Danny Boyle straps 20 iPhones together to film zombie sequel '28 Years Later'

Time of India

2 days ago

Image: Sony
Movies are shot on these ultra-expensive cinema cameras, but lately makers have been using phones also, often an
iPhone
and people even call that ambitious. But,
Danny Boyle
built a custom rig to hold 20 of them. The unconventional setup for his $75 million zombie sequel
28 Years Later
for action shots that the director describes as "basically a poor man's bullet time."
The sequel to his 2002's 28 Days Later, employed three different iPhone rigs throughout production. One held eight phones, another ten, and the largest accommodated a full 20 iPhone 15 Pro Max(es). These multi-camera setups could be mounted on cranes or carried by crew members to capture sweeping 180-degree views of the action.
"There is an incredible shot in the second half where we use the 20-rig camera, and you'll know it when you see it," Boyle revealed to IGN. "It's quite graphic but it's a wonderful shot that uses that technique in a startling way that kicks you into a new world."
For Boyle, iPhones replaces the camcorders for a 'raw' feel
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Undo
The iPhone choice wasn't arbitrary, it's a deliberate callback to the original 28 Days Later, which made waves in 2002 by using consumer-grade Canon digital camcorders instead of traditional film cameras. Last year, Boyle said he wanted to capture the same raw, immediate feel that defined the franchise's aesthetic.
Image: Sony
"I suppose you could ignore it, but we decided to carry it as an influence," Boyle explained, noting that smartphones are today's equivalent of the camcorders that would have documented a real zombie apocalypse in 2002.
Apple helped in the production of '28 Years Later'
Boyle say that this multi-camera setup offered, what he calls 'unexpected' benefits beyond creating a visual spectacle."It gives you 180 degrees of vision of an action, and in the editing you can select any choice from it," he explained. "Either a conventional one-camera perspective or make your way instantly around reality, time-slicing the subject, jumping forward or backward for emphasis." The setup also kept his cast alert and unpredictable, preventing them from anticipating camera angles during intense scenes.
Despite using smartphones as the primary filming device, 28 Years Later won't look like typical phone footage. Professional cinema lenses were mounted in front of the iPhone cameras, and the production received technical support from Apple during filming. The phones shot in Apple's
ProRes codec
with log color profiles, preserving maximum image data for post-production color grading and editing.
28 Years Later drops in theaters June 20, bringing back Boyle alongside original writer Alex Garland and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. The cast includes Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and
Ralph Fiennes
as survivors trying to make it in a world still reeling from the
Rage Virus
nearly three decades later. They're already deep into filming the follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, with The Marvels director Nia DaCosta taking the helm for a 2026 release, part of what's shaping up to be a whole new trilogy for the zombie franchise (those 28 weeks don't matter much, guess so).
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