Parkpoom Wongpoom is widely hailed as one of the greatest horror filmmakers from Thailand. A master in telling scary stories with terrifying visuals that stay with you, Wongpoom is now ready with Those That Follow — a short film he created with Apple iPhone 13 Pro.
Those That Follow marks the return of the director to filmmaking after a gap of four years and is described as a “hallucinatory tale of karmic revenge”.
Wongpoom, who is internationally renowned for his horror masterpieces Shutter (2004) and Alone (2007), had his last release in 2018 with Homestay.
More about Parkpoom Wongpoom’s Those That Follow
The plot is connected to local Thai belief
The 20-minute short film follows two teenagers who are on the run following a robbery gone wrong. They hide at a local ghost mask festival. But the two soon realise that while they can hide from humans, there is something they cannot hide from no matter how hard they try.
Like his previous films, Wongpoom ensured that Those That Follow is rooted in Thai culture. Described as a film based on true events, the theme follows a local Thai belief known as ‘Phi Ta Khon’, or ghosts following people. The belief is part of a tradition in northeastern Thailand, where the film is set.
At its root, the story is about karma and how it affects people.
Low-light capabilities of Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Wongpoom filmed in low-light conditions using the Apple iPhone 13 Pro, which can shoot in Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60 fps. Commenting on the phone’s filiming capabilities, he said that it is “an experiment to show the world what we can do and inspire future filmmakers to make their own films.”
The phone’s camera system comes with larger sensors such as the ƒ/1.8 aperture in the Ultra Wide camera and ƒ/1.5 aperture and new 1.9μm pixels in the Wide camera. The lenses are able to capture more light, making it easier to shoot in low-light conditions needed for the cinematic effect of horror movies.
“iPhone 13 Pro can capture visuals in low light, revealing details in that darkness. When we hid scary elements or ghosts in the shadows we could still capture it all in excellent quality and allowed us to tell the story that we wanted,” said Wongpoom.
To make the experience unique, Apple plans to promote the film on a dedicated billboard at Sathorn Unique, Bangkok’s most iconic abandoned building located in the heart of the capital.
This is not the first time that an Asian director teamed up with Apple to shoot a movie on an iPhone. In February, South Korean legend Park Chan-wook released his fantasy short film Life is But a Dream which was shot entirely on an iPhone 13 Pro.
Those That Follow has been released on YouTube and apple.com/th.
(Main and Featured images: Ritthisak Wongpanngam)
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
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