Ski Movie Legends Shot an Entire Edit Using an iPhone, and the Results Are Wild

iPhone cameras, in the public imagination, have long been thought of as useful for documenting everyday life. They’re great for pretty sunsets, photos of your kids, college graduations—that kind of thing.

But when it comes to doing hardcore professional photography or videography stuff, bigger, pricier rigs are the norm.

This is the perception or status quo, at least. “Oh, it’s just a phone photo,” you might hear your friend say. As iPhone cameras have become more powerful, though, they’ve found themselves in more and more professional situations.

The latest example of that, we’re pleased to announce, involves skiing. For a quick flick starring Sammy Carlson and Kai Jones, Teton Gravity Research didn’t lean on a monstrous camera. Instead, they reached for an iPhone 17 Pro, one of Apple’s newer models.

The results speak for themselves. Tap or click below to watch.

If you put this edit in front of me without telling me what camera was involved, I wouldn’t have guessed it was an iPhone. Admittedly, I don’t have the trained eye of a cinematographer, so that’s part of it, but the swooping drone shots and slow motion go a long way to cover up any possible shortcomings. Kai and Sammy’s skills help, too. 

This wasn’t as simple as grabbing an iPhone and hoping for the best, though. For one, the footage you just watched was produced by skilled camera operators. If my math is right, Todd Jones, the director, has been pointing cameras at skiers since before I was born—he knows what he’s doing.

Additional gear, like the drone and maybe some other gizmos we don’t see on frame, also adds to the cinema-like quality.

Still, the fact that you can squeeze an edit like this out of an iPhone is impressive. You certainly couldn’t say the same about the Motorola Razr I had back in the day, although I wouldn’t mind seeing what would happen if you stuck that phone on a drone. 

The progress of phone cameras is made more evident by the new-ish zombie movie 28 Years Later, much of which was shot on an iPhone. Again, this involved all kinds of wild videography tricks, like big lenses, robotic arms, and a curved rig bristling with multiple phones. 

That’s all to say that making a movie or ski movie is easier than it’s ever been, and making ski movies is fun. If there’s one takeaway from Valhalla Transmissions, that should be it. These days, all you need to get started, really, is a little imagination and some stoked friends.

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