video tracks, edit different frame rates and resolution, has royalty free music which is great for social media it communicates really well with Filimic Pro App another cool tool she uses is Crowdtangle- to measure an discover stories on social media
- Close-up’s- captures interesting imagery of dolls and closed off and constricted areas which traditional cameras can’t reach.
- Flexibility-freedom to move
- Eye direct- afford the ability to connect with the people you’re interviewing, this way people are not intimidated by the lens, big camera and lights, in short, there are less distractions
- Lastly it creates intimacy- You get a closeness and a level of intimacy with the person being interviewed
The following is her mobile filming workflow
- Original stories hot, edited and titled on smartphone
- Published digitally first then edited in vertical and square mode unlike in landscape where the viewing space become smaller when the phone is rotated
- Experiment with apps and test how well they do online first
- Films are then repurposed for television once they have proven that there is an appetite for the content
RTE covers stories of love, compassion, that move people. Their mandate is to make people think, make people feel and give them a voice. Mannion adds that their stories reach far wider audiences than the traditional formats because social media is not restrictive and everywhere.
She explains that smaller stories can have greater impact and appeal. Mannion also says mobile filmmaking or content making comes into play, because as a mobile journalist you can do the work of a crew alone all on your smartphone.
Lebogang Bridget Lepere
(Edited by Simbarashe Honde)