Updated 'Paper' iOS App Makes Storyboarding on the iPad Even Easier | No Film School

An Apple Design Award winning iPad app that I reviewed back in March, Paper, has received a major update that makes the drawing program even easier to use. The latest update has put the emphasis on organization, and it's clear that the team at FiftyThree are dedicated to making the app as simple, functional, and powerful as possible. There aren't any major overhauls in this release, but for an app that already did a lot of things right, I don't think it really needed any. Check out the video below for more info on the release.

These are the new features for Paper:

Move. Grab any page or journal with a simple press and hold and use multi-touch gestures to open, close, and swipe for the fastest way to get around.
Duplicate. Press and hold the "+" button to make copies of your favorite pages and journals. Duplicate sketches, create templates for layouts, wireframes, or storyboards, or create multiple variations of an idea.
Easy Add. Never hit the end of a journal. Just swipe from the edge to add another page.
Faster ink. Every tool, now up to 3x faster. Drawing is more responsive and precise than ever before.
Better rewind. More intuitive feel to the rewind control. The faster you go the more you rewind.
Edge-to-edge drawing. Draw up to the edge and beyond. The full screen is your canvas.
Custom Sharing. Tap on a menu item to customize your share settings. Set your own Tumblr captions and tags.

While it is not a storyboarding app per se, it definitely makes it possible to create very professional looking results -- even for those of us who aren't gifted when it comes to drawing. Since I borrowed an iPad to try out the old version (I don't currently own one), I haven't gotten a chance to try out the new version. I'm not sure that I've had more fun with a non-game app, but the ease-of-use cannot be understated. There is a reason that Paper won a design award, and that is because it truly utilizes the touch interface in a way that not only makes sense, but actually makes it faster to work.

At some point in the future I could definitely see myself using this app for storyboarding purposes. The social media integration also makes it really easy for a group of people to share drawings over something like a Tumblr account. The app could also be beneficial for a director/DP relationship, because even the worst artists can come up with passable results with Paper. I would like to see true storyboard features with the app, but for now, it could definitely do the job for many projects as is.

What do you guys think of Paper? If you have an iPad, I recommend trying out the free app, and if you like it, you can buy more drawing tools from the in-app store.

Link: Paper by FiftyThree - iTunes

apple ipad shortoftheweek paper andrewsallen fiftythree

28 Years Later iPhone

Why Did Danny Boyle Shoot ‘28 Years Later’ on an iPhone 15?

Here’s everything we know about the reports of the new ‘28 Years Later’ thriller being shot on an iPhone 15.

Move over, Sean Baker and Steven Soderbergh—Danny Boyle is the latest director to make the bold choice to shoot his latest feature film on an iPhone. Why, you ask? Partly, perhaps, because the team knows it will get them some nice headlines like this one. And partly just because they can.

Whether you love or hate the idea of shooting professional video on iPhones, it’s hard to argue that these latest smartphones aren’t capable of high-end video.

The iPhone 15, which is what Boyle and his team reportedly used for the long-awaited follow-up to the original 28 Days Later in 2002 and its 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, in particular, has proven to be a major step forward for Apple and was very much promoted as a filmmaking-capable camera.

Still, as is always the case with these smartphone-shot feature films, there’s more to the story than just the headline here. So let’s explore how Danny Boyle and his team were able to shoot 28 Years Later on an iPhone.

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