Perhaps the most realistic shot-on-iPhone video

When Apple and others share videos shot with iPhones, they often stretch the definition of the term by using iPhones in rigs that include high-quality external lenses, cinema carts, super-expensive lighting, and other equipment that would put the results out of reach of the average user.

But tech critic Faruk has shown what can be achieved using just the standard camera app, without any additional lenses, gimbals or filters…

The three-minute video is essentially a showreel of his best footage from a year’s time. Perhaps Faruk is underlining the importance of practice to make perfect, as he points out that the video is compiled from over a thousand footage from that time.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max. No gimbal, additional lens or filter used. I recorded all footage using the stock camera app on an external drive in ProRes format. Edited in Final Cut Pro X. I compiled this video from over 1000 video clips I shot between September 2023 and August 2024.

You’ll notice he added another feature to the phone: an external drive. This is necessary because he shot in Apple’s ProRes format, which takes up a lot of storage space. The format offers a lot of scope for color grading, with ProRes 4444 XQ being the highest quality supported.

Apple ProRes 4444 XQ is the highest quality version of Apple ProRes for 4:4:4:4 image sources (including alpha channels). This format features a very high data rate to preserve the detail in high dynamic range images produced by today’s highest quality digital image sensors. Apple ProRes 4444 XQ preserves dynamic ranges many times greater than the dynamic range of Rec. 709 images, even under the rigors of extreme visual effects processing where blacks or highlights are significantly stretched in the tonal scale. Like standard Apple ProRes 4444, this codec supports up to 12 bits per image channel and up to 16 bits for the alpha channel. Apple ProRes 4444 XQ has a target data rate of approximately 500 Mbps for 4:4:4 sources at 1920×1080 and 29.97 fps.

The video commentary is an excerpt from a graduation speech by actor and comedian Jim Carrey from 2014.

Check out the video below.

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