“Taste” – Haunting Short Film Shot On Sony Xperia Cinema Pro App
We’re used to official “shot on iPhone” films being shared by Apple, some of which are highly impressive. The recent Snowbrawl is one that comes to mind. I especially like it when a ‘behind the scenes’ video is included, as Apple did with that one.
People often comment that Sony make good smartphones but aren’t very good at marketing them. Well, this time they have taken a leaf out of Apple’s book with an Sony-produced, Xperia-shot film. While they don’t have some of the consumer-driven gimmicks, I’m a fan of the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 devices.
Both models are basically the same, specs wise, while the cheaper Xperia 5 is also smaller. They come with 3 cameras, 2 rear and 1 front. But they also both come with the Sony-built manual control Cinema Pro app. Sony make cinema-grade cameras and I think it shows in these devices.
Rear
- Primary: 12MP (1/2.6″ Exmor RS), f/1.6 aperture (ISO 3200), 26mm lens, Dual Photo Diode.
- Telephoto: 12MP (1/3.4″), f/2.4, 52mm lens. Ultra wide: 12MP (1/3.4″), f/2.4, 16mm.
Front
- 8MP (1/4″ sensor), f/2.0, 24mm lens, fixed-focus.
Taste
“TASTE” is the story of a chef who uses brand new technology to capture flavors with a state of the art optical sensor. We follow the chef as she goes on an international expedition acquiring new ingredients in a quest to prepare a dish like never served before. – Sony
The short film Taste, written & directed by Chris Caldwell & Zeek Earl, has an authentic cinematic look, with subtle colours and shades. While Apple’s ‘shot on iPhone’ films rarely have much of a narrative, this short film has a thoughtful story. I found it to be quite a strange science fiction story, but in a good way.
Plotline
Sony say the film is about a chef capturing tastes with a “state of the art optical sensor”. In practice, this means pointing a gun-like device at object and shooting it to “capture” the object’s taste. The taste is then delivered on a plastic spoon for the chef to sample.
The chef sets about capturing taste samples from basically anything that moves. If she finds something she likes, she has it made into food by a device that looks like a 3D printer. Then she tastes it again and decides if it lives up to expectations.
Frustrated by the lack of good taste, she goes crazy sampling every food she can find. Even her own thigh at one point. There’s even some nice little “Black Mirror” style moments. In one she gets in trouble for sampling some soup in a restaurant, which makes you wonder if such a device existed, could you copyright taste?
Using the Cinema Pro app, the Xperia devices can shoot widescreen 21:9 format. And the filmmakers often put that framing to good use.
Anyway, it’s fun little story (which probably has more potential for weirdness than is explored here). For me, the colour provided by the Xperia with the Cinema Pro app is more subtle and cinematic than other smartphones.
Behind the scenes documentary
If there’s some making of footage, I like to investigate to see what kit was used. It looks like they shot the behind the scenes footage and interviews with an Xperia too, which I like to see. Having said that, there is some pro-camera footage included too.
In this shot we see the Xperia mounted on a very solid, heavy duty tripod and clamp. Anyone know which clamp this is?
“Chris and I’s last big project was a feature film that had a crew of 80-100 people and huge camera package. And to go from that to this was liberating. Immediately we started thinking: what type of story can we only tell with this tool.” Zeek Earl, writer/director.
Gimbal: Movi Freefly Cinema Robot
We can see Chris and Zeek used a Movi Freefly Cinema Robot smartphone gimbal, one of the most popular with professional filmmakers (but also expensive).
Here we see the Xperia mounted on what looks like a Joby mini tripod.
Do I spot a Steadicam Smoothee?
Here, it looks like they’re using a good old Steadicam Smoothee, as used by Sean Baker for shooting Tangerine back in 2015. But this model seems to have a light at the back, while I was under the impression the original had no motor or any other electrics. Is this an update?
Lighting
Note in this shot below we see a lamp on a pole, leaning against the wall. Having a lamp this way makes it very mobile, and you can have a crew member carry the light and hold it where you want it, like a boom pole operator. When we shot Kosmos, the DoP made a homemade one of these using a paper lamp shade.
Here we see the Xperia mounted on a lightweight tripod. They’ve also created a homemade sunlight shade for the Xperia’s screen for easier monitoring outdoors.
Add on lenses?
I didn’t spot any add-on lenses, but perhaps they have added a daylight ND filter over the lens. See below.
Again, more lighting insights in the shot below. You can see the handheld lamp in action here, providing a backlight for the actress while she is moving. Having a crew member hold the light this way means the light can move with the subject.
You can check out the whole film here. see if you can glean any other low budget smartphone filmmaking ideas.
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