The Director of ‘Knives Out’ Has Just Released a $13 Camera App

Director Rian Johnson and cinematographer Steve Yedlin are used to teaming up to make films and TV shows like Looper and Knives Out. But the two recently collaborated on a smaller screen: a camera app for iPhone.

Since Chromagraph Camera was released on the App Store last week, it briefly hit the number one spot on the paid charts.

“So I recently badgered my cinematographer Steve Yedlin into making my ideal iPhone still camera app,” Johnson says on X (formerly Twitter). “It shoots RAW, bypasses the iPhone’s look processing and instead uses the same image processing we use on our movies.”

“I’ve messed with plenty of good 3rd party tools,” Johnson continues. “But this is an elegant one-stop-shop, it just takes beautiful shots with Steve’s special sauce processing. You can fine-tune the image in the app (with color, exposure, grain, and halation tools) and export it to your camera roll.”

As Johnson explains, Chromagraph Camera lets smartphone photographers process RAW files and allows them to shoot photos with manual controls, such as shutter speed.

The app also allows users to import RAW images that have already been shot, process them in the app, and then export them.

The app aims to recreate filmic looks. Yedlin is well-placed to oversee such a project because he has researched color science extensively. Fast Company notes that in 2015, he gave a demonstration showing how film looks can be recreated using RAW camera data.

In fact, Yedlin has done just that for Johnson’s movies, creating a series of color-grading scripts to make their productions feel like they were shot on celluloid. It was this work that led to Chromagraph Camera.

Johnson tells The Verge that he is a film photographer “nerd” and is often seen on set with a Leica M6.

“The reality is, as much as I love my Leica, as much as I love my other gear, it’s a pain having a camera on your shoulder, or a massive backpack with four cameras in it,” Johnson tells the tech publication. “And I always have my phone with me.”

Chromagraph Camera is available from the App Store for $13.