Screenlife orcomputer screen film is a form ofvisual storytelling in which events are shown entirely on acomputer, tablet, orsmartphone screen. It became popular in the 2010s owing to the growing impact of theInternet and mobile devices. Within avideo essay, the format is often calleddesktop documentary.
According toTimur Bekmambetov, the Russian-Kazakh producer of the filmSearching, 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.[1][2][3] There have, however, also been movies that switch between screens and are still categorized as screenlife.[citation needed]
Screenlife footage can be displayed such on devices acomputer,smartphone,smart TV ortablet and show actions of the main character on the device, such asweb browsing,online chatting andvideo calling.[citation needed]
Screenlife film can be made in different genres,horror,thriller,comedy. It was originally regarded as a new storytelling format because the computer or smartphone screen is used in journalism and advertising as a visual source.[4][5][6][7] Screenlife takes elements from thepseudo-documentary andfound footage formats (e.g.The Blair Witch Project,Paranormal Activity).[8]
The earliest experimentations of a combination of a classic film format and the use of computer screens were made in the 2000s such as the dramaThomas in Love and the horror filmThe Collingswood Story shows everything through the web cameras of the main characters.[citation needed]
In 2014, the full-length screenlife filmUnfriended byLevan Gabriadze was released. It earned $64 million at the box office on a budget of $1 million, and spawned a sequel calledUnfriended: Dark Web in 2018.
One of the first successful screenlife films is the 2018 thrillerSearching, directed byAneesh Chaganty. The main roles were played byJohn Cho andDebra Messing. The film received theAlfred P. Sloan Prize at theSundance Film Festival[9] and collected in world box office over $75 million with a budget of about $700,000[10][11][12] and received a sequel,Missing, in 2023.
In the screenlife format the movement of the cursor is sometimes important because the viewer's attention is concentrated on it.[13]
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.[14]
