SONY was preparing for the release of the Xperia 5 II, a new smartphone packed with unprecedented camera features. They needed a unique idea to showcase the phone’s ability to record in full 4K HLG HDR video with an aspect ratio of 21:9 called “Cinema Pro”.

This smartphone is targeted towards semi-professional creators and those who seek to be creators.

Competitors have promoted “shot on phone” short "sample" films created by Hollywood professionals with 30+ person crews and high end, expensive equipment. The truth is that normal consumers and semi-pro creators don’t have access to those resources, so instead, we made a visually stunning film based on personal stories with a production size scaled to one person, as detailed in a supplementary behind-the-scenes video to showcase Xperia's "Cinema Pro" features.

We decided to collaborate with UK-based creator Liam Wong, who began his career as a semi-professional camera person while working as a videogame designer, and is currently best known for his cyberpunk photography series, whose visual style would highlight the camera's capabilities.

Initially, we planned a shoot in Tokyo, however when Covid-19 locked down international borders, we needed to pivot to a remote collaboration with Wong, and the subject matter became the empty city of London juxtaposed alongside people's stories and experiences during the pandemic.

Wong combined his surreal visual sensibilities with the sympathetic story of London’s locked down population to show that both literally and figuratively, a hopeful light remains in the darkness. The wide color range of 4K HDR and low light performance created the dreamlike world of After Dark and delivered the complex, emotional vision of a beautiful uncertainty through powerful, gripping imagery.

Inspired by the spirit of remote collaboration that found the world united in our isolation, we sent Wong the Xperia 5 II with the new objective to bring a darkened, quarantined London into life and color.

Shooting only with a pocket-sized phone, the production remained small and mobile, adapting to the restricted situation without compromising on any of the techniques of cinematography that would otherwise require vaster resources.

After Dark and the behind the scenes making-of were posted to SONY Xperia's official account on YouTube on December 6th, 2020.

The HDR and standard HD versions of After Dark and the making of video earned 60k views in just a few days on SONY's official accounts. SONY featured the video on most of their social channels around the world including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram which has millions+ followers.

Sony’s been using this project whenever they have opportunities to showcase the abiltiy of 4K HDR recording such as conferences, inner meeting, point of sales.

Wong's expert utilization of the camera's features inspired content creators around the world.