Danny Boyle is reprising the grungy, digital style of 2002’s 28 Days Later with his upcoming sequel, 28 Years Later. With iPhones…
Depending on your interest in visual aesthtics and depending on how long it’s been since you last saw 2002’s 28 Days Later, you may have forgotten just how grungy Danny Boyle’s zombie horror flick looks. That was all intentional, of course; the movie was shot by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle using a a Canon XL-1, a relatively inexpensive ‘prosumer’ camcorder, recording onto MiniDV.
It gave the film a noisy, unvarnished look, perfect for a film about the catastrophic fall of civilisation. According to Wired, Boyle has elected to go down a similar route for his forthcoming sequel, 28 Years Later. The outlet reports that the film was shot on iPhone 15s, with the devices being slightly modified to allow for the attachment of full-frame DSLR lenses.
(Update: when we say slightly modified, we may be understating matters a little; please see the embeded tweet below.)
Boyle isn’t the first filmmaker to try this. The equally inventive Steven Soderbergh shot 2018’s Unsane on iPhones, and if you want a look at how 28 Years Later might look, Soderbergh’s twisted psychological drama will probably make for a good primer. Sean Baker also shot 2015’s Tangerine on iPhones, too.
Read more: 28 Years Later | Looking ahead to the potential story in Danny Boyle’s sequel
There’s more: the piece also reveals that some sequences were shot with action cams strapped to farm animals which the outlet’s writer cleverly dubs ‘GoatPro’.
28 Days Later was made for just $8m but went on to earn ten times that at the box office. The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, cost twice as much and retained some of that signature visual style. Here’s our look at where 28 Years Later could go narratively.
The film recently wrapped production in July and is set to release next year. It’ll feature the talents of Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Charlie Hunnam. Then there’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple to look forward to, which will be directed by Nia DaCosta. More on these as we hear it.
