A portion of Danny Boyle’slong-awaited 28 Years Lateris being shot using aniPhone 15 Pro Max. Reports came in as principal photography concluded in late August.Photos takenfrom the set showed an advanced camera rig that was being used, so it didn’t take long to determine that the sequence wasshooting on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Of course, production was well underway before therelease of iPhone 16.
To get ahead of it all, Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle are not on set using their personal iPhone 15 Pro Max. Instead, “several people” connected to 28 Years Laterhave confirmedthat Apple’s high-end smartphone from the 2023 series is being used in a rig. It appears to be a creative choice from the visionary director who helmed 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s sequel 28 Weeks Later, rather than some partnership with Apple.
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How 28 Years Later is using the iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro Max has a great camera, but it’s not that great
28 Years Later is the anticipated follow-up to Boyle’s series, kicking off a new trilogy of films penned by Civil War’s Alex Garland. The film stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes – however, Cillian Murphy is also due to return in some capacity. To capture the performances, settings, and action, Boyle and Mantle settled on using an iPhone 15 Pro Max inside an advanced camera rig. The rig includes a swath of accessories, helping to improve the cinematography and capture process.
iPhone 15 Pro Max
As eagle-eyed reports have trickled in, it’s been determined that the iPhone 15 Pro Max rig being used is outfitted with a large monitor, audio equipment, and a professional-grade Panavision cinema lens. So, it’s far from what any iPhone 15 Pro Max consumer will have access to after walking out of the Apple Store when purchasing a new device. However, despite all the additional bells and whistles, the beating heart of the recording process lies on the shoulders of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
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Why is the iPhone 15 Pro Max being used to film a blockbuster?
Boyle has shown an interest in using unique camera equipment for this series
Notoriously, 28 Days Later was shot on a Canon XL-1 camcorder, which at the time cost around $4,000. Boyle decided to use a more professional-leaning consumer camera to capture a more authentic look and feel for his film. Even by 2002’s standards, 28 Weeks Later looked gritty on the big screen. However, by using the Canon camcorder, Boyle and his team were able to simulate the appearance of an amateur video captured during what could be a zombie apocalypse. How the film looks is a part of the charm and what’s made 28 Years Later become the cult classic it is.
We’re still unsure of how much of 28 Years Later was shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Flash-forward to 28 Years Later, and Boyle may be wanting to evoke similar feelings. We’re in an age where everyone has a camera in the palm of their hand, so the vision for the new film may be to capture the look of someone pulling their phone out of their pocket and capturing the mayhem and carnage that will unfold during the film. It’s yet to be determined how effective this will be – we’re still unsure of how much of 28 Years Later was shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The other factor to consider is that, as many other big-budget projects have shown, the iPhone is quite capable of capturing pro-level video. With a much smaller degree of separation between the iPhone and a Panavision camera than say the Canon XL-1, I begin to wonder how effective this technique will be.
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iPhone has been proven to be a useful filmmaking camera
We’ve seen some interesting examples of iPhone’s video capture over the years
While Boyle’s use of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will likely be interesting purely out of curiosity, he’s not the first director to use an iPhone during principal photography. The iPhone has been used in various projects, like Steven Soderbergh’s High Flying Bird and Unsane. 2020’s Ghost of My Father was shot entirely on an iPhone, as well.
News of 28 Years Later’s use of iPhone 15 Pro Max comes off the heels of Apple’s iPhone 16 event. As a way to showcase the video capture capabilities of the new phones, the company announced that The Weeknd’s Dancing in the Flames music video was shot on the iPhone 16 Pro. The music video leveraged the device’s support of 4K video capture at 120fps.
Shot by cinematographer Erik Henriksson, the music video shockingly uses less advanced equipment than Boyle’s cinematography team. That’s, of course, not considering the amount of editing and post-production that goes into Apple’s Shot on iPhone projects.
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