Technology

I thought this was always implied. They’re always going to set it up for optimal settings, and that’s going to include all of the professional lighting and a (probably commercial) director.

They’re never going to show off what it looks like recording in terrible conditions because that won’t sell. They’re not technically lying either, because it is shot on the iPhone, just replacing the traditional cinema camera with an iPhone, which is actually a legitimate use case.

I use my iPhone for filming motorsports and it works out great. It’s not cinema camera worthy, but it looks pretty good.

I mean, of course. By the same token, if I brought a $100,000 red setup into my basement without lighting, composition, stabilizers, makeup, etc etc etc it would also look like shit.

I think the point here is that a cell phone camera from 2007 would not be able to do any of this even with all the great kit, but here, something very pro was created without $$$ spent on a body, a back, or lenses.

Would those things be even better? Sure! But what crazy times we live in that dropping in a cell phone into a film set can produce production grade output. Is it a bit of theater? Sure, but it very clearly demonstrates why no one buys digital cameras anymore and increasingly don’t buy DV cameras either.

Umm, yea. So?

There is far more to recording good quality video footage then just the sensor and lens on the camera, just as there is far more to recording good quality audio then just using a mic with a good dynamic range. They are tools, they make things possible. But you can still get crappy results from multi-million dollar professional equipment if you don't do all (or at least many) of the other things needed to get good make good quality recordings.

I'm more familiar with audio in a home studio setup rather then video, but if your interested in going down that rabbit hole here's some videos to get you started:

• Equipment - https://youtu.be/PWjfYvf0fsw?si=tN-e62P07KYnQc1P

• Acoustics - https://youtu.be/CRizBMyFLao?si=5FUCANkXdGawE_4c

• Recording - https://youtu.be/zljEd53T2HY?si=yStHDf1TEGJyj4s7

• More Recording - https://youtu.be/ib4aET7ECek?si=euBA-l-Z_3ws2CNL

The only reason you would buy all of that expensive equipment and not use a real camera is if you are making a marketing video for your phone.

I’m amazed that The Verge is still grinding this axe after all this time… it’s simultaneously pathetic and impressive.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Behind-the-scenes footage of Apple’s Monday evening Scary Fast event reveals how it was filmed using an iPhone 15 Pro Max... with the aid of a full suite of professional recording equipment and studio lighting.

Still images and a video reveal that (unsurprisingly) a great deal of fancy equipment — from drones, gimbals, dollies, industrial set lighting, and other recording accessories — is still required to make iPhone footage look this good.

Apple has utilized similar but far less extreme setups for previous events that were filmed using iPhones, including the Burberry spring / summer 2014 fashion show.

It’s a neat way to promote the recording quality of iPhone cameras, but it’s not like everyday folks can recreate these kinds of results at home unless they happen to own a shedload of ludicrously expensive equipment.

The gear shown in the “Scary Fast” behind-the-scenes footage is fairly standard for big studio productions, but Apple’s implication with these so-called “shot on iPhone” promotions is that anyone can do it if only they buy the newest iPhone.

For comparison, here’s the recording kit Olivia Rodrigo apparently used to film her own “shot on iPhone” music video for “Get him Back!” using an iPhone 15 Pro — albeit on a much smaller scale because Rodrigo’s no Tim Apple.

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