So, kid, you want to be a filmmaker? Well, it looks like you might be one already.

Filmmaking can seem like an unreachable profession when you’re miles away from Hollywood, without thousand dollar equipment. But with the help of modern technology, many people have the tools for creating cinema sitting in their pocket.

Directors like Ocean’s Eleven (2001)’s Steven Soderbergh and The Florida Project (2017)’s Sean Baker have used smartphones to make acclaimed films like High Flying Bird (2019) and Tangerine (2015), so what’s stopping you? In fact, you might already be a filmmaker in your own right whether or not you’re aware of it.

Here are four lessons on cinema that you’ve already learned just by playing around on your phone.

Lesson One – Composition:

Whether you’re attempting that perfect shot of a landscape or just trying to fit your friend into a selfie, you’ve already begun wrestling with the tools of composition. Simply put, composition is paying attention to what’s in the shot.

If you’ve ever moved something an inch to the right because it made the picture feel better, you’ve likely got a keen sense of composition built into you. We even do this for posed family photos, making sure the right people are standing in a logical sequence.

It sounds like a complicated subject, and certainly can be studied and mastered. But composition is a tool you already use every time you tilt the camera up one inch to make sure everything in the frame feels whole.

Lesson Two – Editing:

What stays in and what gets left out? Social media is almost entirely based around editing and curating what you say and show to the public. This applies specifically to film in many ways.

You’ve taken a fifteen second video of your friend goofing off. But you only have six or maybe 10 seconds of time on any given app. What do you do? Knowing which pieces of the video to trim away, and which are essential for the set-up and punchline, is the essence of editing.

Memes even emphasize this phenomenon. Juxtaposing two images creates a laugh or thoughtful argument. Editing is all about that idea; placing two or more distinct images against each other and letting a story, joke, or emotional beat flow naturally.

Lesson Three – Filters and Lenses:

Many filmmakers emphasize the differences between shooting in digital or on film stock. This is because each format offers a unique look, and different projects and styles require distinct appearances. And caring deeply about the presentation of a shot – not simply what is in the image – isn’t that far off from using filters and lenses online.

You know that a brighter filter, one that highlights pastels and soft lights, helps with a picture meant to be soothing. Or maybe black and white is used for a nostalgic photo. Filmmaking isn’t just about capturing what’s in front of you. It’s about playing around with how that image will transform between the moment your eye sees it and the second you share it with the world.

Lesson Four – Narrative:

Filmmaking, even when documentary or experimental, is often about some kind of narrative. Storytelling takes many shapes, from your basic beats of a Hollywood blockbuster to a more emotional narrative arc of an impressionistic indie. All of these techniques, from composition to editing to filters, are used to hook an audience onto that story. And that’s what you’ve been doing all this time on social media.

You’ve been telling the story of you, or your friends, or your passions through filmmaking and photography. Now all you need is to dig into those tools and learn how to tell a different story, or even the same story in a new way. Making a film isn’t that different from updating your social media feed, at least in the basic goal: showing an audience something they’ve never seen before.

Now that you know the filmmaking basics, learn more at Facets Film 101 Summer Camp. We’ll help you take these tools that you’ve gained from everyday use and apply them to the vast and thrilling artistic field of cinema. Sign up here.

Author: Josh Oakley is formerly a critic, currently in film marketing and, hopefully someday, an author.