Our opinion of the Nokia N8 has been hotly debated, but we've always maintained the hardware is brilliant. Now, a new short film has been released on YouTube, showcasing the phone's impressive 12-megapixel camera.
The Commuter was shot entirely on the Nokia N8, utilising the phone's 720p HD video-recording capability. It's actually a very entertaining little action movie, starring Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel. The film tells the story of Patel's character, a commuter who is forced to make a perilous journey to work after a traffic warden, played by Charles Dance, clamps his car.
You'll recognise many London landmarks in the fast-paced clip, which features Ferraris, parkouring bankers, martial arts and, bizarrely, a Pamela Anderson cameo. Other famous cast members include Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck Bass in the US drama series.
The film is directed by brothers Rory and Ed McHenry, who were approached by Nokia with the challenge of creating a short film using only the N8.
"We grew up making movies on camcorders, and the footage was terrible. Now we are shooting movies on a phone! It's crazy how fast technology has moved. I think a lot of young kids out there and filmmakers will use this and think 'well, I can make a movie on it'," said Ed.
"There are lots of tips about where to put the camera and stuff, but the main thing is to get a good story, because that will drive everything. You can shoot it on anything, and this is just a great tool to do it with," added his brother.
This isn't the only stunt Nokia has pulled to hype up the N8. Last month, it hooked the N8 up to the world's biggest cinema screen, using the HDMI capability of the phone. If you want to know more about how The Commuter was created, take a look at the making of the video below.
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Comments 8
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Anonymous 29 October, 2010 17:53
I have had my Nokia N8 for 4 days, and am incredibly impressed with it.
I've uploaded all my contacts and music from a microSD card, downloaded and watched video from iplayer, watched flash video live on websites, synchronised twitter, email and facebook, downloaded games and apps, edited images, taken pictures. Sure the original browser and social network apps are not great, but Opera is very good, and free, and Gravity is hardly expensive.
The N8 is supplied with all necessary cables, inclusing HDMI, and an impressive set of earphones (unlike every other phone I've had).
The screen keyboard is great, and the battery lasts all day and evening. I love the lime green exclusive Vodafone casing too. One comment from an iphone user - 'ooh, that looks very cool'. The only thing I would have liked to see included is a basic slip case.
I have no idea what you guys think is wrong with the software, but everything looks good so far to me!
Mark Anderson 30 October, 2010 10:49
Come now, anonymous. CNET UK focus on important stuff like how whizzy the UI is and how many fart apps you can load onto your phone and not minor trivialities like how well it makes calls or if the battery actually lasts a whole day.
Because obviously a slightly clunky UI is much, much worse than a phone that can't make calls if you hold it the wrong way or one that you can't phone a taxi with at the end of the night.
No, really.
anonymous 30 October, 2010 11:23
@Mark
The UI of the N8 is pretty much a deal breaker for me, sure it has a great camera and good battery life but if the UI is a pain to use and theres an underwhelming amount of quality apps its just no fun. :(
However if this phone ran android I would buy it in a heart beat!
Mark Anderson 30 October, 2010 11:34
Fair enough, Daniel. Horses for courses.
samlui4321 30 October, 2010 14:05
the N8 is a impressive handset at what i have seen on youtube and reviews but the only thing that can really and truely open thios device up to the market is to allow it to opreate android. this will give it a lot more bold.
Anonymous 30 October, 2010 18:26
The only impressive feature is the 12mp camera (720p recording is on many other phones now) and even then, the N8 isn't the first to phone to have that. It's got a crap screen, looks ugly, and it's UI is rubbish. Overall it's a crap.
EvilJoe39 30 October, 2010 19:01
Is it wrong that the film failed to sell me the phone but makes me want the car?
anonymous 30 October, 2010 23:51
to be fair this video is a lil misleading, it may have been filmed on an N8 but theres definite editing in there, as well as secondary recording sources and over dubbing for the sound, because there is no possible way that it recorded the sound.