Apple's 'Romeo and Juliet' ad puts iPhone 7 Plus camera in focus

Posted:
in iPhone edited December 2016
Apple on Monday released its latest iPhone ad, a touching 30-second short highlighting the dual-camera system introduced with iPhone 7 Plus.




The spot, titled "Romeo and Juliet," plays on Act II Scene II of Shakespeare's masterwork. Known colloquially as the balcony scene, Capulet's Orchard is unquestionably one of the most famous scenes in all of theater. In Apple's take, all roles are played by children.

The ad leads with a cinematic shot: exterior, nighttime, Capulet's estate. Inside, Juliet is alerted to Romeo's presence. She rushes to the balcony, "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Apple's version skips a few lines, moving straight into Romeo's response, "Call me but love." Interestingly, Romeo glosses over the "and I'll be new baptized" line.

Cut to a contrasting shot of a teary-eyed man holding an iPhone 7 Plus. Instead of a movie version of "Romeo and Juliet" starring a cast of kids, we realize the reenactment is merely a school play as seen through the eyes of Juliet's father, who is in the audience filming.





With proper cinematography giving way to an amateur recording, Apple implies iPhone 7 Plus offers users unrivaled camera quality to capture the most special of moments. Indeed, the ad ends with the tagline "Your movies look like movies on iPhone 7."

"Romeo and Juliet" is the latest in Apple's "practically magic" commercial series which started with the ad "Balloons" in September. Like most consumer companies, Apple is getting into the Christmas spirit. Like holiday themed TV spots of yore, today's ad tugs on the heartstrings, much like last month's ad "Frankie's Holiday."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    False advertisement!  Completely false!  Neither iPhone 7 nor iPhone 7 Plus can provide bokeh effect in video mode.  Apple is still struggling to come out of the portrait beta mode in still photo!
  • Reply 2 of 14
    JhoseaJhosea Posts: 5unconfirmed, member
    It does work in video and does so reasonably well, foreground or background. 
    Solilondormike1
  • Reply 3 of 14
    Jhosea said:
    It does work in video and does so reasonably well, foreground or background. 
    Do you even own an iPhone 7 Plus?  Portrait mode is only in photo or live photo.  Do your fact check first.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    patsupatsu Posts: 430member
    The man zoomed into his daughter's face. It's not portrait mode video. May be it's the optical zoom from the telephoto lens ?

    The 7+ camera also supports P3 color profile, like digital theaters.

    Portrait mode shot is just another feature not directly called out in this commercial. 

    The camera has more than one salient feature.

    EDIT:
    Oh, the 7 series phones also sport a P3 wide gamut screen. So viewing P3 media on them should be more like the real world.
    It's not just the camera. It's the camera and the screen.
    edited December 2016 Solijay-t
  • Reply 5 of 14
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    bingo1 said:
    False advertisement!  Completely false!  Neither iPhone 7 nor iPhone 7 Plus can provide bokeh effect in video mode.  Apple is still struggling to come out of the portrait beta mode in still photo!
    The only footage of him using the iphone is when he zooms in on her face on stage. there is no bokeh effect. 

    Hate again. Harder this time. 
    Solilondorericthehalfbeejay-tmike1watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 14
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    bingo1 said:
    False advertisement!  Completely false!  Neither iPhone 7 nor iPhone 7 Plus can provide bokeh effect in video mode.  Apple is still struggling to come out of the portrait beta mode in still photo!
    Not really. Even with my version 1 iPad mini I can create that effect. It is not bokeh. The foreground is in focus and the background, being far away, is out of focus. Bokeh effect on iPhone 7+ is artificially making a nearby background out of focus or containing lens artifacts, usually in high contrast environments like outdoor sun or bright Christmas tree lights. I don't see that in this clip. I think this ad is about low light shadow detail.
    edited December 2016 Solilondormike1
  • Reply 7 of 14
    sirlance99sirlance99 Posts: 1,293member
    You're not going to get that good of shots from a iPhone 7 at a school play and make it look anywhere near as good as this ad is trying to make it look like. 
  • Reply 8 of 14
    patsupatsu Posts: 430member
    What ?! What I see on that ad's iPhone screen is what I see on my iPhone.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 9 of 14
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    You're not going to get that good of shots from a iPhone 7 at a school play and make it look anywhere near as good as this ad is trying to make it look like. 
    Do you have an iPhone7?

    It would be very odd if you did. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 14
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,101member
    Taken with my 7 plus




    edited December 2016 macxpressStrangeDaysDonvermo
  • Reply 11 of 14
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    can't wait for every commercial on tv to imitate this in some way...it's gotten to the point of after apple released its apple watch 2 ads with a fast paced beat clicking in the background 75% of commercials on tv copied within a month
    edited December 2016 watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 14
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    You're not going to get that good of shots from a iPhone 7 at a school play and make it look anywhere near as good as this ad is trying to make it look like. 
    This is an ad, not a documentary. I have also never seen such a beautifully acted school play. Nothing about this is real. Just like the every other Apple ad ever. 
  • Reply 13 of 14
    paxman said:
    You're not going to get that good of shots from a iPhone 7 at a school play and make it look anywhere near as good as this ad is trying to make it look like. 
    This is an ad, not a documentary. I have also never seen such a beautifully acted school play. Nothing about this is real. Just like the every other Apple ad ever. 
    Are you saying that the hammer through the big screen was not real?  I am devastated!
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 14 of 14
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    2old4fun said:
    paxman said:
    You're not going to get that good of shots from a iPhone 7 at a school play and make it look anywhere near as good as this ad is trying to make it look like. 
    This is an ad, not a documentary. I have also never seen such a beautifully acted school play. Nothing about this is real. Just like the every other Apple ad ever. 
    Are you saying that the hammer through the big screen was not real?  I am devastated!
    smiley Sorry. Its not real. I know a lot of people hated that ad because they'd never seen a beautiful shorts clad athlete throw a hammer at a cinema screen and so felt it was false advertising. I think some people also didn't believe that cinema screens could shatter. But if it makes you feel any better - all the I'm a Mac ads were real. Really.
    edited December 2016
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