This hidden detail from Stormzy's new film 'Big Man' makes it even more special

Stormzy's new short film, Big Man, has been released, and while we're busy swooning over the rapper once again proving he's not just a one-trick pony in the entertainment biz, there's a hidden detail about the film you probably didn't know that makes it even more special.

After launching #Merky Films just weeks ago, the film came out on Wednesday (18 June), and is directed by Academy Award-winning director Aneil Karia, who picked up the gong for short film, The Long Goodbye.

According to the official plot, Big Man, "tells the fictional story of Tenzman, a world-weary musician, and the two bright, mischievous kids who come into his life by chance. Soon the trio find themselves on a journey together - one that will reinvigorate a sense of warmth, spontaneity and optimism in the faded star - before revealing a better way forward for them all."

Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, is in the leading role as Tenzman.

It's a rather impressive 20-minute film both in its story and visually, but what you probably wouldn't have known is that the whole thing was actually shot on an iPhone 16 Pro. No fancy gimmicks, just a phone and the actors.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"I’ve never shot an entire piece of narrative filmmaking on an iPhone before, and it’s been a really invigorating process", says Aneil Karia, of how he brought the story to life.

"It’s much smaller than the traditional cameras used for television, film, or music videos, and the lightness and flexibility that comes with that is boundless in a sense. I like trying to strive for an intimacy with characters, and sometimes a big camera is not particularly conducive for that. So it’s been huge, being in smaller spaces, being lower key for the actors.”

Director of photography, Stuart Bentley, added: “Traditionally filmmaking was the reserve of a small section of people and you couldn’t access it. It felt completely impenetrable to me as a young kid. And I think now people have this amazing camera in their pocket, and it’s like everybody can do it.

"If you’re hungry and passionate about cinema, there’s no reason you can’t make an amazing film. Do it all on an iPhone, it’s all there for you. I guess ultimately what’s been really interesting is it’s a super versatile camera with all these different kind of tools.

"You can use Cinematic mode so you get that shallow depth of field, and it automatically pulls focus to follow the action. You can shoot 120 frames per second at 4k which is obviously insane. It’s got an incredible dynamic range."

Big Man is now available to stream on Apple's YouTube channel and Amazon Prime Video.

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