About the Hands On Smartphone / Vertical Filmmaking Workshop
Unlock the full potential of your smartphone as a powerful filmmaking tool in this hands on, two-day workshop.
This course will teach you how to maximize the quality of your mobile videos, overcome technical limitations, and create visually compelling content.
Who should take Hands On Smartphone / Vertical Filmmaking
Aspiring filmmakers, content creators, or anyone simply looking to enhance their video skills.
No prior experience is necessary – just bring your smartphone, and we’ll guide you through the rest!
How will you be taught
Through expert-led demonstrations, discussions, and practical exercises, you’ll gain a deep understanding of smartphone filmmaking. You’ll then apply your skills by planning, shooting, and editing a short film in small groups, which will be screened at the end of the workshop.
What you’ll learn
By the end of the workshop, you’ll have hands-on experience in mobile filmmaking, a deeper understanding of cinematic techniques, and a completed short film to showcase your skills.
Workshop Breakdown
Day 1: Theory, Techniques & Hands-On Practice
- The art of smartphone cinematography: shot composition, framing, and film grammar
- Understanding camera settings and functions using Blackmagic Camera
- Lighting techniques: working with natural and artificial light
- Overcoming smartphone limitations to achieve high-quality, cinematic footage
- Audio recording: built-in vs. external microphones for professional sound
- Essential mobile filmmaking accessories: tripods, stabilizers, and more
- Editing options: mobile and desktop workflows
- Mini practical exercise to test key concepts
Day 2: Filmmaking in Action
- Planning your short film: storyboarding and shot listing
- Shooting your film in small groups using smartphones
- On-the-go problem-solving and real-world shooting techniques
- Editing your film on mobile or desktop software
- Final screening, analysis, and instructor feedback
About Ufuk Gokkaya
Ufuk is an independent filmmaker, editor and lecturer at Raindance Film School. He has over 15 years of editing experience, creating both short and feature films, commercials, events and music videos. Ufuk also has over 5 years of teaching experience having worked with a number of film schools in the UK and abroad. Visit his website for more info: www.ufukgky.com
Did you know?
- Raindance Film Festival is considered one of the top fifteen film festivals in the world?
- The Higher Education programme at Raindance Film School offers HND, BA and MA in Filmmaking and Screenwriting?
- Raindance members support indie film, and enjoy a range of benefits
- You can call us on +44 (0) 930 3412
Joshua Christian (verified owner) –
Very insightful and practical
Terry Rampling (verified owner) –
Fantastic hands on introduction!
Tina Cachules (verified owner) –
One of my favourite classes — the future of filmmaking! Ufuk opened the class with an overview of films made entirely or partially with phones, then provided dozens of examples of the key elements of the “cinematic look”–and how to achieve them with our phones. He covered an incredible amount of material in just a few hours, then charged us with a couple of fun and challenging assignments that brought it all together. Now I’m never without opportunities to practice filmmaking. Highly recommend.
Maria heath –
Inspiring, practical and informative. You will learn about cinematography as well as smartphones and their accessories and have a wonderful, creative day!
Mick Spencer (verified owner) –
I decided to go with this course to provide me with an entry level idea of what it entails to make a film and whether it was something that would be enjoyable.
Totally brilliant course, well structured and explained, the practical exercises were very relevant to the content.
A possible improvement would be an online feedback session a few days later to review the final exercise as this involved a bit of homework.
Daniel Newman –
Ufuk is an outstanding teacher, and I learnt a huge amount from attending his Smartphone Filmmaking course.
Up until now I’ve always been dependent on the expertise and equipment provided by others when making films, and I always felt embarrassed about my lack of knowledge about the techniques used by cinematographers. But this course has given me the confidence to get out there, shoot my own proofs of concept, and start to improve my understanding of composition, lighting, colour, audio and production design.
What I liked best about this course was how hands on it all was. We learnt how to use Filmic Pro on our phones, we were sent out to shoot B-roll individually during our lunch break, and we collaborated to shoot and edit a short film in the afternoon.
I’d thoroughly recommend Ufuk and Raindance to anyone that wants to empower themselves and become a self-sufficient filmmaker.
F Shah (verified owner) –
I attended this excellent course a few weeks ago. Ufuk is a great teacher. He’s very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter. So much information was packed into this one day. You’ll learn all about Film grammar, camera technique and lighting amongst other things. How to shoot high quality cinematic videos. The necessary accessories needed to get good quality sound and vision from your mobile equipment. You’ll also get practical experience of putting what you’ve learnt into practice. Highly recommended.
Cain Aldred (verified owner) –
I thought that overall the course was very good. A lot of information was packed into the time we had and I appreciated both the individual and group tasks we were set to do. It not only got us actually starting to apply what we were learning but helped to break up the time with practical aspects. I think that Ufuk is a good teacher with a lot of knowledge and I would do a course with him again. My own critique would be perhaps a little more patience with those people who are not as technologically minded as sometimes I sensed a bit of frustration coming through when people were asking certain questions or things were not working as they should. Overall though, a good course and tutor.
EE Martin –
Uruk is so friendly and supportive. He answers all questions and makes sure you end the day having actually put your learning into practice. Take your phone with you and be ready to start filming! Great day.
Giovanna Vaccaro (verified owner) –
Ufuk is an extremely energetic and knowledgeable teacher, I had a great time. The course is the perfect balance between theory and hands on. I leant so much while having fun. Thank you!
Igor Ismail (verified owner) –
this is amazing course ! thank you so much ! 🙂
Stephane Lambert (verified owner) –
Ufuk brings all of his 20+ experience to the course and more. You get all the technical knowledge but Ufuk also instills you with passion for the art. What’s also important is what you learn from the participants. Raindance is a great learn environment. Thanks.
Saurabh K (verified owner) –
Very insightful. Would recommend.
Hai Dao (verified owner) –
An extremely interesting course that provided load of knowledge and technical beyond smart phone filming. Thank you so much Ufuk for guiding us.
Candice Palladino (verified owner) –
Ufuk is a BRILLIANT teacher and really learned a lot from it. I gave it a 4 instead of 5 because I thought it was going to be more in-depth about literally teaching us how to use our phone as a camera (for example: using a special app), but it was more a cinematography course. Either way, I would recommend it as I learned things, although they were different from what I anticipated.
Ysabelle Ball (verified owner) –
I had expected the course to be more hands on having read the description. Also, I was expecting from the description to receive an introduction to the Filmic Pro app. In fact it was Blackmagic app that was covered; rather quickly. Also, I’d been informed, when I asked in advance of the course, that it would be a “working lunch” and was fully expecting to be sent off on a project at lunch time. Which did not happen. It was just a normal lunch break. However, all that said, Ufuk was very generous with his tips and shared a huge amount of valuable information with us. I also appreciated the opportunity to network with like minded creators, during the lunch break! I felt it was more a consolidation of knowledge than a gaining of new knowledge, but perhaps I knew more than I thought I knew! I would certainly recommend the course for all the important positive aspects. The files and links shared with us were very useful too.
Yum Man TSO –
Very clear introduction of some basic concepts and it’s so helpful to steer me into find out more about the filming and how to make use of film language in my storytelling.
Much appreciated and thank you.
Igor Ismail (verified owner) –
Really interesting and informative 👍 course! Thank you , Ufuk and Raindance!
Nathalie “Nike” Weiss –
A great workshop to get into the basics of smartphone filmmaking. Loved the practical tasks!
Could easily be a three-day workshop with one day of theory, one day of filming and one day of editing 😀
Simon Moorhead (verified owner) –
Ufuk is so friendly and supportive. I really enjoyed the course and learnt more than I expected. I wasn’t looking forward to the practical exercise on the second day but it was great fun.
Jonathan Berg (verified owner) –
Very practical course where you can see where you would use these skills in the future. A great confidence builder for newcomers who want to make projects without a huge budget and also a great crash course in cinematography. Highly recommend and Ufuk was an excellent teacher
AbeS09 (verified owner) –
I really enjoyed this workshop. A hugely insightful and empowering course. Ufuk is wonderful and always willing to elaborate or help out. I found the 2nd days filmmaking challenge particularly useful where we got to put what we learnt into practice