This is quite inspiring. The famed director of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance has shot his latest film on the iPhone 4.
Pan Chan-wook (Quentin Tarantino is known to be fan), a South Korean director shot Night Fishing (Paranmanjang) with two iPhone 4’s, with a further 8 handed to the crew for free-shooting around the set (similar to how the HOUSE crew used the additional 5D Mark IIs). The result is a 30min fantasy-horror set around a fishing trip. It’s theatrical release is set for 27th January.
You can see the trailer on the official site here and a short video news report here.
I like Chan-Wook (IMDB) and I think it’s less a gimmick (though it seems that way as the film spreads virally around the blogosphere) but more a creative choice, because the low-fi look of the iPhone 4’s HD video mode really does suit a low budget horror like this. It’s for the same reasons DV suited the look of The Blair Witch Project and 28 Days Later – there is something more visceral and disturbing about a grainy deep depth of field image, which doesn’t conjure up comforting images of cinema’s classics, even though it’s being played in a theatre.
Needless to say, phones were not banned on the set of this one.
I like the way they’re using Canon L lenses on the damned thing!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ0nIO2f7Jk[/youtube]