Did You Know the Latest Horror Blockbuster ’28 Years Later’ Was Primarily Shot on iPhones?
Latest horror blockbuster 28 Years Later has been a hit ever since it premiered on the silver screen on 19 June. But did you know the film was primarily shot on iPhones?
Danny Boyle’s gripping post-apocalyptic storyline is more than just a box office smasher — it’s also a filmmaking achievement that stands as a testament to the iPhone’s capabilities. Well, not just one iPhone — many iPhones working together.
Image Credit : Miya Mizuno/Columbia Pictures
Before you jump to the conclusion that Apple was the main sponsor behind the movie — they weren’t. Danny Boyle simply saw the iPhone as a savvier piece of technology he could work with and still achieve peak cinema.
In an interview with IndieWire, Boyle highlighted the benefits of shooting with iPhones: “It’s very light, it’s cheap, and it allowed us to go to places that were very remote and bore very little evidence of human presence for many, many, many years,” he said.
Image credit: Sony
Speaking to Reuters, Boyle added, “They are incredibly light. You can go somewhere with a very light footprint and you can also build special rigs with them, which is what we did for some of the violent action in the movie.”
As for those rigs, an article by IGN reports that up to three specially made iPhone rigs were created: one for eight cameras, one for ten, and one for twenty. Though Boyle didn’t say exactly when and where these rigs were used, he did mention one scene in particular where the 20-camera rig came into play:
“I never say this, but there is an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the 20-rig camera, and you’ll know it when you see it. … It’s quite graphic but it’s a wonderful shot that uses that technique, and in a startling way that kind of kicks you into a new world rather than thinking you’ve seen it before.”
These rigs were used to create “bullet time” style sequences — also known in the filmmaking world as the Matrix Effect — which creates the illusion of time slowing down while the camera moves around the subject.
With its bold use of everyday tech, 28 Years Later not only pushes the boundaries of horror storytelling but also challenges the conventions of how movies can be made. Turns out, the future of filmmaking might already be in our hands – but you might need 20 of em’.
Source: [1] IndieWire, [2] Reuters, [3] IGN
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