Media Storm’s Vogue Bullet Time Production Diary
How Blackmagic Design helped turn 60 iPhones into time freezing cameras.
Fremont, CA, USA – Monday, January 19, 2026 – At the Vogue China Forces of Fashion event in late October, bullet time videos featuring stars such as Liu Yifei and Zhong Chuxi ignited conversations across social media. The resulting videos created the illusion of time standing still as a virtual camera appeared to move around motionless celebrities, an effect generated not by an expensive Hollywood rig but by Media Storm’s custom built array of 60 iPhone 17 Pros, each running Blackmagic Camera app and paired with a Blackmagic Camera ProDock.
“Each celebrity could perform the action only once, so we essentially had no room for error,” recalled Media Storm Founder Tim Pan. “Traditional bullet time methods have clear limitations. High speed cameras can’t ensure consistent camera positions or body posture between takes, while still photo arrays don’t provide enough frames for post production to capture the perfect moment.”
Budget, venue size and time constraints also pushed the team away from conventional solutions built around high speed cameras and robotic arms. Instead, they took a bold, lightweight approach, building a camera array with 60 iPhone 17 Pros.
Achieving Multi iPhone Sync with Blackmagic Camera ProDock
Synchronization is crucial in multi camera setups. Media Storm needed all 60 iPhones to operate in perfect sync to avoid frame misalignment. The team used Blackmagic Camera ProDocks to provide sync lock to every iPhone 17 Pro, ensuring each device captured footage with precise timing.
“We custom built support rigs to keep the spacing identical between each phone. After combining Blackmagic Camera ProDocks with the phone clamps, we mounted the entire system onto gimbals, then attached the gimbals to the rig,” Pan explained. “A single traditional cinema camera would cost more than everything we used here. And with smartphones, the rig is lighter, so we could adjust the camera path onsite and pack the cameras more tightly, making the movement smoother.”
Blackmagic Camera Boosts Multi Camera Efficiency
All 60 iPhones ran Blackmagic Camera for video capture. “Configuring that many devices is always a challenge, but the Blackmagic Camera app’s LAN based batch parameter control let us unify resolution, frame rate, exposure and other settings across every phone,” said Pan. “It saved us a huge amount of time compared to adjusting each device manually.”
The team also built custom tools for iPhone control, enabling staff to trigger recording on all phones simultaneously over a local network and automatically send captured footage to a server via the Shortcuts app.
A HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro broadcast deck was used as a genlock generator to provide sync signals to all iPhones.
“We produced nearly 40 finished pieces this time, and on average, each video took only about five minutes from capture to final output. The entire project was completed by four team members within 24 hours. Using a conventional approach would have taken several times longer. All post production was handled in DaVinci Resolve Studio, which also delivered the final outputs,” Pan noted.
“Using 60 iPhones and Blackmagic Camera ProDocks may sound like a lot of gear, but the entire setup still cost less than a single traditional digital film camera. And compared with deploying the same number of digital film cameras, it’s far easier to transport and assemble, making it perfect for fast paced events like Vogue China Forces of Fashion,” Pan concluded.
Press Photography
Product photos of Blackmagic Camera, Blackmagic Camera ProDock, DaVinci Resolve Studio, HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com