Soderbergh’s High Flying Bird
The Netflix Film Was Shot Entirely On iPhones
Everyone is talking about Steven Soderbergh‘s high-drama sport film High Flying Bird for more than one reason. Instead of showing what happens on the court during, what we assume, the NBA season, viewers get a fast-paced look at the negotiations behind the scenes of a league lockout.
The primarily black cast (with the exceptions of high-profile actors Zachary Quinto and Kyle MacLachlan) focuses on aspects of sexuality, mental health and race in an age of the 24/7 social media cycle. But the most impressive part of the one-hour 30-minute Netflix Original is the fact it’s all shot on iPhones.
On a tight, estimated $2 million budget, it’s no wonder the film used inexpensive technology. But if you were to watch the film without knowing its technological specs, you would think it was filmed on the fanciest cameras available in the industry instead of an iPhone 8. That’s not the case, though. The use of phones allows for angles that would be hard to get with big, bulky cameras, and takes viewers on a more intimate experience.
What’s most impressive is the audio. iPhones microphones are notoriously bad at capturing everything a person says in a clear manner (just look at everyone’s Snapchat stories). With microphones that attach to any phone, the perfectly written script by Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney shines. That snappy dialogue is well-executed by its main stars Moonlight actor André Hall, Melvin Gregg, Zazie Beetz, Sonja Sohn and Bill Duke — all of whom captivate viewers and make us believe every word they’re saying.
High Flying Bird is not Soderbergh’s first iPhone-filmed flick. In March 2018, he released the thriller Unsane starring Claire Foy (The Crown, First Man), which was shot in two weeks on an iPhone Seven Plus. It had an estimated budget of $1.5 million and grossed more than $14 million for a healthy profit. Soderbergh has even been quoted saying iPhones are the future of cinema, and he is proof that filmmakers don’t need a big budget and the fanciest equipment to make a successful film; you just need good audio and a good story.
