While the latest horror trilogy installment, 28 Years Later, isn’t the only Hollywood film to be shot using an iPhone, it may be in a league of its own after using 20 iPhones to shoot scenes. Director Danny Boyle mounted the 20 iPhones on a special rig to capture certain shots during filming.

Getting the Perfect Shot With 20 iPhones

In 2002, the original film 28 Days Later was shot on a digital camcorder. Boyle and returning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle chose the iPhone as the closest modern equivalent to the camcorder. According to IGN the movie uses a mix of regular cameras, drones, and iPhones. They constructed a special rig that could mount eight, 10, or 20 iPhones.

“There is an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the 20-rig camera, and you’ll know it when you see it,” Boyle told IGN. “It’s quite graphic but it’s a wonderful shot that uses that technique, and in a startling way that kind of kicks you into a new world rather than thinking you’ve seen it before.”

Using 20 iPhones for a single shot allowed the filmmakers to choose from different angles to capture some of the film’s more violent scenes. In post-production, editors can choose from a wide variety of shots and angles to move between perspectives or jump forward or backward between shots.

“It gives you 180 degrees of vision of an action, and in the editing you can select any choice from it, either a conventional one-camera perspective or make your way instantly around reality, time-slicing the subject, jumping forward or backward for emphasis,” Boyle said.

According to Boyle, the rig can be attached to cranes or dollies to enhance the shots further and emphasize the effects. “For a moment the audience is inside the scene, the action, rather than classically observing a picture,” the director explained.

29 Years Later will be released on June 20, almost 20 years after the release of the original film’s sequel, 28 Weeks Later. Do you think you’ll be able to spot the 20 iPhone camera shots?