TANGERINE DREAM:

THE INSIDE STORY ON THE SUNDANCE IPHONE FILM

While Take Out, his second film (made for $3,000), and Prince Of Broadway, his third film (made for $45,000), were the kind of small films that get you noticed, Starlet was supposed to be his breakout film. Made with real professional actors, (the other films featured amazing non-pros), including breakout star and Ernest Hemingway great-granddaughter Dree Hemingway, Starlet somehow fell short of the incredibly difficult mark that is big-time independent film success. Sure, it received amazing reviews and got that Cassavetes nomination, and won the prestigious Robert Altman award at that year's Spirits, but its theatrical release was nominal and worse, it didn't get Sean that next big film. Like a lot of even successful indie filmmakers, Sean struggled to get real money to make his next film.

Frustrated, and aching to make another film, even another micro-budget one, he contacted Mark Duplass, who had expressed interest in working with Sean after seeing Prince of Broadway. Sean pitched Mark the idea for Tangerine, a multi-story film set in the world of Hollywood transgender prostitutes of color, and Mark loved the idea and agreed to provide the financing. While it was relatively easy (and fast) money, it wasn't enough to shoot on an Alexa or a RED, (and there was no room in the budget for an AC or DIT), and Sean wasn't interested in shooting on a DSLR because he wanted it to look different somehow. After exploring videos on Vimeo, he came across several that were using a new anamorphic adapter from a company called Moondog Labs. These adapters were designed for the iPhone 5 and he fell in love with the look. In addition to the price being right--he already had an iPhone--he knew the small footprint would benefit his lead actors, two non-pros he met at an LGBT center in Hollywood, down the street from where they would eventually shoot much of Tangerine. 

While Duplass was excited about the idea of shooting on an iPhone, (and was both supportive when it was needed and also incredibly hands off), Sean shot a series of tests with the iPhone and the actors and created a four minute music video using the test footage, eventually showing it to cast and crew as proof of concept. In addition to the Moondog adapter, Sean also utilized the Filmic Pro iPhone app, which gives you better control over focus, exposure, white balance, and perhaps most importantly, bit rate, allowing him to shoot at a much higher 50Mbps rate. He also made good use of the Smoothee camera support, made by Steadicam. While it took awhile to get the hang of the Smoothee, he soon developed his own style of shooting with this set-up.

Production started in December 2013 with Sean shooting exclusively for the first week while his regular DP Radium Cheung, (who worked with him not only on Starlet, but also on his TV show Warren The Ape), was traveling. Radium also developed his own shooting style and the two of them shot simultaneously. At first Sean was using steady tracking shots to cover the action, then he tried things like riding alongside on his bicycle. Eventually, he got more experimental, using dramatic swooping shots that mirrored the material in the script. This is when they knew they were on to something--they knew they needed to be participating in the chaos and the tiny cameras were giving them the freedom and ability to do so.  I remember being struck by several dynamic "crane" shots, which were produced by mounting the iPhone to the end of a $35 painters pole. Try that with a 14 pound Alexa!

They shot for 23 days, (and one additional day--Christmas Eve 2014--right before Sundance), which might seem exorbitant except that they were working with inexperienced actors, so Sean knew they needed plenty of time to get the performances just right. And these were in no way conventional shooting days. Most days were pretty casual, so there were no killer 14 hour days. Most of the film was shot around magic hour; typically they would work from around 1pm to 10pm. The crew was experienced, but small: Director, AD, DP, Sound Mixer, and Sean’s frequent collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou, who wore multiple hats as Costume Designer, Props, AC, Graphic Designer and Producer.  Lighting was very limited, with Radium using a portable LED light as fill when necessary. Sound, on the other hand, was a beast.  Veteran sound mixer Irin Strauss recorded dialogue on his Sound Devices 664 in an Altman style, with wireless lavs on everyone (and he used a boom mic too). His unit was bigger than anything having to do with camera. In the climatic scene, he was live mixing eight tracks at once, and because all the actors were on separate tracks, they could choose in post which lines to bring up to the forefront.