Tangerine Reflection

Sean Baker’s Tangerine, a film that documents the lives of transgender sex workers, was filmed entirely on iPhone 5S phones, which I found incredibly shocking. Personally, when I consider the process of creating a motion picture, especially one that would be streamed and advertised on a site as prominent as Netflix, I think about expensive equipment, large film crews, big name actors, etc. This film is a testament to the accessibility of today’s world. With simply an iPhone of two, you can create a high definition motion picture. This fact widely expands the world of so-called “gatekeeping” that is omnipresent in our world ruled by media. If such a vast audience can create major motion pictures by simply using the camera installed in their smartphones, then what is stopping people now?

I found Baker’s Tangerine to be an inspiration to amateur filmmakers. Today’s gadgets are so powerful; we can share our creations with millions of other humans with the click of a button. People are creating more rapidly than ever, and content is doubling, and tripling by the minute. Tangerine may have been a film created by amateurs with far humbler devices than a huge blockbuster, but it proves itself as a truthful and honest representation of today’s world and the technology that exists at the fingertips of the masses.