Apple made a lot of announcements at their Keynote event in September and the iPhone 11 Pro’s three-camera setup is worth talking about
Depending on who you are, it left you either very excited or very underwhelmed. But there was one viewpoint towards the end of the Keynote that seemed to slip by without much conversation and that’s what this means for indie filmmakers.
And my take-away from what we’ve seen is that the iPhone 11 Pro will change their lives entirely. Yes, I can hear you cry that it’s not by any means cheap (and there’s another £30 for the Filmic Pro app and all it has to offer as well) and it certainly isn’t but… hear me out on this, okay?
Out of the box, the offering of lenses – 13mm ultra wide, 26mm wide and 52mm standard – is quite impressive. Think about the cost that would come from buying three professional camera lenses with the same distinct fields of vision as those in this phone. It’ll often not be that far off the price of this phone. And with the added advantage of being able to more readily and easily switch between, too. Swapping lenses in the Camera app is a simple thing and in filmmaking, from the most professional to the most indie, every second spared can be valuable. That’s another second for a different shot, another second for a pickup from a different day, another second for sorting out your lighting rig for the next shot and so on.
With Filmic Pro though, things get even more interesting. Not only as a director are you able to see all three lens views at once, you can also shoot from more than one at the same time. Think about that for a second. You can get double the coverage from one take (handy again for sparing time) and, technically, double the shot – meaning you’ve got more choice when you get to editing your film. Sure, maybe you planned that shot as a wide shot but maybe you have the serendipitous discovery that the ultra-wide gives the effect you want but better? In some sense, you’re getting two cameras for the price of one.
Of course, we mustn’t leave aside the front-facing camera in all of this either. The ability to record the front-facing lens as well as one of the other three raises an amazing realm of possibilities. The ability to have a shot of someone walking towards camera followed by one of them walking away with minimal disturbance of continuity. A single camera standing between two actors conversing in a scene, capturing both their performances in tandem. Even the benefit for interviews and reaction videos speaks for itself. And that’s before you think about portable mounts, night mode, lighting combinations, splicing two different shots of the same view…
With 60fps 4K video capture, it’s also a sure thing that the visual quality of your realised creative passions will look impressive and gives you a little bit of futureproofing as the world moves further forwards from the 1080p era. YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, and film and TV production companies are all pushing into that territory.
It also fits into your pocket – no wieldy camera bag to lug around. And (presuming it’s yours and not one of your crew or cast members) you can also use it for everything else that you’d need a phone to do.
Beyond that, there’s other possibilities if the set-up becomes more integrated. Now we know it’s possible for the iPhone 11 Pro to record from two of its cameras simultaneously, what about Facetime? Instead of jerkily turning your phone around or flipping camera and craneing your head to try and show your friend the stunning view or the presentation you’re working on, there’s potential for the ability to show both views seemlessly. Perhaps mobile VR developers can come up with crafty ways to utilise the cameras in their latest projects? Could we see a new way forward for social media posts as well? Possibilities are endless.
Either way, the iPhone 11 Pro’s camera setup is sure to revolutionise what indie filmmaking is. For the director, the editor and the actor. £1000 may still be hefty for many, but it’s a far cry from what once was an incredibly expensive venture. Think about the price of a camera that could shoot 4K even just a few years ago. And even if you can’t afford it now, fear not – remember when iPhone 5’s came down in price and the world’s creatives flooded the internet with media that proudly stated ‘Made on iPhone 5’? Those days when those passionate, bold individuals were able to cross that bridge and let their imagination soar with the help of the phone. Think about how much further those passions and imaginations will go when ‘Made on iPhone 11 Pro’ becomes a common sight.
