MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone | Image Credit: Apple
Four Indian filmmakers in the MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone project explain how the iPhone 16 Pro Max has helped them to create their short films.
The Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) Select: Shot on iPhone is an initiative that empowers filmmakers to “push the boundaries of technology and innovation in film.” The program is in its second year.
Filmmakers in the MAMI Select: Shot on iPhone program receive mentoring from industry giants Konkona Sen Sharma, Vikramaditya Motwane, Lijo Jose Pellissery, and Vetri Maaran. These mentors have taken four emerging filmmakers under their wings to encourage creativity without the normal conventions of mainstream filmmaking.
“Shooting on iPhone allows for complete personal expression,” Maaran, writer-director of the upcoming Tamil action thriller Vaadivaasal told Apple. “We’re living in the age of democracy in filmmaking.”
Each of the four filmmakers has come to rely on the iPhone 16 Pro Max to achieve a different goal.
Amrita Bagchi created a psychological thriller inspired by the Indigo Revolt, an uprising that took place in 1859 in Bengal. The film “Tinctoria,” uses Cinematic mode to track objects flying through the air.
“It’s like a rocket machine,” Bagchi says. “On a tight schedule, I can just shoot at 4K120 fps on my iPhone, and still have tremendous flexibility to change the pacing during the edit on my MacBook Pro.”
“Kovarty,” created by Rohin Raveendran Nair, is a love story with magical realism elements that showcase the relationship between typewriter and typist. Thanks to the small form factor of the iPhone, Nair could place it inside the typewriter and capture compelling point-of-view shots.
Chanakya Vyas’ short film, “Mangya,” is a coming-of-age tale about a young boy and his pet rooster. During a key scene in the film, Vyas had to track his actor for 1,000 feet before sunrise.
“There’s no time to mount the camera on a traditional gimbal,” he says. “But with Action mode, I could even shoot multiple takes. The stabilization is just so impressive.”
Shalini Vijayakumar’s “Seeing Red” is a comedic horror film about the quashed emotions of the women in a large Tamil household. She utilizes traditionally masculine visual devices from Tamil cinema.
“I call these the ‘mass shots’ where the heroes walk dramatically in slow motion,” she says. “I’m doing that for the women in 4K120 fps, and it looks fabulous.”
For tighter shots, she uses the iPhone 16 Pro’s 120mm lens. It allows her to bring together her narrative, staging, and theme in a single shot.
“Using the 5x Telephoto lens, I’m able to place the men in front as they discuss the fate of the women in the background,” Vijayakumar explains. “There’s so much storytelling in that one frame through that particular lens.”
All four films are available to watch, in full, on the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival YouTube page.
