iMUPPET: Episode 1

Just a little something different: I bought an iPhone last weekend because they're shiny, so here's a cheeky wee look at some lovely, relevant stuff you can download onto yours! The following apps and podcasts may well work on other devices, but I can't guarantee this to be the case. If any of the following take your fancy, then simply search for them in the iTunes store and they'll pop up, all nice and shiny. So, here goes...



FilmLive.TV: Filmmaking WebTV Network

Hooray! Free video podcasts from one of Scotland's best film networking websites, FilmLive. FilmLive is a filmmakers' network and web TV channel aiming to bring together creatives, and provide an insight into the wonderful world of filmmaking. Podcasts are of great quality and make for very interesting viewing. Plus they're free!

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Hitchcock Storyboard Composer

This is an amazing iPhone app (with a cost of £11.99), which words as a fully-featured storyboarding and pre-vis tool for directors. Take on-location photos of backdrops with your iPhone and add traditional storyboarding mark-ups such as dolly, zoom and pan. You can even add stand-ins if you are without an actor in the pre-production phase, and can export your finished storyboards as a .PDF document for distribution. Incidentally, the app has received glowing user reviews.

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ScriptWrite

Streamlined yet fully functioning script writing software for your iPhone, should you fancy writing a quick scene whilst you're on the train. Some scoff at the idea, whilst others lap it up, but for £2.99 and a free update on the horizon to fix some small niggles, you can't really complain. Your work can be imported into desktop script writing software such as Final Draft and Celtx.

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iFilmmaker Pro

This is a bit like a filmmaker's version of Trivial Pursuit where you answer a bunch of questions split into five main categories: editing, script writing, directing, acting and cinematography. It's a bit daft but it's a fun way to waste a few minutes of your meaningless life, and you're pretty much garaunteed to learn at least something! Compare scores with your friends. Shun filmmakers who get low scores and sneer in their general direction. Endless fun, I'm sure...

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Media Muppet App

Okay so it's not a REAL app, but you can add MM to your iPhone's home menu and it gets a cool little iPhone icon like the one above. It's a condensed version of the full site which gives you a full summary of all recent site activity, view to the forums, your profile pages, and the profile pages of all members. MM Mobile is streamlined for mobile browsing, and loads like a bullet.

Simply add MM to your home screen whilst browsing on Safari. If you've found this mini feature on iPhone stuff to be even remotely amusing/interesting then let me know and I might work on similar stuff in the future. Post a comment etc.

- Billy