'28 Years Later' to Be First Blockbuster Movie Shot on iPhone

[Razorpit]

Typically because Arri, Panavision and Sony are more rugged, easier to rig, do not overheat and are the cameras that DPs, Directors and Producers like/trust.

We will see if Blackmagic Design’s 17k 65mm, 12k Cine full frame and Pyxis 6k full frame have any impact on that.

Don't tell Alex Lindsay that. 😄 I remember years ago he wouldn't shut up about RED cameras. Granted things may have changed over the years, I stopped listening to MacBreak Weekly almost 4-5 years ago now. The way he was talking back then all other manufacturers might as well just go out of business.

 

[StuBeck]

I am sure that the Academy Award winning director needs the tiny amount of publicity he is going to get for his artistic choice to make sure his film is a hit.



Pretty sure that was why he talked about his previous artistic choices (a Canon DV camera and a 16mm film camera). Also, I am pretty sure that Christopher Nolan had the same need to talk about having shot Oppenheimer on film. It would not have been a hit without that.



Better for what? There are small full frame cinema cameras that are easier to rig than mirrorless cameras, but given that both Danny Boyle and his DP have said it is about a look, I am pretty sure there is no mirrorless camera that looks more like an iPhone than an iPhone, so I would say that no mirrorless camera is better for their artistic choices.

Just out of curiosity, what was the last feature you shot? Was it done with a mirrorless camera? How about the last short film displayed at an industry event, major film festival or shown for Academy consideration?

Any reason we should trust your choices over Danny Boyles’s?

Nope! I can still have my opinion on why this was marketed as being shot on an iPhone...with multiple additional products that are vastly different from the iPhone I'm using though.

 

[Alan Wynn]

Don't tell Alex Lindsay that. 😄 I remember years ago he wouldn't shut up about RED cameras. Granted things may have changed over the years, I stopped listening to MacBreak Weekly almost 4-5 years ago now. The way he was talking back then all other manufacturers might as well just go out of business.

When RED first hit the market they were game changing for owner operators. That was a long time ago. Pretty sure he is not a RED guy any more. He has various Blackmagic Design and Sony cameras.

 

[Alan Wynn]

Nope! I can still have my opinion on why this was marketed as being shot on an iPhone...

It is not being marketed as being shot on an iPhone. Someone saw some BTS footage and realized that was what they were using. Of course you can have your opinion, but I am not sure why anyone would care about your thoughts on which cameras would be "better" (a term you have still not quantified) for someone else's film, unless you provide some reason based on your experience in the industry or in production.

with multiple additional products that are vastly different from the iPhone I'm using though.

It is a standard industry practice to describe a film as having been "shot on" what ever body was used. So "shot on an Alexa mini" rather than describing the full rig, lens choices, etc., by that convention, this is shot on an iPhone.

 

[steve09090]

It is not being marketed as being shot on an iPhone. Someone saw some BTS footage and realized that was what they were using. Of course you can have your opinion, but I am not sure why anyone would care about your thoughts on which cameras would be "better" (a term you have still not quantified) for someone else's film, unless you provide some reason based on your experience in the industry or in production.


It is a standard industry practice to describe a film as having been "shot on" what ever body was used. So "shot on an Alexa mini" rather than describing the full rig, lens choices, etc., by that convention, this is shot on an iPhone.

I was about to say that. People crapping on about Apple Sponsoring… or Marketed by…. None of this is Apple doing other than having a tool available that is sooooo versatile with excellent (yes excellent) raw footage that gives an award winning director the ability to hire big budget stars for a big budget film.

We all know what last years biggest film was shot on, and it wasn't RED or Canon or Sony etc. The biggest challenge was the best method to actually digitise it in the first place so as not to lose the feel or quality (which of course wasn’t possible). They just tried to minimise that loss. Even the best movie experiences were using a film version of the movie.

People crapping on about "the best camera is the best camera" simply aren’t worth responding to.

 

[macscreenwriter]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that when you shoot a scene with a smaller camera it isn't as daunting as if you have a huge rig staring you in the face. There are shots you can get that are smaller and more intimate and you hardly know the camera is there.

 

[falainber]

That would be an artistic choice. So yeah, why not?

The Blair Witch Project which was the first in its genre, used a Sony Camcorder, had a budget on $60,000 and is recorded as having made about $250,000,000 at the box office!

View attachment 2427642

I really don’t know why people are getting so hung up on pixel quality or technology restrictions. Most Cinematographers don’t use auto focus anyway. I also can’t think of a single video project that used LiDAR. Maybe TikTok with Cats riding robot vacuum's but then I don’t have TikTok, so that might be a thing 🤷‍♂️

The final cost of production for this film was $750K. The film was shot using 16mm camera and a camcorder. Camcorder footage was part of the scenario, it was a "found footage" shot by student filmmakers. iPhone being absolutely not suitable for professional filmmaking, 28 Years Later was filmed on a special rig with expensive attachments. For example, they used DOF adapter to attach full-frame DSLR lenses.

 

[steve09090]

The final cost of production for this film was $750K. The film was shot using 16mm camera and a camcorder. Camcorder footage was part of the scenario, it was a "found footage" shot by student filmmakers. iPhone being absolutely not suitable for professional filmmaking, 28 Years Later was filmed on a special rig with expensive attachments. For example, they used DOF adapter to attach full-frame DSLR lenses.

The question I have is.. wait for it…. So what? Who cares what adapter they use.

• Danny Boyle (Director) who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, and nominated for 127 hours, Trainspotting. He has 19 Academy Award nominations! FYI, his films have won 8 Academy Awards, 8 Bafta's and 6 Golden Globes. How many does it take to be deemed competent in film making? You could maybe even include some of his other massive films like The Beach, Yesterday & Sunshine.
• Anthony Dod Mantle (Cinematographer) who was a pioneer in digital cinematography with Lars Von Trier, won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. Notably, he also used the RED One on Wallander (you should watch it if you enjoy quality. It also has won a mountain of awards). Also notable for The Last King of Scotland, Rush and many more. I think he knows stuff about film making. Maybe even as much as some people on this Forum

What would they know?

If Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle say the iPhone is good enough, Without a shadow of a doubt, that’s Prima Facie proof that it is. Feel free to call them idiots.

 

[mogga71]

28 Days Later is also completely unavailable online. You can only watch it if you get the DVD or BluRay.

I think that is mainly down to the fact that its PQ is so incredibly poor in places .... by design it seems. I would rate the PQ as a 2/10 ... utterly dreadful. This is just a publicity stunt surely? Madness.

 

[mogga71]

Seems to me over half the posters here seem to have missed this piece from the article:

<quote>This was partly due to the need to film complex scenes depicting an abandoned central London under very limited time constraints, where bulky traditional film cameras would have taken too long to set up. The unique shot-on-digital aesthetic subsequently became an iconic part of the movie, so the use of iPhones to shoot the latest addition to the series seems to pay homage to the original film's use of camcorders.</quote>

Nope many of us didn't miss it. The so called 'iconic' part of the movie resulted in probably one of the worst quality of video I have ever seen in a movie .... it's dreadful. Repeating it is just a publicity stunt as there are now numerous professional cameras on the market that can be used in such circumstances and have much better PQ than an iPhone.

 

[steve09090]

Nope many of us didn't miss it. The so called 'iconic' part of the movie resulted in probably one of the worst quality of video I have ever seen in a movie .... it's dreadful. Repeating it is just a publicity stunt as there are now numerous professional cameras on the market that can be used in such circumstances and have much better PQ than an iPhone.

As above. What would an Academy Award winning Cinematographer know?

 

[falainber]

The question I have is.. wait for it…. So what? Who cares what adapter they use.

• Danny Boyle (Director) who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, and nominated for 127 hours, Trainspotting. He has 19 Academy Award nominations! FYI, his films have won 8 Academy Awards, 8 Bafta's and 6 Golden Globes. How many does it take to be deemed competent in film making? You could maybe even include some of his other massive films like The Beach, Yesterday & Sunshine.
• Anthony Dod Mantle (Cinematographer) who was a pioneer in digital cinematography with Lars Von Trier, won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. Notably, he also used the RED One on Wallander (you should watch it if you enjoy quality. It also has won a mountain of awards). Also notable for The Last King of Scotland, Rush and many more. I think he knows stuff about film making. Maybe even as much as some people on this Forum

What would they know?

If Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle say the iPhone is good enough, Without a shadow of a doubt, that’s Prima Facie proof that it is. Feel free to call them idiots.

Without the lens adapter, iPhone camera does not have aperture/DOF controls or variable zoom, which makes it a very poor choice for cinematography.

 

[steve09090]

Without the lens adapter, iPhone camera does not have aperture/DOF controls or variable zoom, which makes it a very poor choice for cinematography.

So you know more than Mantle or Boyd. Got it. Give them a call and tell them they don’t know what they are doing.

 

[falainber]

So you know more than Mantle or Boyd. Got it. Give them a call and tell them they don’t know what they are doing.

They know all of it very well. That's why they used the adapters and proper lenses which are way more expensive than iPhone. Still a stupid decision but they did address the biggest shortcomings in the iPhone camera.

 

[steve09090]

They know all of it very well. That's why they used the adapters and proper lenses which are way more expensive than iPhone. Still a stupid decision but they did address the biggest shortcomings in the iPhone camera.

The final cost of production for this film was $750K. The film was shot using 16mm camera and a camcorder. Camcorder footage was part of the scenario, it was a "found footage" shot by student filmmakers. iPhone being absolutely not suitable for professional filmmaking, 28 Years Later was filmed on a special rig with expensive attachments. For example, they used DOF adapter to attach full-frame DSLR lenses.

This was the post that I addressed. Absolutely Not Suitable you said Yet you think they have suddenly addressed it with an additional lens. I’ll take that as a backtrack. Like I said. If you know more about cinematography than MantLe or Boyd, you should let the, know. What credentials do you actually have to back up your incredible knowledge on this?

As I said. If Mantle/Boyd say it’s their preferred choice on this project, then that’s Prima Facie Proof.