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A shot from the custom iPhone-based camera in ‘F1’ – Image Credit: Apple
The Apple Original Film “F1 The Movie” used the iPhone in an unusual way, by using components typically used in the smartphone to create a custom camera.
The videography that goes into major films is often filled with custom tech, all to achieve the perfect shot the director wants. While the industry is very familiar with many different types of hardware, from modular cameras to action cams, one of the cameras used in “F1” relied a lot more on Apple’s technology than normal.
Hinted at by CEO Tim Cook during a June 11 interview promoting the “F1” film for Apple TV+, the camera revealed by Wired is essentially an iPhone. Albeit one that has been heavily customized for the project.
The problem of creating a driver’s viewpoint in a car has been solved for broadcast, but not for film. The technology is designed for use in live broadcasts, meaning it isn’t made for the heavy codec customization or high resolutions that a feature film would require.
Rather than convert an existing broadcast camera to work for the film, the team instead turned to another piece of technology with a pedigree in filmmaking. Apple’s engineering team effectively used an iPhone.
A customized imaging device
Various films and TV shows have used iPhones for shots, with modern versions including support for things like ACES, recording in LOG, and even recording 4K ProRES video at 60 frames per second.
Indeed, the upcoming Danny Boyle horror sequel “28 Years Later” was shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Taking advantage of that lineage, Apple created a replacement for the broadcast module. An aerodynamic wing shape that attaches to the side of the vehicle, it is made to be the same shape and weight as the broadcast module, to maintain the car’s precise specifications.
Inside is a camera sensor from an iPhone, accompanied by an A-series chip for processing. Though Apple didn’t specify what actually was used in the module, the report believes that filming in real F1 races in the 2023 and 2024 seasons means it could’ve used the A17 Pro and 48-megapixel camera from the iPhone 15 Pro.
A custom firmware was used for the camera, with the module itself running on iOS. The footage itself was captured using ProRES in LOG format, capturing a flat and low-contrast image that’s more flexible to use when editing.
The module also held an iPhone battery and a neutral density filter, which helped reduce incoming light and gave editors more exposure control.
To actually manage the camera module due to a lack of built-in radios, the team used a USB-C cable and a custom iPad app. This enabled the videographer in charge of the module to adjust essential settings such as frame rate and white balance, as well as to start and stop recording.
Art leading technology
The end result is a camera that the filmmakers used to capture driver’s-view shots that were a higher quality version of what avid Formula One race viewers are already familiar with.
But also, it was a move that led to technological changes in the iPhone itself. The firmware changes in the camera led to Apple including Academy Color Encoding System support and LOG encoding being added to the iPhone 15 Pro, making it even more useful for filmmakers.
This continues Apple’s tradition of considering itself at the “intersection of technology and the liberal arts,” as Cook said in his June interview.
In the service of using its technology to enable artists to create, it resulted in benefits to what it could offer consumers. Doing so allows the iPhone to be more useful to consumers who want to do filmmaking, as well as those at the top of the game.
It’s a mutually beneficial exchange that helps both the content and the means to make it.
