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The short film “Big Man” was shot on an iPhone 16. Image Credit: Apple.
As part of its iconic “Shot on iPhone” campaign, Apple has released yet another short film, called “Big Man,” featuring UK rapper Michael “Stormzy” Omari.
The short film, which debuted on Wednesday, sees Stormzy in the role of a world-weary musician who hasn’t made any music in nearly eight years. Stormzy’s character, Tenzman, runs into two bright and joyful kids, and the trio embarks on a life-changing journey, which ends with Tenzman making new music.
“Big Man” has a runtime of just under 20 minutes, and the short film was directed by Aneil Karia. The London-based writer and director is known for his work on Beat, Surge, and The Long Goodbye. Karia also makes an appearance in Apple’s behind-the-scenes video for “Big Man,” where the director outlines the advantages of using the iPhone 16 Pro for the project.
Karia says this is his first narrative filmmaking project involving an iPhone, calling the process interesting and invigorating. Because iPhones are much smaller than the typical cameras used for TV and music video production, they’re more versatile. “The lightness and flexibility that comes with that is boundless, in a sense,” said the director of “Big Man.”
Apple’s short film was shot entirely on the iPhone 16 Pro, which features numerous advanced camera features, like the Camera Control button. The device is also equipped with a 48MP main camera, a 48MP Ultra Wide camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera on the back.
The behind-the-scenes video for “Big Man” also makes a note of the iPhone’s cinematic mode, the shallow depth of field and dynamic range it offers, as well as the device’s auto-focus feature. The iPhone 16 Pro.
Stuart Bentley, the film’s director of photography, highlighted the iPhone’s capability to record 4K video at 120 frames-per-second, among other things. “We’re pushing the camera to the very limits of what its capable of, and we’ve found it to be really resilient,” said Bentley.
This isn’t the first time Apple has paired with a renowned filmmaker to showcase the advanced capabilities and features of the iPhone, either. The “Shot on iPhone” campaign”Shot on iPhone” campaign has turned into somewhat of an annual tradition, given the company’s previous releases.
In 2020, Apple demonstrated the iPhone 11 Pro’s capabilities with Damien Chazelle’s nine-minute short “The Stunt Double.” It stands apart from other films in the series as it was shot entirely in vertical aspect ratio.
Two years later, the company commissioned the 20-minute dream-meets-action-flick “Life is But a Dream” from Park Chan-wook. That film showcased the capability and feature set of the iPhone 13 Pro as it pertains to filmmaking.
The 2023 30-minute film, “Fursat” tells the story of a man so obsessed with his future that he risks losing what he has in the present. It’s the result of the iPhone maker’s idea to commission Indian director Vishal Bhardwaj to help highlight the iPhone 14 Pro as a filmmaking tool.
Apple released “Midnight,” a Takashi Miike-directed high-action video about a Tokyo taxi driver, in 2024. The “Shot on iPhone” film is a live-action and frenetic remake of the manga with the same name.
On June 20, the film “28 Days Later” will receive a full theatrical release. Apple’s iPhone played a key role in the visual storytelling of “28 Days Later,” just as it did in the earlier “Shot on iPhone” releases.
