How to shoot a film on iPhone using anamorphic lenses

O2 is a short film by Stanislav Kapralov that was shot entirely on an iPhone using Atlas Mercury anamorphic lenses thanks to Beastgrip’s new DOF Adapter Фoton.

So, it turns out that RED was right all along. If you want to get ahead in the movie business, make a phone.

It’s early days yet in Apple’s foray into mainstream moviemaking, but certainly first the iPhone 15 Pro and now the 16 Pro bring more to movie-making capabilities than RED’s abortive Hydrogen smartphone project ever did.

Effectively they are now legitimate movie cameras in their own right, albeit ones that need to be surrounded by a serious amount of other equipment to make them work in the way that legitimate moviemakers want them to (such as on 28 Years Later with director Danny Boyle and his long time cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle).

Which is where the newly developed Beastgrip DOF Adapter Фoton, invented by Vadym Chalenko, in combination with Atlas Mercury Anamorphic Lenses comes in (the Ф is the Cyrillic letter for ‘ef’, hence ‘photon’). 

By allowing professional PL lenses to be mounted on a smartphone, the Фoton opens up a whole new playground for mobile moviemakers by enabling them to circumvent the optical compromises that have to be made to allow the iPhone to slip into your pocket. So, you get to lean into the image sensor and processing power, without having to make do with the depth of field and focal length.

You also get the fun of using a lens on your phone that costs about 5x what the phone itself cost.

Written and directed by Stanislav Kapralov and produced by Evotime Films, O2 is the first production to be filmed entirely on an iPhone using professional PL anamorphic lenses.

According to Beastgrip, power and an external SSD were connected via USB-C, while a Teradek unit transmitted the video signal to monitors for the director and 1st AC via HDMI. A wireless follow focus was mounted on the lens and powered by a Gold Mount battery, which also supplied power to the iPhone. The rig was built around the Beastcage with custom modifications, including an active cooling module for reliable performance. Extended 15mm rods supported additional components like a battery, matte box, and grips, resulting in a well-balanced setup for easier handling.

It perhaps wasn’t the cheapest way to produce it — Old Fast Glass was also called in to produce a custom rig for the phone — but visually the results are certainly impressive. Take a look.

tl;dr

• O2 is a short film shot entirely on an iPhone using Atlas Mercury anamorphic lenses and Beastgrip’s DOF Adapter Фoton.
• The film showcases the capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro as legitimate movie cameras when combined with professional lenses and additional equipment.
• Beastgrip’s DOF Adapter Фoton, in combination with Atlas Mercury Anamorphic Lenses, allows professional PL lenses to be mounted on a smartphone, offering new opportunities for mobile moviemakers.
• The rig included various components, including power and SSD connections, a Teradek unit for video transmission, wireless follow focus, and custom modifications for reliable performance.