Apple hires 'Oldboy' director to shoot a martial arts film with an iPhone 13 Pro

By Adrian Vincent - 20 Feb 2022, 17:08 Apple hires 'Oldboy' director to shoot a martial arts film with an iPhone 13 Pro

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro has an excellent camera, taking some of the best photos ever captured on a smartphone. However, the most understated feature of the impressive camera is the video recording capabilities.

Apple recently hired South Korean director Park Chan-wook, who is most famous for his critically acclaimed thriller ‘Oldboy’, to shoot a martial arts film with the Apple iPhone 13 Pro.

The 21 minute short film, titled ‘Life is But a Dream’, is now available to stream for free on YouTube.

Apple have also uploaded behind the scenes footage, which shows the Apple iPhone 13 Pro mounted to various stabilisation gimbals. There doesn’t appear to be any additional lenses or other hardware attachments in use.

‘Life is But a Dream’ is one of several films Apple have commissioned to be shot entirely with an iPhone. Apple seem to be heavily marketing the video recording capabilities of their latest flagship.

Life is But a Dream Apple iPhone 13 Pro short film

Both the Apple iPhone 13 Pro and Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max can shoot 4K video at 24, 25, 30 and 60fps. 24fps is typically the frame rate used in major Hollywood movies that can give a video the ‘film look’. The camera is also capable of shooting in Dolby Vision, which is a variant of HDR.

In addition to 4K video, the Apple iPhone 13 Pro can shoot in ProRes, which is a video encoding technology commonly used in professional films, commercials and music videos. ProRes produces high file sizes with minimum compression, preserving detail and high colour fidelity. This can allow the editor and cinematographer to have greater control when colour correcting after shooting.

In order to shoot with ProRes at 4K up to 30fps, a 256GB or higher variant of the Apple iPhone 13 Pro must be used. Any less can only shoot ProRes at 1080p up to 30fps.

With Apple’s AI ‘Cinematic Mode’, the camera is capable of automatically focusing on subjects and blurring out the background, creating a professional depth of field look. Cinematic Mode relies entirely on software, and doesn’t require any additional hardware. Therefore, results can be hit or miss. However, the blur effect can manually be adjusted after shooting video via the Photos app. Cinematic Mode has received various updates and improvements since the initial release of the Apple iPhone 13.

About the author

Adrian Vincent is the founder and senior editor at CompareDial. He is a renowned expert in all things related to mobile phones, and is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to helping consumers find the best contract deals. His expertise is widely recognised, with citations from leading news organisations and tech publications. Adrian is dedicated to guiding users through the complexities of the phone contract market, ensuring they receive unparalleled advice and secure the best value for their money.