Why shoot a $75MM movie on an iPhone?

[@iphoneographers]

***One note I need to include... I just got a message today from Vadym who is the founder and CEO of Beastgrip addressing what I said in the video about the DOF adapter NOT being theirs... Well, he wanted to clarify that what he originally told me was "they cannot provide any information" about it. So I took that as he didn't know anything about it. But after his new message what he mightt've meant was "he can't talk about it" - meaning maybe he's under an NDA or they asked him to keep it confidential - or maybe he just doesn't know. But it's now possible that the DOF adapter they used in "28 Years Later" was either the same prototype Beastgrip used in their short film called "O2", which I talk about in a previous video - and that DOF adapter is not for sale and may never be. The other thing is it also works differently than their consumer DOF MK3 version and allows you to use more lenses (including PL mount) and also doesn't have a focus vignette. Or it could be a modified version of their current DOF adapter. So long story short, it's possible they did use it for this movie. :) Once I find out for sure I'll update everyone. -BC

[@innatemusic]

I've been shooting on the iPhone since the 7 Plus, and I've watched it get better with every iteration. It's amazing to see how far tech has gotten and only getting better. Great review, man!

[@inknpaintCW]

Iphone is often my Bcam in clutch situations. I have shocked a few directors and producers with how closely I can match my phone to the Acam.

[@Mangolite]

Several feature-length films have been made using iPhones, including critically acclaimed ones. Examples include: 1. Tangerine (2015) • Shot on an iPhone 5S. • Premiered at Sundance and received widespread acclaim for its bold storytelling and innovative cinematography. 2. 9 Rides (2016) • Shot on an iPhone 6S by Matthew A. Cherry. • Premiered at SXSW, marking another step forward for smartphone-based filmmaking. 3. Unsane (2018) • Shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus. • Directed by Steven Soderbergh, a major Hollywood filmmaker. 4. High Flying Bird (2019) • Another Steven Soderbergh film shot on an iPhone 8. • A Netflix production showcasing the potential of mobile filmmaking.

[@iphoneographers]

Yep absolutely and I've covered most of them on the channel. But none of them were studio movies that cost $75MM.

[@Tonicshades]

@@iphoneographersLikely they used iPhone for 65% of the film where needed, alongside heavy rigging and attachments (expensive lenses), paid for stock footage such for aerial shots, and for dark and tough scenes were used on Red cameras or something similar. The "Shot on iPhone" is a gimmick deploy to get people to become interested, especially film enthusiasts.

[@domehouse79]

@@iphoneographerscould you clarify why you put $75mm. I’m not sure what the second ‘m’ stands for.

[@ma-scalia8629]

@@domehouse7975 million monies duh 🤪

[@goobfilmcast4239]

Total Amateur here: If a major motion picture can be shot on equipment you can buy from the Apple Store for under 1500 bucks, it simply re-enforces the fact that the entry cost for budding Filmmakers and Creatives have indeed fallen immensely. I am sure that Sony, RED et al have been taking notice of this. For a small shop, the ability to use low-cost, lightweight equipment to repeatedly test and practice for the best possible shots...on a tiny budget...is amazing. During a recent interview Actor/Director Dev Patel stated he continued to shoot scenes on iPhones for his last release "Monkey Man" when money ran short and most of his crew was furloughed. Consider that you can also edit that same footage on a current Apple Mac Studio (Apple named that correctly) for under $4000 and even less if you're just a little more patient with render/export times. Free versions of Da Vinci Resolve and the relative low purchase price of Pro-level apps like Final Cut are the cherry on top.

[@Marcus_Visbal]

The problem is, it wasn’t shot with just a 1500 Apple Store piece of equipment. There was massive lens adapters and tons of rigging done. The excuse was “it’s easier to fit in tight spaces” but after seeing photos, there was most likely some funding going on behind the scenes. Long story short, you can’t just shoot a feature film with just the iPhone

[@goobfilmcast4239]

​@@Marcus_Visbal yes of course..and Apple is probably the studio producing...that said... as a basic camera "body", current iPhones offer lots of flexibility and flat-out fantastic imaging performance right out of the box...cheap. Consider: With the lower cost of the iPhones (and smaller footprint), indy filmmakers or otherwise small shops could afford multiple cams for each shot. Also, there are 3rd party apps, like Blackmagic Camera .... Another great freebie... that extend the iPhone built-in capabilities....and iPhones will only continue to get faster and more feature-rich.

[@alexwr]

The 'body' of the camera is an iPhone, but it is still kitted out for each shoot to make it look significantly better than just an iPhone and nothing else. I mean, the lights alone on a movie shoot will probably cost in the hundreds of thousands at least. Yes, you can shoot a movie on just a phone, but from the trailer, I don't know about you, but I could tell that it was a smaller sensor camera. It works for a zombie apocalypse movie, but I wouldn't want to shoot most styles of movie on a phone. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased consumer technology is getting THIS good. But something like the Sony FX3 or 30 would have been just as cheap and better looking after you consider all the additional custom pieces of gear required to make the iPhone suitable for movie production.

[@btn237]

@@Marcus_Visbal you’re right about what happened with this movie, but wrong in your overall point. Steven Soderbergh set out to film with the most basic consumer equipment for ‘High Flying Bird’. He used a DJI Osmo I think for the tracking shots.

[@JAMs6504]

Not really. They also shot on I think the XL1 for the original version. That’s definitely not a cinema camera. It’s so it feels more documentarian.

[@gregf9160]

Quite a few Commercial movies have been filmed, for very valid optical / stylistic reasons, on iPhones.

[@anthonyrock5039]

$1,500. Phone plus $20,000 lens and (priceless) dof adapter hmmm similar to the fx3 in the scifi film. As always lighting, set design sets the stage for the look. Acting with a great story and even then, it can all fall apart without Good sound

[@tokelahti]

iPpro’s tele lens focal length, what is it again?

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

Incredible video, iPhoneographers. Looking forward to seeing your next upload from you. I crushed that thumbs up icon on your content. Keep up the fantastic work! Your breakdown of the filming techniques used in the new Danny Bole movie is fascinating. How do you think the advancements in smartphone technology will continue to influence filmmaking in the coming years?

[@iphoneographers]

Thanks for watching! The tech will only keep getting better. And it's already converging, meaning mobile filmmaking is just filmmaking. You don't call shooting with a mirrorless camera "mirrorless filmmaking". And while mobile can be more portable (not in this movie though), it's just filmmaking now. And that's a good thing.

[@wrighty338]

i cant wait for this movie and its shot on iphone, that is crazy

[@LouisLuzuka]

Would you say the 15 pro or 15 pro max would be a good upgrade to my 12 pro max 😮

[@camerastooge]

I upgraded last year from a 12pm to 15pm. If you use your iPhone to create video content, it's worth it IMO.

[@LouisLuzuka]

@ what color and what storage size u get? I’m so tempted to upgrade! Thanks

[@camerastooge]

@@LouisLuzuka I got the 1 TB natural titanium. I know I didn’t need all that memory, but I figured why not.

[@LouisLuzuka]

@ I love natural titanium but do you use all the memory because I was gonna go with 256gb

[@camerastooge]

@ I don’t think I’ve even come close to 256 lol… but to be fair I tend to delete large files on a regular basis. You really only need 1TB if you’re going to do LOTS of run and gun shooting. Especially now that iPhones have USB-C and you can record to or dump footage onto an external drive.

[@Gil_Gilbert]

Great job. Good insight.

[@pdcorlis]

Thank you for walking us through this production. Do you think an Anamorphic adapter was used to get the aspect ratio of the final deliverable or was it simply a crop in edit? One thing I am continuing to learn is - the iPhone’s technology is making the impossible, possible.

[@iphoneographers]

I think it was shot that way. It's probable the DOF adapter accepted PL mount lenses.

[@pauls1ngh]

If Sony pictures didn’t choose THEIR OWN Xperia 1 VI or V over the iPhone, how can they expect us to? Do Sony Pictures & the Mobile divisions not talk to each other? If I was working for Xperia I would be royally pissed.

[@iphoneographers]

Those Xperias are pretty nice phones. But they don't shoot ProRes, which is an industry standard codec. So might be one reason...

[@captureinsidethesound]

@@iphoneographers, Android phones can shoot RAW image sequences and also compressed formats similar to ProRes. They likely used iPhones based solely on familiarity and software/OS stability. Also, iPhones use Sony sensors which I’m sure Sony makes more off these iPhones than the Xperia.

[@captureinsidethesound]

iPhones use Sony sensors. The Xperia is still crippled by Android which is a hardware resource hog in comparison to iOS.

[@pauls1ngh]

@@iphoneographers Makes sense. Love your videos as always. Merry Christmas 🎄 🎅🏻

[@stannibal8226]

Will I need to watch 28 Months Later before seeing this one?

[@iphoneographers]

Good question, but not sure!

[@minixtvbox]

​@@iphoneographersyes

[@YoungBlaze]

Oh yes... You should

[@Deano482]

You should deffo watch it first, I’m gonna watch all of them again

[@selfproclaimednobody4614]

Yes

[@domehouse79]

I would have to disagree when you said you can’t get that shallow depth of field with an iPhone. You most certainly can with the 2x lens on the new iPhone.

[@liquidsnow1]

Production and droneshots are made with an iphone 15 pro and all the dialed focus shots are made in post filmed with iphone 15 pro, and the high altitude "drone"shots are CGI.

[@mdturnerinoz]

What about "Cinematic Mode" using the iPhone native camera? You can "fake" shallow focus with that, can't you? I will most likely miss this though; haven't cared for Zombie movies since the original "Night of the Living Dead" other than "Warm Bodies" and the two Jessie Eisenberg Zombie movies. An over-worn genre' for me.

[@iphoneographers]

The quality of the video in that mode is not great. It's also over-sharpened and has a baked in look. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty cool feature and I hope it evolves, but right now I wouldn't shoot a movie with it - however, for social media or even short films, etc. it's pretty good.

[@LouisLuzuka]

I love my phone ❤

[@bigrobotnewstoday1436]

I know the director knows his stuff. But I think its better to film on a pro movie camera with raw that uses two card slots. You can still use a low gain or low ISO to get that dark look and that fast choppy look is just a fast shutter speed. He filmed on the iPhone to get the news out in the press. Did you know this movie was shot on a iPhone? The local news will even cover it. Its a marketing gimmick to tell you the truth.

[@domehouse79]

Why did you put $75mm?

[@PursuitsHouseOfPost]

Could just be me but even the trailer itself seems to have a lot of banding(?)

[@elchamber]

So basically it was for people to start talking about it

[@seecraig]

We're fast reaching a point where it's no longer about getting the best (most expensive) camera but getting the right camera for the job. If shallow DOF isn't critical, the iPhone, with proper and very inexpensive ancillary gear, can give you greater flexibility in mounting options, the number of cameras used, gimbal mobility, etc. Even on a reasonably big budget film, it allows to allocate more money to other needs (could be lighting or CGI for example).

[@Sino_89]

Okay but the movie looks like shot on a calculator... it was their intentions, many filmmakers buy a old camera for vintage feelings... these cams can only 1 thing... they're not dynamic & flexible like a pro-camera in post.

[@M.I.F..]

...weil man dann von Apple bestimmt ein paar Millionen bekommt. Ganz einfach.

[@chumcool]

Drone shots are 100% iPhone…. Just read an interview with Danny Boyle…

[@iphoneographers]

Nice. Where is the interview?

[@chumcool]

Also, stop using the WHITE letterbox… That’s not how eyes work…

[@iphoneographers]

I think there’s 17 stops of dynamic range there. 😂

[@chumcool]

@ lol

[@TheGoodContent37]

75 million dollars made the movie, not the freaking Iphone.