How 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Used a Remote Island in Ireland for a Pivotal Scene | No Film School

We won't spoil anything here if you haven't watched the film yet, but it's a pretty pivotal scene near the end of the film. Originally the site of a Christian monastery over a thousand years ago, Skellig Michael was a perfect fit for Star Wars based on its look, a location that felt alien and grounded at the same time. In this video from Discover Ireland, we get a little behind the scenes on this location and why J.J. Abrams and the team decided it would work for the film:

It will be interesting to see how much more we'll get to see of this island in future films. There have been some reports that the production won't be returning for future movies due to environmental reasons (in addition it's a UNESCO World Heritage site), but we have no official word yet. If you'd like to learn more about Skellig Michael and Little Skellig, he's a terrific video that goes into greater detail about the islands and the ecosystem, which has quite a bird population:

It's important as an industry that we consider our impact on a place before we shoot, especially if we're filming somewhere that's a piece of history. It's difficult to bring a whole film crew and not have any sort of impact on a location, so I'm sure that's something the filmmakers and Ireland considered for future filming there.

Source: Discover Ireland

starwars Star Wars the force awakens

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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