Hand Held Hollywood officially ceased operations on September 17th, 2024. The site will remain online for archival and research purposes. The App Directory continues to receive updates as needed. If you’d like to contact Taz, the contact form is still functional. We also invite you to join Taz’s mailing list here.

A person is holding up a cell phone with a picture on it from CES.

CES: Tiffen’s Photo FX & Cool FX Apps

Photo FX and Cool FX are a pair of potentially useful filter-emulation apps from Tiffen, one of the best known companies in the photographic filter business. Each of the two apps contains a variety of digital reproductions of existing, real-world filters. You can apply one, or more, and make various adjustments along the way.

The apps only work with stills… not videos.  So, for now, they’re best used as previsualization tools — a way for directors and cinematographers to get a sense of what their final shots might look like.

At least, that’s the theory….

Are there any cinematographers out there who have used these apps? To the apps accurately represent their real-life counterparts?  Let us know in the comments below!

Check out the video to learn more about the apps.

The app was not found in the store. 🙁

More to explore

Mobile phone shooting video of the sunset

Heading Into the Sunse— Hang on. I have a call.

Dear iPhone fanatics and filmmaking friends, This will be the final post for Hand Held Hollywood. To loyal HHH readers, I’m sure this feels somewhat overdue. Probably because it is.

Shang-Chi Poster

Shang-Chi Director Directed From His iPhone

I enjoyed reading this brief ScreenRant story, so I thought I’d share it here. It describes how Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, was forced to direct an important scene via his iPhone while in the hospital for the birth of his child! Sadly, it doesn’t divulge the details of that unusual workflow, but it’s an excellent reminder that we’re all toting the world’s most versatile piece of filmmaking gear in our pockets and purses!