Bullitt Mustang Review: Shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max

Another one of those “challenges” where professional filmmakers cash in on iPhone search ranking test an iPhone against their regular filmmaking kit. This time it’s a CNET and sister brand, YouTube Top Gear imitators Carfection who team up to cynically exploit “see what this baby can do” (the iPhone and the Mustang).

But are the Carfection guys up to Soderbergh’s standards behind the camera? And can the presenter do a Jeremy Clarkson in front of it? (Imagine me lowering my voice to a deep baritone as I pause and then growl to camera) “Hopefully not.”

Well, he does wear a black roll neck sweater, presumably in tribute to Steve McQueen from the original movie…

But where’s the brown corduroy jacket, hmm? Instead, he’s gone for black leather and for some reason he’s wearing 2 wrist watches. Is that a thing now?

The finished review

Anyway, the review certainly looks slick, with every shot from the Top Gear shot list of Top Gear Approved shots. But it shows you how important framing, shot creation and editing are to the final film. Far more important than the quality of the camera, right?

If you can’t get the shots or edit them well, then shooting on a DSLR, mirrorless or Alexa Arri is not going to help you. That’s why I say you should shoot a film on a smartphone. If you can create something as slick as this, then reward yourself with a camera upgrade, if you want.

In this video, they use a camera slider and a smartphone gimbal to get some smooth shots.

Behind the scenes making of…

CNET and Carfection also put together a behind the scenes video, with the cinematographer being interviewed about the challenges. He comes across as somewhat less than enthusiastic about the whole project. But hey, another day another paycheck.

He talks about how great FiLMiC Pro is, but also about its glitches and unreliability. This is something I’ve been talking about recently, especially in regard to the Sony Xperia 1 and 5 smartphones which come with the Sony Cinema Pro app. Because one thing that rarely gets mentioned by YouTuber smartphone filmmaking enthusiasts is reliability.

When you’re filming in a pro gig situation, there’s no time for your camera to keep crashing or losing your settings. But as most YouTubers demonstrating smartphone video capabilities are mostly shooting clips of sunsets and local streets, this side of filming is rarely discussed.

So, for me the most interesting thing about this video is how the iPhone 11 Pro Max + FiLMiC Pro stands up to that test. The cinematographer is used to using reliable equipment and clearly found using the iPhone annoying. You get the feeling, he just wants it to be a DSLR, which is isn’t.

Use a smartphone as a smartphone

Another thing I would take from this video is the cinematographer’s inexperience with smartphone filmmaking. He has obviously started with the mindset of “how do I get this iPhone to work like a camera I’m used to?”. As opposed to, “What can I do with an iPhone I couldn’t do with a DSLR?”.

There’s a total lack of imagination and creativity displayed here. As I say, it’s just going through the motions of the most cliched car review TV shots. One thing I noticed, when he turns the car on a close up shot of the dashboard turns to jelly. I’m sure he hated that, but I thought it looked cool.

Ultimately, trying to get a smartphone video to look like a DSLR video is a futile and pointless task. If you don’t attempt to exploit the advantages of your small, convenient, instinctive camera then why bother? At one point he talks about having to spend ages working out how to fix the iphone to some big heavy tripod legs…

Dude, you’re really approaching this in the wrong way. Here’s the only tripod I used for filming our last episode of Silent Eye…

In this scene, we’re shooting using a kitchen table, a Comica WS60 wireless lavalier (which goes direct into the Samsung S9 – switch to external mic using FiLMiC Pro). The mini tripod comes with the Comica set. I’m also using a Moondog Labs anamorphic adapter.

We wanted all the breakfast stuff to be in the foreground of the shot. Using a smartphone made this shot very quick and easy to set up.

Best films I’ve seen this year

We’ve been running our festival for over 5 years now. Every year, the films just get better and better. And this year we are starting to see more people use the smartphone to explore and invent.

We’ve had 3 feature films this year which all embrace the smartphone. Rather than try to mimic a DSLR, they explore ways to create a film differently, in a way only a smartphone can. I’ll tell you now, 2 of those films aren’t just the best smartphone films I’ve seen this year, but the best films I’ve seen this year. Simply because they’re so much more creative than films we see on Netflix or at cinemas (even indie films).

I haven’t seen a single film in the last 10 years that’s as creative and inventive as these smartphone films that are being sent to us. Will this become a major movement in filmmaking? I’ve no idea. But, in my opinion, these films are fresh and… well, because… they’re unapologetic about being shot on a smartphone.

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