The latest iPhone 13 series features impressive camera capabilities. While most of these features are limited to the 13 Pro and Pro Max, Apple’s Cinematic mode is available on all four devices in the line-up. Apple’s Cinematic Mode is a fascinating new feature that allows you to shoot cinematic videos on your iPhone. It makes use of the A15 Bionic chip’s power to allow you to shift focus within a frame for cinematic-style filmmaking!
This mode is available on all new iPhone 13 models to help you shift focus within a frame or fix it on a moving subject.
What sets it apart is its ability to anticipate when someone is about to enter the frame and intelligently focus on them when they do. Furthermore, you can change the focus or adjust the bokeh effect after the video has been shot.
The change of focus and adjusting effect significantly improves the iPhone’s capabilities as a filmmaking device. It opens up exciting new possibilities for video production, particularly for those working on a tight budget or with limited resources. Apple brilliantly demonstrated Cinematic Mode in action in a short film titled Whodunnit, shown at the Fall 2021 California Streaming event.
How does Cinematic mode function?
The iPhone 13’s Cinematic mode, according to Apple, captures high-quality depth data at 30 frames per second. Cinematic mode enables it to calculate the precise distance between the camera and the subjects in the frame. When combined with machine learning from the A15 chip’s Neural Engine, the camera can decide what to focus on and when to use focus transitions. That’s pretty cool!
Of course, if you want complete control, you can manually lock focus on a subject, such as a person or a thing, and track it throughout the scene. That sounds cool to me! Let’s take a look at how to use it on the iPhone 13.
How to Operate Apple’s Cinematic Mode on the iPhone 13
- On your iPhone 13, launch the Camera app.
- Select Cinematic mode from the menu on the left.
- Locate your frame and press the record button. This will automatically focus your iPhone on a person or object in the frame while softening the background.
- A yellow square will indicate the primary focus, while a white square will indicate the secondary object.
- While recording in Cinematic Mode, you can also change the focus by tapping the screen.
Even after you’ve finished recording, you can adjust the focus or depth effect in the video to get it exactly how you want it. This is explained further below.
- After shooting in Cinematic mode on the iPhone 13, change the focus.
- Tap the video in the Photos app on your iPhone.
- At the top, select the Edit option.
- Then, tap on subjects in the video to adjust the focus as desired.
- To save your changes, tap Done.
That’s all there is to it! Experiment with this feature to create cinematic videos directly from your iPhone. You can then use video editing apps to improve your work.