Is shooting on a phone still a gimmick?
A few months back on Red Shark we covered an advert produced by Apple on the iPhone 5S. It looked fantastic and I don't think that anyone would have been any the wiser unless they had been told.
None the less there was the inevitable criticism with observers stating how it was somehow cheating to rig the phones up, and that it was simply a gimmick. No serious client would accept a video being shot on a phone! No way. Badaboom, bada bing, not a chance!
Well, for those of an anti phone video tendancy I am afraid I am going to have to burst your bubble again. This time with an advert produced for Bentley. Yes, you read that correctly, Bentley, the manufacturer of high end luxury cars. Not only that but it was edited on an iPad using iMovie.
The video didn't even have special demands that required such a small camera. Simply this is a nice looking promo video shot with an iPhone, and once again I bet nobody would have batted an eyelid unless this fact was pointed out to them.
It therefore begs the question of whether shooting video with a phone really is still a gimmick, or whether these devices can in fact be taken seriously as video producing gear. I have said before that if your focus is on the gear that you own rather than your skills then there is something wrong. Are we really so blinkered that we can turn our noses up at a video just because of the device it is shot on, even though the video might actually be rather good?
No doubt critics will bring out all the usual arguments about image control etc, etc. However if we get down to the raw basics, if the camera does the job and suits the job then why not use it? I will admit that at one time I would probably have been one of the naysayers, but we are in a new age. One where rich kids can sometimes afford the same gear as the pros, but lack the knowledge whatsoever to use it.
In other words there is a lot of video out there being produced with high end gear that is no better than a home movie, and yet here we have a professional video shot with iPhones that looks much better.
Always focus on the end result. If you successfully arrive at your destination then the method you used to get there is history.