Actor Rico Rodriguez plays Manny Delgado in Modern Family. Still taken from Modern Family
An oh-so modern episode of the sitcom Modern Family has been shot entirely on iPhone, iPad and MacBook devices and it’s set to air next week in the US.
The episode, titled Connection Lost, saw the crew ditch its usual equipment for the Apple products and their built-in cameras.
The 22-minute show will air in the US on 25 February and, as pointed out by The New York Times, is said to have been developed to reflect how many families now communicate through the use of screens and devices.
“I have two daughters at college, and we do a lot of FaceTiming,” said Steve Levitan, the show’s co-creator and executive producer, at a Q&A session last week.
“One day I was on my computer, and I had some emails open, and some websites, and then my daughter showed up. But I couldn’t only see her, but I could see me.
“And I realised on that screen you could tell so much about my life. So the original idea was from there.”
According to Levitan, the episode has been filmed on the iPhone 6 and new iPad, with a couple of small scenes shot using MacBook Pros.
Modern Family is a mockumentary-style sitcom that follows the lives of Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) and his family. It airs on ABC in the US and on RTÉ in Ireland.
Connection Lost takes place on the laptop screen of Jay’s daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) as she communicates with her family via text messages, emails and FaceTime video chats. Said to be an influence is the 2013 short film Noah, which sees the titular character going through a break-up online.
