https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrN1ytnQ-Tg
This short film by Michael Gondry for Apple was filmed entirely on an iPhone, and pushes the boundaries of what you can achieve on the phone. Via Adweek:
“Détour” is inspired by the works of Jaques Tati and Albert Lamorisse, but the man who gave us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind owes many other cinematic debts for this compact and charming piece of work. You’d never guess it was shot using only a phone (though the skills of a veteran director probably help with that—it’s never really about the tools, is it?).
The 10-minute piece follows a family going on vacation. Their little girl insists they not forget her tricycle, which they attach (pretty iffily) to the end of their VW. Of course it detaches, setting off a two-sided Quest—the helpless heroine who longs for her beloved bike, and the bike working its hardest to get back to her.
If you’ve ever watched a Gondry film, you won’t be disappointed. Warm-hearted serendipity mixes with the surreal. Among singing fish and dancing chickens, you’ll feel vestiges of The Red Balloon, Amélie and even American Beauty, when a floating plastic bag whimsically helps draw the tricycle closer to its goal.
On a more serious note, another great film made entirely on smartphone footage that we’ve seen recently is Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time, about refugee abuses in Manus. Check that one out in festival circuits if you haven’t seen it yet.