Asia Pacific NewsCameras and Lighting
Sydney Filmmaker Turns iPhone Into a Professional Film Camera
Blackmagic Design recently announced that Sydney-based filmmaker James Demitri used the Blackmagic Camera application to shoot his feature-length horror film Fire Alive, which earned finalist honours at the 2026 SF3 Film Festival. The film was shot in just five days on an iPhone using only the Blackmagic Camera and practical lighting.
Demitri, whose background spans two decades of celebrity and fashion photography before transitioning to narrative filmmaking, set himself a deliberate creative challenge: prove that a compelling feature film could be made with a phone and the right app.
“Blackmagic Camera just feels like you’ve upgraded your gear to the next level,” said Demitri. “It swaps what feels like a phone to feeling like you’re using a professional camera.”
Fire Alive follows four filmmakers as they explore whether hauntings are real, delivering an intentionally ambiguous narrative with multiple twists that leaves audiences questioning what they have witnessed. Shot primarily in a darkened, wood-panelled, 1970s-style basement, the film draws on Demitri’s love for the horror films of that era.
For Demitri, the decisive advantage of Blackmagic Camera was its ability to lock exposure controls, white balance and aperture in challenging, rapidly changing low-light environments.
Shooting on an iPhone 16 Pro Max, the filmmaker also noted that the combined pipeline of Blackmagic Camera and iPhone hardware produced cleaner, more gradable footage than some of his larger-format productions, eliminating the noise and banding issues he had experienced with other cameras in low-light scenarios.
“I really want to encourage other creatives to not do something because you think you can’t,” said Demitri. “The phone and the app will do an excellent job of something you can show on the big screen. It’s a genuine tool of choice, not a fallback.”
Demitri has confirmed two further feature films in production for 2026, where he plans to use the Blackmagic Camera and iPhone platform again.
“The combination of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Blackmagic Camera is mind-blowingly good,” said Demitri. “I’m really looking forward to doing more with it.”
Visit https://www.blackmagicdesign.com
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