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Documentary Partially Shot on iPhone Wins Oscar

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"Searching for Sugar Man" won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature tonight at the 85th annual Academy Awards, making it the first time a film that was partially shot with an iPhone has won the prestigious award.

Director Malik Bendjelloul said that he had run out of money while making the movie and had to film his remaining shots with his iPhone and the 8mm Vintage Camera app. The iPhone and app's performance were so impressive to Bendjelloul that he re-shot footage playing on his laptop screen with the app.

This isn't the first time directors have used iPhones to shoot films, but it's an important milestone that shows that footage shot with phones and apps are good enough to be recognized at the highest level and not distract from the overall quality of the film.

The 8mm Vintage Camera app is available in the App Store for $1.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Documentary Partially Shot on iPhone Wins Oscar
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/24/documentary-partially-shot-on-iphone-wins-oscar/
Jeremy1026

Jeremy1026

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Nov 3, 2007
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His music is absolutely worth a listen. It is available on Spotify as well. I took a listen after seeing a trailer for the film a few months back and found his music to be very inspiring. The trailer explains him as an urban poet, and his lyrics deliver to that effect. There was also a 60 Minutes episode about his story in the beginning of January or late December (I can't recall exactly when) which is also worth watching.
 
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xdhd350

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Mar 9, 2010
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Let's hope the iPhone 5s comes with a 4K resolution camera. That's where the general trend is headed.

Hopefully 3D has run its course again and the stupidity will fade away.
 
Chupa Chupa

Chupa Chupa

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Jul 16, 2002
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The Oscars, like most things in life, is a popularity contest at best. Rarely is it an award for true artistry. I give you Argo. Entertaining film, but best of the year?

As for the doc using the iPhone winning. The art lies within the artist, not the tool. Give an inexperienced amateur a decked out Mac Pro and every Avid plugin available. The result will still be that of an amateur.

Give a pro nothing more than an old Flip cam, & they can make rush hour traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge look interesting. Ultimately, though that is a gimmick. I dare say we won't see feature films made w/ pocket cam anytime soon. But I bet they sell a lot of that app now.

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xdhd350 said:
Let's hope the iPhone 5s comes with a 4K resolution camera. That's where the general trend is headed.

Hopefully 3D has run its course again and the stupidity will fade away.
Click to expand...

Not sure where you'd store the video. You do realize how much space 4K requires. It would cripple a 16GB iPhone very quickly. I suspect will see an iPhone w/ 4K capabilities as soon as 1TB flash chips are $99.
 
Alisstar

Alisstar

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Do directors rent the cameras they use during filming? Or did he not own a camera or two for filming, and realized it after firing the camera guy? I'm gonna guess it's more along the lines of the latter. I can't imagine a director not owning some basic equipment, especially as basic as a camera, and having to resort to using an iPhone. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool an iPhone was used for some scenes, I just question the reasoning for having to use one in the first place. If someone could clarify how it works, I would appreciate it. :)
 
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ProVideo

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Chupa Chupa said:
The Oscars, like most things in life, is a popularity contest at best. Rarely is it an award for true artistry. I give you Argo. Entertaining film, but best of the year?
Click to expand...

Crash and Shakespeare in Love come to mind as well. The Oscars are like the Grammys. It's a bunch of established fuddy-duddies patting themselves on the back while circle jerking over traditional and predictable material and ignoring films that are actual game changers.

What's funny is they are usually giving lifetime achievement awards to directors and actors past their prime after they were snubbed by the nominations and voters for decades. Then they go right back to showering praise upon undeserving and forgettable crap while blowing off the more deserving candidates. Then rinse, lather, and repeat in another 10-20 years.
 
SgtPepper12

SgtPepper12

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Chupa Chupa said:
Not sure where you'd store the video. You do realize how much space 4K requires. It would cripple a 16GB iPhone very quickly. I suspect will see an iPhone w/ 4K capabilities as soon as 1TB flash chips are $99.
Click to expand...
The biggest problem is actually the processing. I doubt smartphone cpus are capable of encoding 4k videos on the fly. Playback would be possible if Apple really wants to though, I think.
 
PracticalMac

PracticalMac

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Apple should give the movie for FREE with iTunes, with a little piece by maker how he used an iPhone to make the award winning short.
 
charlituna

charlituna

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Alisstar said:
Do directors rent the cameras they use during filming? Or did he not own a camera or two for filming, and realized it after firing the camera guy?
Click to expand...

Yes indie filmmaker often do own a camera or two. But that wasn't really the point. It was the film. Film is very expensive, particularly now when so many folks are going digital. Money wise he would have been better off shooting digital completely and 'fixing it in post' as we in the industry say. But for artistic reasons he wanted us authentic film. And ran out of money. It happens

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PracticalMac said:
Apple should give the movie for FREE with iTunes, with a little piece by maker how he used an iPhone to make the award winning short.
Click to expand...

Ummm did you miss that he won for best documentary, not best documentary short subject.

The movie is 1:25 long. And maybe five minutes were shot on the iPhone
 
Alisstar

Alisstar

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charlituna said:
Yes indie filmmaker often do own a camera or two. But that wasn't really the point. It was the film. Film is very expensive, particularly now when so many folks are going digital. Money wise he would have been better off shooting digital completely and 'fixing it in post' as we in the industry say. But for artistic reasons he wanted us authentic film. And ran out of money. It happens.
Click to expand...

Makes sense now. Thanks!
 
CrickettGrrrl

CrickettGrrrl

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Feb 10, 2012
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Saw this movie several weeks ago (iTunes) and I'm really happy to hear it won an Oscar. Rodriguez seems like a decent guy too so that's even better, ---so talented. It's great that he's finally getting his due. Judging by the movie & the Time magazine article, the acclaim probably won't go to his head either. :)
 
Rawkfist

Rawkfist

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Bought, sold, earned or stoled. Give it a name. I don't care if it was shot with a Brownie. It tells a great story about what seems like a great guy. Enjoy it as such.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool an iPhone was used in the making of this film. My comments were pointed at a couple of gentlemen having a discussion on the proper use quotation marks. I'm old enough to know not to get annoyed by such things, especially in a forum like this one. Those comments have been removed either by the posters or by a moderator. My thanks to whomever did so. If by a moderator, I think you missed one. Mine.
 
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xdhd350

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Mar 9, 2010
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Chupa Chupa said:
You do realize how much space 4K requires. It would cripple a 16GB iPhone very quickly. I suspect will see an iPhone w/ 4K capabilities as soon as 1TB flash chips are $99.
Click to expand...

Yes I know how much it requires. But GoPro has manged to get 4K on their current Hero3 camera. 64 or 128 GB will get you a decent amount.

I was half joking when I made the comment. Besides, too many pixels on too small a sensor leads to crap for sensitivity and dynamic range.
 
yoak

yoak

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Oct 4, 2004
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GoPro only manages 12fps in 4K, and heavily compressed.
The new Canon 1DC, 30min in 4K is around 128GB (and it´s only 8Bit).

The film looks very interesting though. Got to watch it
 
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