Apple’s shared a new shot-on-iPhone short, a martial arts fantasy from internationally renowned Korean film director Park Chan-wook, to celebrate Chinese New Year.
- Apple has commissioned a martial arts video celebrating Chinese New Year
- Earlier, it shared another mini-film to kick off the Year of the Tiger
- These shorts are created by a professional film crew
Shot on iPhone: “Life is But a Dream”
Shot on iPhone, Apple’s long-running advertising campaign, continues with a new martial arts mini-film shared on YouTube to celebrate Chinese New Year.
The 21-minute video was shared on the company’s official channel on YouTube. Created by South Korean film director Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy,” “The Handmaiden,” “Lady Vengeance”), this martial arts fantasy focuses on an undertaker in a small village who awakens the ghost of an ancient swordsman in an abandoned grave.
An undertaker who needs woods to build a coffin for the savior of his village digs up an abandoned grave. But while doing so, he accidentally awakens the ghost of an ancient swordsman. Now the ghost tries to take back his coffin.
The short stars Yoo Hai-jin, Kim Ok-vin and Park Jeong-min, among others. The original soundtrack by Jang Young-gyu is available on Apple Music. In January, the company shared a short film titled “The Comeback,” featuring “out-of-this-world dream,” to mark the Year of the Tiger. Read: How to remotely control your iPhone camera
What Apple isn’t telling you about these mini-films
The mini-film was shot with the iPhone 13 Pro cameras. Apple has also shared a making-of footage showing off how the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max cameras were used to capture specific scenes and achieve Park’s visual flair.
With “Life is But a Dream”, internationally renowned film director Park Chan-wook unleashes his dream-like vision with iPhone 13 Pro. Check out how Park and his film crew utilized the awesome power of iPhone 13 Pro to create a visual feast where life and death, a wedding and a funeral, etc. all come clashing together.
Over the years, Apple has commissioned many short films from Hollywood directors, marketing agencies and video professionals that became part of its Shot on iPhone ad campaign. Our only complaint when it comes to those videos is the disclaimer situation.
It’s true Apple doesn’t hide the fact that additional equipment such as gimbals and lighting is often used to film these shorts. But it’s also true that Apple appears to go out of its way to burry the disclaimer in the video’s description where a few people will spot it.
In our view, Apple should be more straightforward about commissioning such shorts from professionals who clearly know their trade inside out and have the equipment to produce results we can only dream about achieving just with an iPhone in our pockets.