Watch Faith, an action short film shot with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. VIDEO

Ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung, in partnership with director Riddley Scott, released an abstract short film demonstrating the S23 Ultra’s shooting capabilities and what it can achieve in the hands of a professional. Now, more than a month after the series debuted, we get a true action short called Faith, directed by South Korean director Na Hong-jin. It is made specifically to demonstrate the low-light capabilities of the phone, as all the action takes place in dimly lit environments.

Galaxy S23 Ultra used as a cinema camera

Of course, here we’re dealing with shooting in professional lighting conditions. The footage was also assisted by professional equipment such as lenses, ND filters, professional stabilisation and manual control of all settings.

In any situation, the results are impressive, and this film also uses a lot of special effects, showing that the footage taken from these phones can be used in a professional editing environment.

Of course, the quality of the images and colors won’t be comparable to a Hollywood film made with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of professional equipment, but it doesn’t have to be. For personal projects, low-budget films, documentaries or any other type of project where “Hollywood” quality isn’t necessary, Samsung suggests you can handle a lot of the shooting with a smartphone.

But a top-of-the-line phone with an advanced camera/video isn’t enough to ensure quality footage. Artistic vision, creative skills, and some extra equipment will be needed to make similar quality movies with Faith. And to all this you probably add a budget of several hundred thousand euros, which in this case was certainly paid for by Samsung, to pay for the actors, the studio, and for making the pyrotechnics and special effects.