史蒂文索德伯格的新作《Unsane》全程使用iPhone拍摄

Hollywood Thriller¹ ‘Unsane’ Filmed Totally on iPhone

For many people, smartphones have replaced cameras as the main way to capture personal pictures and video.

The quality of the devices has greatly improved.

Even some Hollywood filmmakers have decided² to stop using big, costly³ equipment and instead shoot movies on smartphones. One of the latest to do this is director and producer Steven Soderbergh.

Soderbergh has made both independent and big-budget films. He won an Academy Award for Best Director of the movie “Traffic” in 2001. He was also nominated that year for Best Director for “Erin Brockovich.” His earliest full length movie, Sex, Lies and Videotape, came out in 1989. Ocean’s Eleven came about four years later. Among other Soderbergh films are 2012’s Magic Mike and “Logan Lucky” released last year.

Soderbergh has also worked on several television series.

He describes his latest directorial effort, “Unsane,” as a psychological thriller. The film was recently released in the U.S. and several other countries. The whole film was shot on an iPhone 7 Plus.

Actress Claire Foy plays a woman who moves to a new city to escape a man who has been stalking her. After experiencing mental health difficulties, she agrees to go to a hospital.

The woman quickly decides she should not be in the mental hospital and tries to leave. But she is not permitted to go. She protests her detention⁴. Her mother also works to get her out.

While trapped there, the woman fears her stalker now works at the hospital. It is not clear to the moviegoers if the man is really there, or if the character just imagines that.

In several interviews, the director praised his results of iPhone filming.

“I’m very happy the way the movie looks,” Soderbergh told a news conference for the film’s premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany. He said he knows some people will want to see the movie just because it was shot on an iPhone. But, he says, moviegoers will not notice anything unusual.

“Anybody going to see this movie who has no idea of the backstory to the production will have no idea this was shot on the phone,” the filmmaker told IndieWire.

“I’ve seen it 40 feet tall,” Soderbergh said of Unsane. “It looks like velvet⁵.”

He added that he thinks shooting movies on an iPhone or similar device is a “game changer” for filmmaking. He said it was a good experience and he would find it hard to return to the use of usual movie cameras.

Soderbergh said one of the best things about using an iPhone is that it greatly speeds up shooting. The camera can be moved anywhere “in a matter of seconds.” Unsane was completely shot in just two weeks. The director said it was also helpful not to have to make big holes in walls to fit large cameras or attach equipment to the ceiling.

He added that one of the only issues he had was that the iPhone was sometimes affected⁶ by strong vibrations⁸.

Joshua Leonard was an actor in the movie. He said being filmed with an iPhone provided fewer distractions¹⁰ during filming. This permitted him to, in his words, “stay in the world of the film and in the world of our characters.”

He added: “There’s nothing more fun as an actor than just being in the thick of the creative process when you’re actually on set. And not having to wait for the machine of filmmaking to catch up with the creative impulse.”

Leonard said it also helped his performance because he is already used to so many people putting phones close to his face to take pictures.

Soderbergh thinks this same idea will help many people develop a deeper connection to the movie. He says this is because people are already completely used to seeing camera phone imagery.

In his words, “I think without even knowing it, there’s an intimacy¹¹ between the viewer and the screen in this case, because of that familiarity.”

Soderbergh is currently working on another iPhone-filmed movie. That basketball-related film, “High Flying Bird,” is to be released next year.

I’m Caty Weaver¹². And I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

thriller – n. a novel, movie, etc., that is very exciting : a story full of exciting action, mystery, adventure, or suspense¹³

stalk – v. to follow, watch, and bother (someone) constantly in a way that is frightening, dangerous, etc.?

velvet – n. a soft, rich piece of cloth

vibration⁷ – n. a continuous slight shaking movement : a series of small, fast movements back and forth¹⁴ or from side to side?

distraction⁹ – n. something that turns your attention to something else

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

impulse – n. desire to do something

intimacy – n. emotional warmth and closeness

familiarity – n. the state of knowing about something

1 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

8 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

10 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

12 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

13 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。