Innovative Filming Techniques in 28 Years Later

The upcoming horror threequel 28 Years Later is not the first Hollywood movie to utilize innovative filming techniques, but it may be the first to be shot using 20 iPhones. Director Danny Boyle mounted this number of phones on a special rig for select shots in the film, which is set to release on June 20th.

For Boyle, shooting with iPhones transcends mere gimmickry. He returns to the series after directing the original 28 Days Later in 2002, which was filmed using a digital video camcorder—a nod to the home video technology of that era. He and returning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle viewed this as an “influence” in their decision to incorporate phone technology, the modern equivalent of the camcorder.

It was previously reported that Boyle shot 28 Years Later using an iPhone 15 Pro Max, but the film actually employs a combination of standard cameras, drones, and iPhones, including three specialized rigs designed to accommodate eight, 10, or 20 iPhones simultaneously first reported last year.

“There is an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the 20-rig camera, and you’ll know it when you see it,” Boyle told IGN. “It’s quite graphic, but it’s a wonderful shot that utilizes that technique in a startling way that immerses you into a new world rather than making you feel like you’ve seen it before.”

Boyle describes the 20-phone rig as “basically a poor man’s bullet time,” explaining that it enabled the crew to capture some of the film’s more intense scenes in innovative ways. “It provides you with 180 degrees of vision of an action, and during editing, you can select any perspective from it, whether a conventional one-camera view or a dynamic approach that allows you to navigate around reality, time-slicing the subject and jumping forward or backward for emphasis.”

This is not the only unconventional cinematographic choice made for the film. It was also shot in an expansive 2.76:1 aspect ratio, akin to 70mm film, which keeps viewers on edge about where the film’s infected characters might appear: “If you’re on a widescreen format, they could be anywhere… you have to keep scanning, looking around for them.”