Has iPhone Video Footage Actually Been Used In A Box Office Hit?

In May 2012, Marvel will release the comic superhero movie The Avengers. Some apple fans are suggesting that footage actually in the movie was shot on an Apple Iphone. The Avengers cinematographer Seamus McGarvey was quoted saying,

“The beauty of photography or cinema is that you make every choice based on the content at hand. On The Avengers, I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film.”

It’s pretty crazy to think footage from the older iPhone 4 (which only shoots 720) could ever be good enough to mix in with real footage taken on pro cinema cameras. With the amount of preplanning and the huge budgets allowed on these films, would they not just reproduce the scene again and capture it from all angles? I just can’t imagine something happened spontaneously where the cinematographer’s footage from his phone was the best possible footage. What do you guys think? Can anyone identify the footage in the trailer below?

October 21, 2011

Patrick Hall

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http://twitter.com/Jimmy_Byrd Jimmy Byrd
Seems like some of the street footage could be from an iPhone.
Guy Parry
When I saw the 4s vs 5D2 comparison I wondered when the first TV show would get filmed on an iPhone
If any of that trailer is shot on a mobile phone I can’t spot it
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2WYVYHOVWTKOPIYNNTZ3F5CNMY Euan
Im not sure the street stuff would work on the iphone alone because it has been slowed down so much and still looks so sharp… my guess would be the part with Thor and his hammer…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=614958096 Jordan Parker
:47 looks very possible. No need for DOF and it looks slightly artifacted to me. Blacks also aren’t super rich, but that probably has more to do with the backlighting.
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
I thought this was the scene as well but it made me think, why not just take that shot real quick since there is nothing to it? Seems hard to believe that they were like “we need a shot of Thor looking mysterious” and the main guy responsible for that shot only captured it on his iphone.
http://twitter.com/MaxDiCapua Max Di Capua
Could also be the background used for this shot. Blacks are quite flat and there’s clear compression in the solid black buildings.
Anonymous
It’s hard to tell based on that horribly compressed youtube version, but my guess is that it is two of the extreme low angle shots, the first one being Sam Jackson exiting from the helicopter, and the other one of the guy with the hammer since there seems to be a very noticable drop in image quality, even in the 720p version.
And thinking about it, it sort of makes sense. You’d probably have to go Gregg Toaland and dig a hole in the ground to get such a low shot with an Alexa. They could at least have used something like a 5D MK II, which is something close to 1K in effective resolution (that’s at the same level that VFX shots used to be scanned in the days of Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump).
However, as far as I’m concerned, it looks like image quality is definitely the smallest problem with that film …
Ian Gray
I came to post this scene as a possibility also.
The other option I thought may have been an iPhone was :37-:38 when the comic pages are flipping. Of course we could just be victims of epic trolling.
Chris Vink
1:24? The low angle explosion-thingy, cuts away just before the debris hits the camera (which would probably shake that poor iphone to death). I could imagine someone wanting to have a camera close to a special effects explosion, and it looks to be in a tight spot too (so that other cameras shooting the same thing won’t see it)
Seems pretty possible to me.
mark perez
I think it is the very beginning where it says “The following preview has been approved for appropraiate audiences”
Hugo Demeulenaere
I’m with Chris on this one!
1:24: flames and debris flying around left and right. not much details required (relatively speaking) since there are no characters… and if it hit’s the camera (even though protected behind (whatever plexi thing they used) some glass), it’s “just” an iphone…
http://www.facebook.com/Joshua.Gray.Photography Joshua Thomas Gray
:47 This shot of Thor most certainly could have been an iPhone shot.. the tone and quality looks like my iPhone shots.. also the lens flare has all the little dots coming through just like an iPhone lens would do. the trees in the bottom right conner look in focus and the image sharpness of Thor is quite bad. If I could only pick one shot this would be it.. but Seamus McGarvey did say, “…I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer!”so the other shots you guys are talking about could be in the trailer as well….
but out of the whole movie.. they really wanted to use all his iPhone shots in the trailer?? I agree with Patrick, why not reshoot that Thor shot.. its just Thor, camera, and sun…
Well thats what i think.. pretty cool if that is an iPhone shot! who would have ever thought a movie like this would have a cell phone camera’s shot make it to the big screen? haha!
- joshua gray
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=614958096 Jordan Parker
The lens perspective on that shot doesn’t say iPhone to me. There should be more distortion in the top right corner since the lens is pretty wide angle (Of course they could retouch this in post). The 4S is supposed to be 24mm, I don’t know what the original 4 came in at, but my 4th gen ipod touch definitely has corner distortion. 1:24 feels more like 50mm on a crop frame sensor/ 35mm on a full frame.
nathan
def :47….
http://www.facebook.com/mknlsn Mike Nelson
This is like a few weeks ago when I worked on the upcoming NBC drama “The Firm.” The director shot one of the characters running with a GoPro HD. The rest of the show is shot on the Arri Alexa. It’ll be interesting to see how that shot fits in with the Alexa footage if it makes it into the final cut.
http://www.facebook.com/johnpesina John Pesina
I agree the :45-47 and the 1:24 marks look like iPhone shots.
Chris Vink
True there, they might have used one of those little lenses you can put on an iphone.. Ah well, I don’t know, educated guesswork is the most I can make of it!
Anonymous
LOL at this thread. People actually speaking scientifically about it. You wont know unless you ask the people that shot it. Its their job to be so good you can’t tell, and thus you can’t.
http://www.facebook.com/Dragos.Photography Dragos Putureanu
I doubt any other shot other than the explosion/debree shot was done with the iPhone, but with enough light, and the right colorist, you can do anything you want, and get away with it
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WVUUTKAPFX2QKOF75KFZUHVGIQ j.j.
I would say it’s the opening scenes, flying over the city. DOF wouldn’t be a factor since it’s a wide angle landscape shot, and I would imagine that flight time for cinematic purposes would be very expensive and so you’d want to get that “shot” within s close to a few takes as possible.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew-Williams/1049288034 Andrew Williams
I think that since there are so many different opinions is a testament to the saying . “The best camera is the one with you”.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=614958096 Jordan Parker
That would be awesome if they used a separate lens!! I hadn’t even thought of that! We will have to wait for the bonus features to find out.
http://www.facebook.com/studio8films Oli Williams
I’m sure a lot of the people on here are industry professionals like me – if that was the case wouldn’t we be shooting everything on iPhone’s? Learn the ‘science’ about lenses, compression, resolution, color space and then post again, hopefully saying something smart this time.
Chris Blizzard
Honestly, show me on a cinema screen and maybe I’ll give you a definite answer… Any footage can look good shown tiny…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002095036025 Matei Botan
I am a photographer, not a filmmaker… but at the end of the trailer it says that the movie is in 3D. If so, shouldn’t it have been shot in 3D (with special purpose cameras), which none of the iPhone versions does (unless you stick 2 iPhone-s together) ?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QAJHX6BWXPEAZYBTMMTPHYEXJU MicahJ
most 3d movies are not 100% in 3D take Tron when he was in the real world it was 2D and even some of the of the footage when he was in the grid was 2d
Anonymous
Same goes for Alice in Wonderland
http://usinglight.com/ Stefan St.
For me it is just a good marketing trick… …given the length of some cuts I would suggest that post can get rid of any signs that an Iphone was used and that the watcher cannot see the difference. But I am a photographer. Given that fact: Using some super simple tricks (like using a tripod) makes pictures from a P&S looking like most of the peoples DSLR pictures.
Another question which comes to my mind: Aren’t movies shot in 1080?
http://twitter.com/Jensthetraveler Jens Marklund
Movies aren’t shot in 1080P. Movies are usually shot on film. If they’re shot on a RED (digital), it’s most likely shot at 4K or similar.
Anyways, this whole thing was a misunderstanding. Seamus McGarvey later explained that he said that it’s good that there are budget alternatives such as the iPhone 4 and 5D MK II, and that he actually used the 5D on some shots. He was misquoted.
Update the article.
Jonathan Balaban
Patrick, FYI:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/avengers-dp-scenes-filmed-iphone-252083
This was a misquote and the camera was a 5DII, not an iPhone 4. At least I can stop wondering why all my home videos don’t look Hollywood quality!
http://www.facebook.com/utahluxury DanandChantel Amezcua
I agree. Thats the shot I was going to say.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=831548969 Anthony Kurtz
Haha. This makes me giggle. 32 comments discussing a possible iphone usage. And now it turns out to not be true. Well, he sure got all of us to watch the trailer and waste precious time. (hear him mumbling “SUCKAZ!!”)
Anonymous
http://gizmodo.com/5852651/iphones-only-used-for-calls-on-the-avengers-set-not-filming
well well well
Anonymous
I toldja it was pretty pointless to argue this. Everyone was, “its definitely at blah blah blah time.” Seriously when they are doing their job, you wont be able to tell. So all the experts here sure do have egg on their face with their scientific quotes.
http://gizmodo.com/5852651/iphones-only-used-for-calls-on-the-avengers-set-not-filming
http://www.facebook.com/rizeloliverjimenez Rizel Oliver Jimenez
turned out to be FALSE, just as i thought…
http://www.facebook.com/Joshua.Gray.Photography Joshua Thomas Gray
sad… it would have been pretty awesome if he did shoot a scene with the iPhone.
Mike M
Looked too damn badass.

Has iPhone Video Footage Actually Been Used In A Box Office Hit?

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