My name is James Matthews. I am a Filmmaker, Youtuber and Sony European Imaging Ambassador based in Essex in the UK. Filmmaking has been a passion of mine since the age of 14 and over the years I’ve found that my work takes inspiration from emotional elements such as nature, people and music. If a combination of these things gives me a certain feeling, then filmmaking is my tool to express this to the world.

I had the opportunity to shoot a short film with the new Xperia 1 IV and decided to shoot a road trip down to Cornwall in the southwest of England to put all of the new features to the test. This is the perfect companion device to an Alpha Camera as it allows me to try different angles and challenging perspectives at the same time it delivers a high-level performance.

If you had told me a few years back that we would have the capabilities of 4K 120fps, an 85-125mm true optical zoom lens, Eye AF, and Object Tracking, all in a phone, I honestly would have thought you were pulling my leg. After looking back at the footage from this shoot, I was truly blown away!

Here is the result of my trip along with behind-the-scenes footage:

Shooting on the Xperia 1 IV in slow motion

When I conceived this project, I decided to do it in slow motion, to have that cinematic look and feel that is true to my style. Shooting at 120fps gives us tons of creative possibilities giving us more options to create our vision as filmmakers.

To tell a complete story, is important to have a variety of focal lengths. The general rule of thumb in the filmmaking rule book is that you establish your scene with a wide shot. This is where the 16mm or 24mm lens would come in handy.

However, if you want to show an amount of significance to an object, or show emotion from a character, this is where a close up with that 85mm comes in. This lens compresses the space and gives the image a completely different look and pulls the audience away from the ‘Smartphone’ look of the typical 24mm.

The Xperia 1 IV features an interface similar to Alpha cameras to open an ecosystem for creators to choose the perfect imaging tool for each situation.

Shooting with the Xperia 1 IV was a dream and the transition from my usual kit was smooth. The user interface in the Videography Pro app made the experience almost second nature as it’s so similar to what I’m used to using on my Sony Alpha Cameras. Having full manual control on a phone is essential to making the image look exactly how you intended.

Tips on shooting in the field

I shot most of the piece either handheld, or on a gimbal, as I wanted the scene to have a lot of energy and movement within the frame. And having the ability to trust the phone to focus perfectly was essential for me to keep this fast-paced movement.

In addition, the 50% extra brightness on the monitor, compared to its predecessor Xperia 1 III, helps when shooting in bright environments and especially during exterior shoots. Crucially, when exposing for video, a bright monitor is an absolute necessity.

Personally, I always look to shoot with a 180 degree shutter angle and I achieve this by keeping my shutter speed double that of my frame rate, eg: 25fps = 1/50sec shutter speed. This allows the image to flow seamlessly and look as natural as possible to the human eye. Throughout the whole sequence I filmed, there wasn’t one shot that didn’t use the 180 degree shutter.

Final thoughts

If I could give any advice when you are thinking of creating content, it would be to expose for your highlights. It gives a higher end look and of course holds onto the look of more dynamic range. And of course, it’s needless to say that it’s the correct way of exposing an image! Don’t be afraid to keep them dark whilst holding onto your highlights.