Apple Releases Lulu Wang’s Heartwarming Short ‘Nian’ for Chinese New Year

January 29, 2021

Filmmaker Lulu Wang shot a new short for Apple to celebrate Chinese New Year and showcase the latest iPhone’s camera.

The film: According to Variety, Wang and her team from “The Farewell” and shot the film entirely on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The team worked on “Nian” remotely in the U.S. alongside a mirror crew on the ground in China due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
Based on a traditional Chinese folktale, “Nian” tells a coming-of-age story of a fearless young girl confronting the titular beast, only to end up creating an unlikely friendship between the two.

Behind the scenes: Apple also shared a behind-the-scene feature of the short, where Wang and the crew go over how they utilized the cinematic features of the iPhone 12.

“It’s really exciting that we have this opportunity to retell this ancient story, to capture these incredibly cinematic images with the iPhone, this very versatile device,” Wang said.
The team got to experiment with different creative ways to use the phone for more “angles and perspectives that are just a little bit more unique.”
“We thought, ‘Oh, why don’t we just put the phone inside of the Nian’s mouth?’ I think the size of it allows us to get all kinds of cool, specialty shots that would be much harder to get with the traditional camera,” Wang elaborated.

Featured Image via Apple

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