How to shoot 4K video on iPhone just like Danny Boyle did for '28 Years Later'
I have a confession: 2002's 28 Days Later was the movie that sparked my obsession for zombies during my teenage years. I loved that movie, and so I'm dying to see the latest chapter, 28 Years Later, when it hits theaters on June 20. A lot has happened since director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland's original flick came out, including the launch of the iPhone in 2007. When I first saw 28 Days Later, my cell phone had a retractable antenna.
For the sequel, Boyle actually used iPhones to help make the movie. As Boyle recently told Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko in an interview for our video podcast Say More, the director deployed iPhones shooting in 4K video mode for pivotal scenes in the movie. (Boyle isn't the first director to use iPhones while making feature-length movies, from Sean Baker's Tangerine to Steven Soderbergh's Unsane.)
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Say More: Danny Boyle reveals the tech and origins of '28 Years Later's most shocking moments
In the behind-the-scenes photo below, you can see a custom-made camera rig featuring 20 iPhone 15s, which was used to shoot "bullet time" scenes in 28 Years Later. As Boyle told Mashable, there are actually distinct advantages to shooting movies with an iPhone.
"They're lightweight. They do now record at 4K, which, when you make your own videos, you have to put a special setting in to make it 4K because otherwise your cloud storage would be just ginormous for every little video that you made," Boyle said. "But they allowed us to visit places, remote places in the UK, with a very light footprint."
Behind the scenes of "28 Years Later." Credit: Sony Pictures
So, while you might not have Boyle's plethora of devices or a custom-built rig, how can you shoot in 4K video mode on your own iPhone? It's actually incredibly easy.
SEE ALSO: Watch Stormzy's short film 'Big Man' shot on iPhone 16 Pro
Essentially, the key to shooting 4K video on iPhone is activating it in your device's settings. The precise steps might vary depending on the type of iPhone you have, but in general, it's a simple process.
By default, your iPhone usually shoots HD video (1080p) at 30 frames per second. On my iPhone 15 Pro, I can change my video settings in the upper-right corner of the Video mode. Look for symbols that say "HD" and "30."
The HD version of me. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable
Do I look more or less handsome in 4K? Don't answer that. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable
By tapping on "HD," your camera should switch to "4K" mode instantly. On the iPhone 15, you can also update the frame rate, choosing from 24 fps, 30 fps, and 60 fps. The higher the frame rate, the higher the video quality and the smoother the motion in the video. And if you have an iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max, you can jack those settings all the way up to 120 fps.
Be warned, 4K video files are "ginormous," as Boyle put it. How large? According to Apple, one minute of 4K video at 60 fps will be 440 MB large. Your efforts will also cost you precious battery life, so plan accordingly.
Save this video mode for special occasions, such as when you're filming the long-awaited sequel to your 2002 horror masterpiece.
For other advanced camera settings, go into your iPhone's Settings, select Camera, and select Record Video. There, you can toggle HDR video on and off, lock white balance, and make other adjustments.
Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable
Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable
And that's it. Apple makes the entire process relatively painless once you know what you're looking for.
So, what's stopping you from making your own legendary horror film trilogy?
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