Michel Gondry debuts film shot entirely on Apple's iPhone 7

French director Michel Gondry is well known for his many innovative approaches to shooting film and music videos, but none may be more disruptive than his recent decision to shoot a short film using an iPhone 7.

The ten-minute film, titled Détour, which is in French with English subtitles, was released on Thursday and tells a charming story of a family on a road trip with all the classic Gondry touches of surrealist quirkiness you'd expect.

Gondry, whose previous films include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Green Hornet, and a number of groundbreaking music videos for the likes of Björk, Kanye West, Beck, and the White Stripes, seems at home attaching the iPhone 7 to various rigs to achieve the final result.

And what is that result? Surprisingly lush color and detail, with little hint that the film was shot on a smartphone.

Of course, much of that is also a credit to Gondry's well-honed skill as a professional director. But for those interested in following in Gondry's footsteps, Apple's UK YouTube account posted a series of behind-the-scenes videos of the director at work manipulating the smartphone in a wide variety of shooting situations.

Apple has been hard selling its "shot on an iPhone" campaign for a while now, but in terms of giving a demonstration of just how powerful the iPhone is for shooting beautiful video, Gondry was the perfect choice.