New Chromagraph Camera App From Rian Johnson and Steve Yedlin Swaps iPhone Processing for Yedlin's Custom Film Rendering

Chromagraph Camera, a new $12.99 iPhone app released by Chromatic Applications and built by cinematographer Steve Yedlin with director Rian Johnson, replaces the phone's default image processing with color and texture rendering designed by Yedlin and used on the Knives Out films. Per its App Store listing, the app builds each image from raw data rather than filtering the iPhone's output, and it keeps full-quality raw originals you can adjust later without losing the look.

• Processing starts from raw sensor data. According to the developer, Chromagraph skips the phone's own look processing and renders the image with its own methods from the start.
• Built by Yedlin with Rian Johnson and Eric Cameron. Yedlin partnered with director Rian Johnson and Eric Cameron on the app, which he says they made for themselves before making it publicly available.
• The look appears after you shoot. You frame through the viewfinder and see the finished rendering only once the image is processed and opened in the gallery.
• Raw originals, baked-in exports. The gallery keeps full-quality raw files with the look applied live, exports go out as smaller files with the look baked in, and auto-export can send every photo to the library as JPEG or HEIC.
• Runs on iOS 17 or later, with Family Sharing. The listing covers iPhone and iPad on iOS and iPadOS 17.0 or later, plus Apple Watch on watchOS 10.0 or later, and supports Family Sharing for up to six family members.

Chromagraph skips iPhone look management for the math Yedlin uses on his films

The Chromagraph product page describes a filter as something that sits on top of processing the phone has already done. Chromagraph instead skips that processing and builds the image its own way from raw sensor data.

Yedlin and his collaborators say the app bypasses iPhone look management entirely and replaces it with the same custom math Yedlin uses on all his films, tailored to Apple camera behavior.

According to Yedlin, the app combines a camera, image processing and a gallery in one package.

Yedlin calls the look an opinionated rendering of tonality, grain and halation

Yedlin called the custom look "opinionated," describing it as "the nuanced and idiosyncratic rendering of tonality and chromaticity (as well as grain and halation) that Rian, Eric, and I personally like."

The developer calls it the curated look preferred by Johnson and Yedlin. Yedlin's rendering has been used on the Knives Out films, a franchise that includes Wake Up Dead Man.

You see the look after the shot, then grade raw originals without leaving it

You frame through the viewfinder, take the picture, then open the gallery to see it rendered with the Chromagraph look. The developer compares this to shooting with a film camera.

In the gallery, the app offers tools for color, tone and texture, which Chromatic Applications says give real control while keeping every image true to the core look.

Yedlin made a similar point in a statement Newsshooter published, saying "the grading knobs allow you to make pretty dramatic adjustments while keeping within that overall core look."

The gallery stores full-quality raw files, which Newsshooter describes as scene-linear originals, and applies the look plus any adjustments live and non-destructively for viewing. Your source file stays untouched.

When you want to share, the app exports smaller files with the look applied, either to friends or to your photo library. An auto-export option in Preferences sends every photo to your library right away as a JPEG or HEIC with the look baked in.