‘Modern Family’ to Air Episode Shot on iPhones

Nick Bilton, reporting for the NYT:

Over a series of late October days, camera operators working on an episode of ABC’s “Modern Family” set aside their typical high-definition videocameras and picked up iPhones. The command “Action!” was followed by a tap of that familiar red button on the device’s small video screen.

The result, which will be shown next Wednesday, Feb. 25, is an episode shot almost exclusively on mobile devices, an approximation of the way that many actual modern American families (of a certain class) communicate today.

It’s not just small indie productions shooting on iPhones. In Modern Family’s case, the gimmick of the episode is that we’re watching footage from the characters’ FaceTime conversations, but still, there’s no way they would have tried this even just a few years ago.

★ Tuesday, 17 February 2015