Malcolm Owen
The latest in Apple's line of "Shot on iPhone" documentary films has been published to the company's YouTube page, this time highlighting the Flying Cholitas, an association of female wrestlers based in El Alto, Bolivia.
Directed by Michael Johnson and Luisa Dorr, the film "Las Cholitas Voladoras" starts by showing two women fighting in a wrestling ring. Dressed in bright colors, the wrestlers are revealed to be part of a seven-year-old association that wasn't accepted by society and was the subject of criticism at the start, but is described as a courageous and empowering activity for those involved.
The 2-minute 24-second video intersperses wrestling with shots of the mountains, wildlife, and local scenery, with the ring shown to have been set up in the middle of the countryside. The video is accompanied by a "Making Of" film, explaining how the footage was captured on an iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, as well as showing Dorr taking photographs of the wrestlers and other scenes.
Along with the iPhones, the film used the Freefly Movi Cinema Robot, ROV Mobile Motorized Slider, Beastgrip Lens Adapter and Rig System, Moment Lenses, Canon EF Prime Lenses, and Filmic Pro.
The "Shot on iPhone" campaign is designed to show off the imaging capabilities of the iPhone lineup, and has Apple regularly commissioning films from documentary producers that are hosted on its YouTube account. The campaign title also applies to still images that are shared using a specific hashtag on social media, with some selected to be placed on billboards and exhibited in stores.
Other videos in the "Shot on iPhone" series include a nature-centric film, surfers in Cuba, and an exploration of future NFL athletes in "The Lonely Palm Tree, Samoa."
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2 Comments
It’s really well edited and shot! This proves how powerful the phone has become in the hands of a professional filmmaker.
That said, Canon EF Prime Lenses and a Beastgrip (check out their product) is a bit silly. If you are going to rig up a phone like that, it makes more sense to grab a Panasonic GH5s or Fuji XT-3 instead.
I would be much more interested in an ultra-light rig configuration. Maybe an DJI Osmo Mobile 2 and Filmic Pro, but no crazy ass EF full-frame prime lens on a phone... The whole point is to show off the mobile side of filmmaking.
I thought the women's wrestling in Bolivia was more interesting than the whole shot on the iPhone thing. Let alone a rink in the middle of no where. Good for them giving it a go. How much of it is fake like the WWE?
The pictures though looked great.