"28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone at DVinfo.net

Boyd Ostroff · September 22nd, 2024, 10:17 AM

This reminded me of old threads here discussing the film "28 Days Later", which was a major film shot on the XL-1

"The original 28 Days Later movie was largely shot in 480p standard definition with a Canon XL-1 – a consumer-grade camcorder that wrote data to MiniDV tapes. 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."

I thought that was pretty cool back then and was excited to see the film in the theatre. When I did, I was very disappointed. The whole thing gave me a headache, it looked really bad on the big screen. There were a couple other XL-1 movies back then... I think one was called "full frontal" and I didn't like that either. Of course, resolution was a major problem back then.

No plans to see this new film. I don't quite get why someone would want to shoot a $75 million dollar movie on a $1500 phone, but this might be a hint, they "...apparently received technical assistance directly from Apple". ;-)

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/21...hot-on-iphone/

Brian Drysdale · September 24th, 2024, 01:19 AM

I gather the reason for shooting on the XL1 on "28 days Later" was to give a bleak look to London. It wasn't to do with the need to shoot quickly, you can shoot just as quickly with a Super 16 film camera as you can with an XL1 on a production such as a feature film.

Boyd Ostroff · September 24th, 2024, 07:23 AM

Found our old 15-page thread about the original film... but not quite ready for a DVinfo time warp back to 2003 yet. :-D

https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/awake-d...nny-boyle.html

Andrew Smith · September 26th, 2024, 12:44 AM

And THAT is an example of the value of the knowledge collective at DVinfo.

Andrew

Boyd Ostroff · September 26th, 2024, 07:15 AM

Funny... had a quick look at that old thread, and I was much more enthusiastic than I remembered about that film, LOL.

https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/awake-d...html#post76263

Back then, I was about to shoot DV with my Sony PDX-10 for projection on a 45-foot wide screen in the opera "Il Trovatore" in Philadelphia. So, I was excited to see DV on a theatre screen and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a zombie blood and gore fest. As Chris said, "flesh-eating zombie flicks are perhaps my next-least favorite genre".

September 22nd, 2024, 10:17 AM	#1
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,800	"28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone This reminded me of old threads here discussing the film "28 Days Later", which was a major film shot on the XL-1 "The original 28 Days Later movie was largely shot in 480p standard definition with a Canon XL-1 – a consumer-grade camcorder that wrote data to MiniDV tapes. 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." I thought that was pretty cool back then and was excited to see the film in the theatre. When I did, I was very disappointed. The whole thing gave me a headache, it looked really bad on the big screen. There were a couple other XL-1 movies back then... I think one was called "full frontal" and I didn't like that either. Of course, resolution was a major problem back then. No plans to see this new film. I don't quite get why someone would want to shoot a $75 million dollar movie on a $1500 phone, but this might be a hint, they "...apparently received technical assistance directly from Apple". ;-) https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/21...hot-on-iphone/

September 24th, 2024, 01:19 AM	#2
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	Re: "28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone I gather the reason for shooting on the XL1 on "28 days Later" was to give a bleak look to London. It wasn't to do with the need to shoot quickly, you can shoot just as quickly with a Super 16 film camera as you can with an XL1 on a production such as a feature film.

September 24th, 2024, 07:23 AM	#3
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,800	Re: "28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone Found our old 15-page thread about the original film... but not quite ready for a DVinfo time warp back to 2003 yet. :-D https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/awake-d...nny-boyle.html

September 26th, 2024, 12:44 AM	#4
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,064	Re: "28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone And THAT is an example of the value of the knowledge collective at DVinfo. Andrew

September 26th, 2024, 07:15 AM	#5
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,800	Re: "28 Years Later" - major film shot on an iPhone Funny... had a quick look at that old thread, and I was much more enthusiastic than I remembered about that film, LOL. https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/awake-d...html#post76263 Back then, I was about to shoot DV with my Sony PDX-10 for projection on a 45-foot wide screen in the opera "Il Trovatore" in Philadelphia. So, I was excited to see DV on a theatre screen and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a zombie blood and gore fest. As Chris said, "flesh-eating zombie flicks are perhaps my next-least favorite genre".