SMARTPHONE FILM FESTIVAL

 

As part of the Smartphone Film Festival, I saw two short films –

BENEATH THE LONESOME SKY by Rob Layton

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Gloriously, luxuriously photographed this is a stunning film set on the island of Skye, north-west Scotland. There are magnificent landscape and beach shots before most of the film being captured by a huge underwater diving camera.

Layton is a lecturer in film at Bond University and is undertaking his PHD using smartphone documentary filmmaking.

Layton’s film opens with a Bob Marley quote and shows us the delicate marine ecology, focusing on some of the small creatures and plants that are required be part of the bottom of the food chain. Some look like wattle, others like huge flowing strips . Plus there are tiny fish , and we meet tiny sea hares , part of the sea slug family in some extraordinary footage.

Back on land, we see the establishment of an Ocean School, so the children can learn about preserving the fragile environment. They are provided with wetsuits.

A tantalising, fascinating glimpse of Skye.

HOW TO UPLOAD…’ by Robert Braiden

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Fast paced, quirky and humorous this is a wickedly delicious records of Braiden’s attempt to link to internet/mobile access on a posh ocean liner. The film was shot over the area of the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank in 1912. The documentary begins where he shows where he is inside the liner with a huge model of the liner inside a glass case. He also indicates where his cabin is, but his laptop still doesn’t work. It just sits there and spins and whirrs, not uploading properly. We then follow him outside as he tries to get as close as possible to the satellite dish that is onboard .It is extremely windy and he has no success. Braiden then grumpily disappears into his cabin and says the video will not be created.

4 stars

The Smartphone Film Festival is live 5 – 6 November 2022 and runs online from 5 November until 20 November 2022

https://sf3.com.au/

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