Apple shares 'vertical' Damien Chazelle short film shot on iPhone 11 Pro
Apple on Wednesday shared a new short film by director Damien Chazelle that was shot on an iPhone 11 Pro entirely in a vertical aspect ratio.
Credit: Apple
The nine-minute "Shot on iPhone" short film, titled "The Stunt Double," is described as a "journey through cinema history." As mentioned, it was shot completely vertically -- or in "portrait orientation" -- by Chazelle, an Academy Award-winner who is known for films such as "Whiplash" and "La La Land."
"Watch as classic genres are flipped on their side, from action movies to silent films, spy flicks to westerns, reframing and modernizing the movie magic we know and love," Apple wrote.
Alongside the short film, Apple also released a behind-the-scenes clip showing off how Chazelle used iPhone 11 Pro features like extended dynamic range and the ultra-wide-angle lens to create a cinematic feel.
Along with Chazelle, the behind-the-scenes short also features director of photography Linus Sandgren, production designer Shane Valentino and costume designer April Napier, among others.
Although the short film marks Apple's first collaboration with Chazelle, the Cupertino tech giant signed a deal with the writer and director in 2018 to produce content for Apple TV+.
Apple regularly shares photographs and videos as part of its "Shot on iPhone" campaign, but Chazelle's contribution is the first to be shot solely in a vertical aspect ratio.
Credit: Apple
The nine-minute "Shot on iPhone" short film, titled "The Stunt Double," is described as a "journey through cinema history." As mentioned, it was shot completely vertically -- or in "portrait orientation" -- by Chazelle, an Academy Award-winner who is known for films such as "Whiplash" and "La La Land."
"Watch as classic genres are flipped on their side, from action movies to silent films, spy flicks to westerns, reframing and modernizing the movie magic we know and love," Apple wrote.
Alongside the short film, Apple also released a behind-the-scenes clip showing off how Chazelle used iPhone 11 Pro features like extended dynamic range and the ultra-wide-angle lens to create a cinematic feel.
Along with Chazelle, the behind-the-scenes short also features director of photography Linus Sandgren, production designer Shane Valentino and costume designer April Napier, among others.
Although the short film marks Apple's first collaboration with Chazelle, the Cupertino tech giant signed a deal with the writer and director in 2018 to produce content for Apple TV+.
Apple regularly shares photographs and videos as part of its "Shot on iPhone" campaign, but Chazelle's contribution is the first to be shot solely in a vertical aspect ratio.
Comments
This was an exceptional use of a phone camera. I was really impressed with both the film and the camera. Both were obviously well done.
Remember when content was just starting to deliver in 16:9 aspect ratio and we all had to put up with "letterboxed" videos until we could all afford widescreen TVs? Well, now we're going in the opposite direction and we'll get to absorb 9:16 content on 16:9 monitors until we are all forced to "upgrade" the hardware to screens that will swivel between horizontal and vertical modes.
This is utterly ridiculous when you consider that virtually every real-life setting is horizontally biased. Human beings are able to interact with their world pretty much only in two directions, so offering a video clip that eliminates everything to the left and right of the subject also removes nearly every other clue I could use to tell me what's going on and where it's happening. Shooting an entire movie like this one isn't a director being brave and forging new directions in filmmaking; it's only someone seeing if they can make a compelling film while overcoming the very real limitations of a vertical aspect ratio. He was able to make a film, yes, but whether it was actually enjoyable is another story.
I want a software option that lets me hold the phone in portrait mode but shoots the vid locked in landscape mode. Not only am I lazy but it's faster to catch some action or hold it above your head one-handed especially if runnin' from The Man.
Portrait devices see the tall crop, landscape devices see the wide crop. The movie in the article could easily have been shot for widescreen and just framed in the middle for portrait and that way it works on both aspect ratios. However, being shot on an iPhone it would lose quality that way as it would be showing the vertical resolution of the sensor in landscape scaled to portrait height. iPhone camera sensors would be better square and only show the portrait crop when held in portrait. Having some extra padding around the framed content helps with stabilization in post-production too.
This is one area where AR displays would work well. If you just wear glasses to see the video, you don't have a fixed display form factor, landscape or portrait videos would just show as free floating areas. AR would be aspect ratio agnostic.