Whenever a new gadget appears on the market, we anxiously await to see how artists will make use of it. What sort of modern masterpieces will they create with this new technology at their fingertips? The iPhone 4’s much hyped 5-megapixel still camera and HD (720p) video capabilities seemed to hold great promise for filmmakers looking to get all hi-tech and low budget, but other than the incredibly well done Apple of My Eye film (which was shot AND edited entirely on the iPhone 4) that debuted this summer, we haven’t seen much else of note.This week we discovered the first in a series of short films and photo essays commissioned from artist Aaron Rose by Incase. Each film is shot on location in a different urban center, the first paints a portrait of “Kreuzberg,” a traditionally Turkish neighborhood in Berlin that has been overrun by artists, musicians, and art galleries in recent years and is now emblematic of the Berlin underground contemporary arts scene. According to Rose, the film is a tribute to Brian Eno and David Bowie, both of whom recorded in Kreuzberg in the 1970s.The artsy, black and white videos and photos are part of a promotional campaign for Incase’s iPhone cases, but we think they should’ve invested in a tripod for the guy. The film, while pretty, is distractingly shaky throughout, and retains a distinctly amateur feel—the girl reading art history essays gives us art school flashbacks we could have totally gone without. Still, these kinds of experiments in filmmaking always bring to mind Francis Ford Coppola’s prophecy of the future of film:"Suddenly one day some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart… and make a beautiful film with her father's little camera-corder, and for once this whole professionalism about movies will be destroyed forever and it will become an art form."
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