Posted on 06/30/2010 9:28:39 PM PDT by Swordmaker
It's easy to see how the iPhone 4's high-definition 1280x720 video would be a handy feature. It's an entirely different thing to see just how impressive it can be in the right hands.
Watch the Video Production here on Vimeo
In this case, those hands belong chiefly to Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James, students at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, who wrote a short video called "Apple of My Eye." Koerbel recorded it with an iPhone 4, and James edited it on the same hardware with Apple's new iMovie app--all in less than 48 hours.
As with Vincent Laforet's "Reverie," shot with Canon's first video-capable SLR, the EOS 5D Mark II, the appeal of "Apple of My Eye" isn't the acting or plot. Instead, it's the demonstration that a new generation of relatively mainstream equipment can achieve what only professional gear could earlier.
And as marketing executives know, such works also are a potentially powerful draw for all those budding artists who aspire to produce something beyond snapshots of the family. Many never will, of course, but that won't stop them from buying premium products.
Don't expect most iPhone 4 owners to craft comparably high-quality video vignettes. "Apple of My Eye" is pleasant to watch in part because its relatively professional production values--carefully arranged camera perspective, suitable lighting, a sweeping musical score--just aren't going to make it to most amateur video. There was more gear involved than just an iPhone, too--a tripod for still shots and a camera dolly for moving shots, for example. And James said it took 14 hours to edit.
Do expect cinema to be changed, though, as Moore's Law collides with Hollywood. The Red cameras at the high end, Canon's 5D Mark II, 7D, and Rebel T2i in the middle, and the iPhone 4 at the low end--these sorts of digital tools will fuel innovation among the experimental crowd and likely draw fresh talent to the industry.
The spread of high-end technology to the mainstream is a broader trend than with just video. The high-quality photos a person can produce with a digital SLR and Photoshop opened the doors for the microstock photography business, letting part-time amateurs elbow in on professionals' turf. Junior-high-school rock bands can mix and dub music with tools better than professional studios had a generation earlier. And the Brushes app can turn an iPad into an artist's sketch tablet in a way a $2,000 Wacom Cintiq tethered to a computer never could.
Again, such tools are most impressive in the skilled, capable hands that most of us lack. But the spread of technology means more people will be able to learn, and the Internet means there's a place for the rest of us to find what they've done.
So, while you shouldn't hold out Oscar hopes for that video of your child blowing out the birthday candles, you should expect for some engaging new art.
This still from 'Apple of My Eye' shows a little bit of what it takes to record a higher-end video with an iPhone 4.
I'm not saying that it is not a problem that should have been addressed in R and D...just that since I would have a skin on it anyway regardless, the attenuation problem would not be a concern to me personally...
Srsly?
I am certainly glad you and niteflyer are finding a YouTube filled with ad hominem attacks and insults to iPhone and Apple users posted in an Apple/Mac/iPhone thread uproariously funny. That's exactly what we are complaining about. Gratuitous Ad hominem attacks on users... we are tired of being the butts of your juvenile jokes. There have been too many of them for too many years.
IPhones can work in my area, but not well. We like to travel and I require the reasonably dependable service that I get with Verizon.
So, rather than wait until well into next year, I am taking a good look at the Droid X, for now.
If I weren't holding out for a later-generation iPad for my field GIS. overhead imagery and cartography work, I might be tempted to get an iPhone4 -- to take the place of the cell phone I chucked when I retired...
I won’t be able to wait until next June, so I may have to go with the Droid X for now and change over later. darn.
Oh no, I was just explaining for the inevitable deluge of complaints...;)
I wonder, since the issue only happens when a bare hand touches the bare metal, whether coating the metal with something non-conductive would be a workaround? It wouldn't affect the radio waves one bit, but it would keep the skin from contacting metal. Seems like an easy fix...
That can work to a degree; it will reduce the amount of interference, much like a case or rubber-band around the edge helps. But you'll still have significantly degraded performance if you hold it so the antenna is covered by your hand. I think this graphic says it best:
Left screen is flat on-the-table. Center is held in hand. Right is held but in a case. The case helps, but performance is still degraded.
But at least it operates! And while we can argue about the video resolution of the phone, I think we should all agree the most important function of a phone is to first BE a phone...;)
Hey Sword, don't take that one too hard -- it was posted as an external link and not as an inline comment. Unlike the same sort of insults posted as comments within the thread, watching that vid is completely and utterly voluntary.
Yeah, it's dumb as hell, and relentlessly, gratuitously rude and insulting, but it's also perfectly clear after the first 5 seconds where it's going. So if somebody chooses not to be assaulted by it, they can stop and go back to the thread.
I object to personal attacks and abuse in the comments in the Apple threads, and I've called people out on that, and pinged the Admin Mods from time to time. You know that.
But I consider an external reference something else -- it's like the porn channel on TV -- I know it's there but I don't have to watch it.
Just my opinion. You know I support your Apple threads and appreciate them, and I respect your efforts to bring Apple-related tech news to us. I'm certainly not ragging on ya. Just sayin', this one isn't worth working up a sweat over.
Actually I am an iPhone user/lover and took it the other way...point of the cartoon as I saw it is that the iPhones were sold out...and no matter what the salesman promised the buyer knew exactly what they wanted.
I remember when a buddy talked me into an iPhone 3G when I was going to buy an HTC Fuze they supposedly carry..(gee what happened to THAT one???) as I was a Windows Mobile/PC freak and never owned an Apple product in my life. The day I went to Best Buy to pick up the HTC they didn't know what I was talking about (at the time that was THE iPhone killer...for about ten minutes anyway maybe..ha ha! ) I noticed everyone, and I mean everyone... was buying iPhones...so I relented as I trusted my buddy's judgment and have been tickled with my 3G ever since and WILL buy a 4 soon. I would be like the iPhone buyer in the cartoon...(I don't care...I want an iPhone 4"...)...so maybe it's my dark sense of humor.. but I meant no attack/disrespect on Apple/iPhone at all...;o)
Excuse me, what did I post that was not factual and truthful? I found it funny, and I stated as much. Do you have a problem with people expressing factually based opinions in threads?
Ditto! I'll be more careful with external liinks here...guess now that I think about it ...kinda bad taste...my bad...:o)
I took it as the generic “bang head on brick wall” feeling when dealing with any fanboy. As an audio guy it’s usually me (the salesman) talking to a Bose owner (the iPhone drone in the cartoon).
That's why my phone of choice is a simple LG VX5500. I make and receive phone calls on it, send and receive SMS/TXTs, and use the alarm to wake me in the morning and remind my of my BP meds at night.
I've got a first-gen iPod Touch for an MP3 player, a few games, a great HP-16C calculator app, an SSh app, and a browser.
Would I consider upgrading to an iPhone to combine those features into a single device? Sure. But not with AT&T. When Apple provides Verizon support, I'll consider it.
Just amazing. We live in amazing times. In a year or two you’ll be able to pick these things up used for 50 bucks or something, and you’ll have the ability to do more than an entire film studio could do in the 1950s or 1960s.
I guess I'm a Bose drone too!
I love my iPhone AND my 901's Hee hee!
Me too. I think brand loyalty make one a little too sensitive. I don't get offended by product attacks as I have no brand loyalty. I'm going to always buy the phone/PC that works best for what I need it for. Right now I'm an iPhone user and PC guy...both work best for me. And I love that open market competition drives technology forward at such a fast pace. For me...iPhone today...maybe something else tomorrow...just have to see what happens.
I live in So Cal and had zero problems with ATT/iPhone...no dropped calls and almost always 5 bars of 3G...must be a regional thing...
Gaah! You trying to kill me?
;)
Yep that is why I'm going to let my buddy "MoneyBags" buy one (iPhone 4) first and see how it works out comparing it to his 3G he bought the same time I did..if reception is as good or better then I'll get in line....:o)
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