Screenlife or computer screen film is a form of visual storytelling in which events are shown entirely on a computer , tablet or smartphone screen. It became popular in the 2010s owing to the growing impact of the Internet and mobile devices.
34-572: According to Timur Bekmambetov , the Russian-Kazakh director and producer, a computer screen film should take place on one specific screen, never move outside of the screen, the camerawork should resemble the behavior of the device's camera, all the action should take place in real time, without any visible transitions and all the sounds should originate from the computer. There have, however, also been movies that switch between screens and are still categorized as screenlife. After producing one of
68-418: A budget of $ 1 million; three years later, a sequel, Unfriended: Dark Web , appeared. Bekmambetov followed that up with the 2018 thriller led by John Cho , Searching , grossing more than $ 75 million worldwide. In 2019, he produced the ten-episode series Dead of Night for Snapchat , with the story revolving around a viral outbreak that turns people into zombies. It scored over 16 million viewers in
102-759: A producer). Profile is a political thriller about the online recruitment of a British journalist by an Islamic terrorist. The film received the Audience Choice Award in the Panorama program of the Berlin Film Festival and the SXSW Festival in the United States. In 2019, the first TV series about the zombie apocalypse called Dead of Night in screenlife format was released. It was available to view on smartphones in
136-676: A spot among Fast Company's 2021 World's Most Innovative Companies. Bekmambetov is the current owner of the former Walt Disney mansion in Los Angeles. Bekmambetov is married to the Russian urbanist Natalia Fishman-Bekmambetova, who worked on the restoration of Gorky Park in Moscow and the renovation of the city of Kazan . In a 2007 editorial about Day Watch in The Guardian , Bekmambetov compared president Vladimir Putin to
170-539: Is a Kazakh-born Russian film director , producer , screenwriter , and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic Night Watch (2004) and the action thriller Wanted (2008), as well as for the pioneering screenlife films Unfriended (2015), Searching (2018) and Profile (2018). He founded Baselevs, a production company that earned a spot among the 2021 World's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Video, according to Fast Company . Bekmambetov
204-501: Is a US-based production company founded by Hollywood director and producer Timur Bekmambetov . The company has been producing films such as Night Watch , Day Watch , Wanted , The Darkest Hour , Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Hardcore Henry . The company was involved in producing the animated film 9 , which was nominated for Best Animated Film in 2010 at the Producers Guild of America Awards 2009 . In
238-522: Is considered to be the first modern feature-length film using computer screens as a medium to depict the events happening in the film. In 2014, the full-length screenlife film Unfriended was released. It earned $ 64 million at the box office on a budget of $ 1 million, and spawned a sequel called Unfriended: Dark Web in 2018. The most successful screenlife movie is the 2018 thriller Searching , directed by Aneesh Chaganty . The main roles were played by John Cho and Debra Messing . The film received
272-438: Is not a genre of film, because screenlife movies can be made in different genres: horror , thriller , comedy , etc. It is mostly regarded as a new storytelling format because the computer or smartphone screen is used in journalism and advertising as a visual source. Screenlife takes elements from the pseudo-documentary and found footage formats (eg. The Blair Witch Project , Paranormal Activity ). The name "screenlife"
306-520: Is the pioneer of the Screenlife filmmaking, thus responding to people's life migrating to the digital world of mobile gadgets. In a screenlife film, viewers see the action play out from the POV of the computers, tablets or smartphones used by the characters. In 2015, Bekmambetov's debut screenlife production, the teen horror Unfriended , was picked up by Universal , grossing $ 65 million worldwide with
340-547: The Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and collected in world box office over $ 75 million with a budget of about $ 700,000 and received a sequel, Missing , in 2023. Also in 2018, another screenlife film Open Windows by Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo was released. In 2018, Bekmambetov first was the director of the screenlife film Profile (in all previous projects, he performed as
374-554: The Baltic states ). In 2010, the tape entered the 100 Best Films of World Cinema by Empire Magazine . The film received positive reviews from American directors Quentin Tarantino and James Gunn . Bekmambetov's Hollywood directorial debut was Universal's action thriller Wanted (2008), an adaptation of the graphic novel series created by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones . Starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman,
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#1732787938610408-747: The Hermitage Museum interiors was nominated for the Cannes Lions festival . Bekmambetov's directorial debut was Peshavar Waltz (1994) depicting the war fought by the USSR in Afghanistan. The film was dubbed in English as Escape from Afghanistan and released direct-to-video by Roger Corman in 2002. In 1998, Corman invited Bekmambetov to direct his production of The Arena (2001) starring Karen McDougal and Lisa Dergan . The film
442-577: The Moscow Power Engineering Institute in 1979 and left it in 1980, on the eve of the 1980 Summer Olympics . He was deported from Moscow on the grounds of being "unreliable" and moved to Tashkent , Uzbek SSR , to study at the Alexander Ostrovsky Theatrical and Artistic Institute , from which he graduated in 1987 with a degree in theater and cinema set design. Bekmambetov started his career in
476-613: The Snapchat application. In 2020, the second season was released. In 2021, the screenlife film R#J premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was an experimental romantic drama that adapts the love story of Romeo and Juliet to the modern world. R#J was also presented at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won an Adobe Editing Award. In March 2021, Timur Bekmambetov's Bazelevs studio was included in
510-530: The 2015 nonfiction bestseller In the Skin of a Jihadist by a French journalist Anna Erelle, Profile won a 2018 Audience Award by Berlin Film Festival . Bekmambetov's recent screenlife production, R#J , a Gen Z adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , premiered at Sundance 2021 and won a special prize at SXSW . The invention of the screenlife filmmaking technique brought Bekmambetov's Bazelevs
544-561: The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring . The sequel to Night Watch , Day Watch (2006), was likewise written and directed by Bekmambetov and set a new record for the Russian domestic box office, having grossed more than US$ 26 million in the first two weeks. The Russian blockbuster epic attracted the attention of Fox Searchlight Pictures , which paid US$ 4 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights (excluding Russia and
578-499: The action film grossed US$ 341 million worldwide, became Universal's highest grossing R-rated film, and earned two Oscar nominations. In 2009, alongside Tim Burton and Jim Lemley , Bekmambetov produced an animation film titled 9 (2009), the story of a rag doll in a post-apocalyptic world, directed by Shane Acker . In 2011, Bekmambetov produced the science fiction thriller Apollo 18 , together with The Weinstein Company, and
612-423: The decorations. The movement of the cursor is important because the viewer's attention is concentrated on it. The main difference between the post-production of traditional and screenlife films is the time required for editing. On average, editing screenlife movies takes 6–9 months. The post-production time is compensated for by a shorter production period compared to the traditional cinema (for example, Searching
646-545: The film's "light ones", saying "[Light and dark] doesn't mean good and bad. Dark means freedom and light means responsibility - and, in real life, Putin, for sure, is a light one. He is trying to fix everything, make everything organised somehow. But it's very bad for freedom". In 2022, Bekmambetov condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine , and called the boycott of Russian films in the West "emotional, sincere and reasonable". Producer only Bazelevs Company Bazelevs
680-538: The first mainstream feature-length computer screen films, Unfriended , in 2014, Bekmambetov popularized screenlife as a narrative device in film. Screenlife video displays only a desktop of a computer or smartphone and actions of the main character on this device: viewing files, surfing the Internet, Zoom or Skype calls, texting in messengers. Screenlife movies are most often made using screen recording software and simulate footage taken from real life. Screenlife
714-500: The first releasing month, and got extended for the second season. In 2020, Universal and Bekmambetov inked a deal to partner on five Hollywood features to be made in the screenlife format in various genres. In 2021, Focus Features released Profile , Bekmambetov's first directorial feature in the screenlife format, where a reporter goes online to catch a Jihadi recruiter to get a story on why and how European women join ISIS. Inspired by
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#1732787938610748-587: The late 1980s as a production designer at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent , Uzbekistan , and at Uzbek national film studio Uzbekfilm . He is currently signed to Artist International Group. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bekmambetov moved from Uzbekistan to Moscow, where he started making commercials for the Russian market. His commercial series World History , retelling life episodes of
782-488: The list of the most innovative companies in the world according to the American edition of Fast Company for the use of shooting technologies in the screenlife format. In 2021, SXSW also presented a vertical miniseries iBible: Swipe Righteous as a modern retelling of Bible stories on a smartphone screen. In March 2021, the media reported on the filming of the screenlife comedy #fbf with Ashley Judd . In June 2021,
816-458: The media reported about the filming of the new Hollywood screenlife thriller Resurrected (directed by Egor Baranov ) with Dave Davis ( Dybbuk ) in the leading role. The action of the film will occur in the near future, in which the Vatican has learned to resurrect people. In the screenlife format, the film set is the desktop of the computer, and the files, folders and screen wallpapers are
850-570: The most commercially successful Russian directors of the decade. In 2016, Bekmambetov directed Ben-Hur , the fifth film adaptation of the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace . At the same time, he produced the action film Hardcore Henry , directed by Ilya Naishuller, using the perspective of a first-person shooter. In 2017, Bekmambetov produced the historical drama The Current War starring Benedict Cumberbatch , Tom Holland , Nicholas Hoult and Michael Shannon . The film
884-589: The science fiction film The Darkest Hour set in Moscow and produced by New Regency . In 2012, Bekmambetov directed and produced the live-action adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith 's novel – Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter , together with Tim Burton and Jim Lemley . He was awarded the 2012 International Filmmaker of the Year award by the National Association of Theatre Owners . In 2013, Variety (Russian Edition) named Bekmambetov one of
918-593: The screen a new universe based on the unexploited works in the horror genre by the Marvel Сomics creator Stan Lee . In December 2022, Bekmambetov sold the Bazelevs film studio in Russia to its general producer, Lala Rustamova, and commercial director, Timur Asadov. Bekmambetov has completely retired from the Russian business, but the studio will continue to cooperate with him as a filmmaker and screenwriter. Bekmambetov
952-473: The summer of 2010 in Moscow, they filmed the Russo-American projects The Darkest Hour , in cooperation with 20th Century Fox , New Regency , Summit Entertainment and Kikoriki. Team Invincible in cooperation with Columbia Pictures , in the United States with Bekmambetov as a producer. In 2015, the company have since released films in a new format titled "Screenlife" which each film is shot in
986-412: The world's prominent rulers (from Nero and Tamerlan to Napoleon and the last Russian emperor Nicholas ), is still considered the best video advertising in Russia. In 1994, he founded Bazelevs , an advertising and film production company, in Russia. Its advertising division continues making commercials for major Russian and international brands; in 2021, its commercial featuring Apple's new iPhone in
1020-401: Was a remake of the 1974 gladiator exploitation film The Arena . In 2004, Bekmambetov wrote and directed Night Watch (2004), a Russian fantasy film based on the book by Sergey Lukyanenko . The film was the first Russian production which, after the demise of the Soviet Union, managed to top the domestic box office, making US$ 16.7 million in Russia alone, thus overtaking The Lord of
1054-516: Was born on 25 June 1961 in the city of Atyrau , formerly known as Guriev . His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, worked in management positions with the energy supplier GuryevEnergo. He was chief power engineer of Western Kazakhstan. His mother, Mira Bogoslovskaya, was deputy editor leading the party issues department at the regional newspaper Prikaspiyskaya Kommuna . He has Kazakh ancestry on his father's side, and Jewish ancestry on his mother's side. After graduation from school, Bekmambetov entered
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1088-443: Was coined by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov who has directed and produced several films under this genre. The earliest experimentations of a combination of a classic film format and the use of computer screens were made in the 2000s. For example, the horror movie The Collingswood Story shows everything through the web cameras of the main characters. Nonetheless, the 2013 horror film The Den by American director Zachary Donohue
1122-517: Was filmed in 13 days). Screencasting software is usually used to decorate the device screen, and a GoPro camera is used for shooting. The cast members often need to be the camerapeople to bring life to the film. Timur Bekmambetov Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov ( Russian : Тимур Нуруахитович Бекмамбетов , pronounced [tʲɪˈmur nʊrʊɐˈxʲitəvʲɪt͡ɕ bʲɪkmɐmˈbʲetəf] ; Kazakh : Темір Нұрбақытұлы Бекмамбетoв , romanized : Temır Nūrbaqytūly Bekmambetov ; born 25 June 1961)
1156-557: Was inspired by the 19th-century war of currents between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse . In 2021, Bekmambetov directed the WW2 action film V2. Escape from Hell , with its aircraft battle scenes using the War Thunder game engine. The film was released in Russia both theatrically as a feature and on a streaming platform as a smartphone-only vertical series. In 2021, Deadline announced that Bekmambetov would be bringing to
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