[4] 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.
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.
[10][better source needed] The earliest experimentations of a combination of a classic film format and the use of computer screens were made in the 2000s.
[21] In 2021, SXSW also presented a vertical miniseries iBible: Swipe Righteous as a modern retelling of Bible stories on a smartphone screen.
[23] In June 2021, 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.
[24][25] In the screenlife format, the film set is the desktop of the computer, and the files, folders and screen wallpapers are the decorations.
The post-production time is compensated for by a shorter production period compared to the traditional cinema (for example, Searching was filmed in 13 days).