Oldboy director Park Chan-wook has produced a movie shot entirely on the iPhone. But those of you thinking this is a green-light to win an Apple-powered Academy Award may be out of luck.
The movie, Paranmanjang only runs for 30 minute and the budget, while tiny compared to most Hollywood blockbusters, still ran to $133,000.
According to Park, it wasn’t purely the cost brought benefits from the iPhone. Instead it was a combination of the handsets being relatively affordable and easy to operate, which allowed his crew to film with more cameras than would be practical on a standard movie shoot. In turn, that allowed more chance to get the “perfect” shot, as well as making editing effects, such as fast-paced cutting, easier.
The production process of the movie, including finding a location, auditioning, and even producing a documentary on the filmmaking, was carried out in exactly the same way as a standard movie.
Park also noted that there’s a psychological effect for the viewer as they are familiar with the look and feel of iPhone footage, but not in a movie context.
Part of the budget for the movie came from KT Corp, which happens to be the sole distributor of the iPhone in South Korea. It’s not clear to how much extent this funding influenced Park’s decision to carry out the project.
The movie, which the Associated Press describes as being “about a man transcending his current and former lives” will open in nine Korean theaters this month.