Via Jonathan Turley, I came across this domino line made of 10,000 iPhone5s. It is pretty impressive. The split-second timing required to have elevators involved is amazing.
I have mixed feelings about such exercises. On the one hand, they clearly involve a great deal of imagination, a lot of work, and almost infinite patience, and you have to admire the dedication required to pull it off. But at the same time they seem such a waste of time. I can never see myself doing such a thing though I enjoy watching it unfold.
The big question though: How the hell did they get hold of 10,000 iPhones?
UPDATE: It turns out that the effect has been faked. Still pretty cool, though.
Well, since it wasn’t a continuous shot they may have done the elevator scene many times to get it to look right.
As to the source of the phones, good question! Maybe Apple loaned them some, or provided them with warranty returns — most of the phones didn’t have to work.
I’m sure that you could order 10,000 store dummy cases with a carefully crafted metal plate inside to optimize their stability for this stunt for a few bucks each.
Doubtless they are parodying the perception of Apple product users as conspicuous consumers.
Some of them seemed surprised that gravity was working as expected…
That seems an uncharitable interpretation; I’d suggest they were simply excited that their project was coming off without a hitch.
DonDueed @#1,
I tend to think that they would not cheat using video editing. Maybe I’m too gullible!
10,000 cracked iPhone screens 🙁
Mano, @#6,
A friend of mine suggested they weren’t iPhones at all, just props, and everything is digitally edited (esp. the end scene where the many iPhones show a continuous image together). Which would also be quite a feat :).
Kilian,
I too wondered about that last continuous image and how they did that.
I also noticed that right at the beginning where they started the domino fall, there were three guys in an office to the right who did not seem interested in what was going on. Surely this feat would have captured the attention of everyone in the building?
Now I am starting to get suspicious.
I am convinced that much, if not most, if not all of that is digitally produced. The last image is the big one, but the elevator is also too perfect.
I am willing to be proven wrong, of course.
@10: Cuttlefish -- like you, my skepticism is growing. At the very least there is digital manipulation going on to make the “screens” appear to change what they display. The final frame, advertising that they are an animation studio is, I think, a bit of a hint also.
Watching it a further time, I paid more attention to the SFX -- there is a moment after the lift where we head the “thud” of a final phone falling on carpet, but the phone actually landed on a previously fallen phone and the impact sound is therefore wrong -- ooops!
@5: Holms: maybe I took the bait to suspend my disbelief the first time I watched this?
Yep, it turns out that the effect has been faked. Still, pretty cool, though.
Nice! Very cool, for ever-so-slightly different reasons!