iPhone Filmmaking – ‘decotora’ Mini Doc Shot on iPhone XS

iPhone filmmaking is continuing to grow in popularity. So far we have had 2 Oscar winners eager to utilize the phone’s flexibility and an artist winning the coveted Turner prize in 2018.

It’s always interesting to see what filmmakers are succeeding with their smartphone films. News just in is that Apple have released a new short film via its YouTube channel in its “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign.

Lady Misaki is about Japan’s “decotora” – (デコトラ dekotora), an abbreviation for “decoration truck”. A name for extravagantly decorated trucks. Commonly displaying neon or ultraviolet lights, extravagant paints, and stainless or golden parts, dekotora may be created by workers out of their work trucks for fun, or they may be designed by hobbyists for special events.

The two-minute documentary was shot on an iPhone XS by Jiro Konami. The film offers a brief introduction to the decotora scene through a single driver, Kazuya Sekino, and his truck from which the film gets its name. The piece also mentions the charity work being done by the drivers.

Konami appears to have used at least some extra filmmaking equipment, since there are shots that would have been difficult or impossible to get without equipment such as a stabilizer gimbal. Visual effects were also added by Yoshi Sodeoka.

One of the new features on the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR is the new camera sensor that is packed with larger pixels. When combined with the neural engine on the A12 processor, the new sensors enable better low-light filming.

This is the first “Shot on iPhone” video ad Apple has released since its flagship phones were released in September. The company recruited Crazy Rich Asians director John M. Chu to shoot a short film on the iPhone XS Max right after launch. But for some reason Apple never posted the video to its YouTube channel…

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