Using a Phone to Shoot a Documentary

We used the Samsung Galaxy S23 to Document a Concert with Sabrina Carpenter

Our actress holding the Galaxy S23 to capture Sabrina Carpenter on stage

In late April, we were contacted by an agency to cover their Philadelphia-based production while they were in town. The scope sounded like a lot of fun, and something different so we were all ears. The kicker: it had to be shot on the Samsung Galaxy S23 as part of a mini-documentary for Sabrina Carpenter on her Emails I Can’t Send tour.

The Technology

Filmmakers all around the world have always relied on high-end professional cameras to capture high-resolution footage for their projects. However, the widespread popularity of smartphone technology around the world has caused a shift in this trend. Now, some of the most creatively and professionally shot films and documentaries are shot on smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone is one of the best in the market, which is why we recently shot a documentary for Sabrina Carpenter solely using this device.

The camera you choose for production is often a major factor when planning a successful production. However, in the case of using a smartphone, not just any phone would do. We chose to use the Samsung Galaxy S23 because of its high-end camera setup that includes a 200MP primary sensor, which captures high-quality images at high resolutions and produces detailed low-light shots.

Stabilization

Stability is another critical aspect to consider when recording using a smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy S23. Without stabilization, the final video will be shaky, which is not only aesthetically unpleasing but also makes for a difficult viewing experience. The plan was to dive right into the middle of the crowd to capture authentic shots like a fan naturally would. I was immediately worried about how we were going to keep this thing steady. Tripod, gimbal? Nope. Just our hands. As soon as I grabbed my first shot, we all looked at each other and said “Woah”. The stabilization was immediately noticeable and allowed us to get just about any shot we found necessary all while being locked in a crowd of about 3000.

Director Notes

This blog isn’t meant to sound like an ad. We just love talking about new technology. We at Anomaly started our careers on the Sony VX2000 so we’ve really seen it all. I think it’s safe to say we’re finally in a place where it doesn’t matter what you shoot your video production content with. What matters is the story and strategy behind it. We were only given about 24 hours with the phone prior to the start of the shoot so it took no time at all to learn how to use the S23 and to feel comfortable enough to start capturing high-quality video content. We did use external sound with a professional mixer (Steve Sklarow) but besides that, we were pretty barebones. If you’d like to see the finished project, head to the link below and watch it on Sabrina’s YouTube channel and see bits from her entire Emails I Can’t Send tour!