'The Avengers' Cinematographer Says He Was Misquoted, Did Not Shoot Using The iPhone

The Avengers cinematographer Seamus McGarvey caused a minor internet firestorm last week when he said in an interview that shots in The Avengers were taken on an iPhone. Those shots ended up in the movie, he said, and even in the film's recently-released trailer.

Now McGarvey says he was misquoted. His follow-up is that he talked about emerging new film technology, and that he actually did shots for The Avengers on the Canon 5D, not the iPhone. Read his statement below.

Speaking to THR, Seamus McGarvey said of the interview,

I was talking about how up and coming film makers have access to a whole range of new technologies which expand our options as filmmakers. I mentioned that the iPhone and the Canon 5d Mk2 were devices currently used on many Hollywood productions. I used the Canon on some shots on Marvel's The Avengers movie. Unfortunately, this was edited to read that I shot some of the film with the iPhone. This is not true.

The original interview was in the Irish Film & Television Network, which as far as we've seen has not responded to his claim. The outlet has altered the original interview, however, to remove the quote. This is what ran last week, and I've struck through the part that has been removed:

The beauty of photography or cinema is that you make every choice based on the content at hand. On The Avengers, I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film.

Using the Canon 5D, a single-lens reflex digital still camera, on a 200-million dollar film is still a big deal from a tech point of view, but this isn't the first time that has happened. The 5D is becoming a common tool to shoot features. Sooner or later we likely will see a large production sneaking in a shot or two that was done on an iPhone, but we'll take McGarvey's word that it won't be The Avengers.