A spoken-word poem extols the history, the present, the life and the lifeblood of Berlin as quick cut shots of the city’s diversity complement the poem’s verse. In Milan, a woman walks the city’s streets to a backdrop in a picturesque view of the Italian metropolis. Paris, Barcelona and London fill out the series of individually-directed films created on Sony Xperia Z5 smartphones for Sony Mobile.

The five filmmakers shot short videos of ‘fleeting moments’ in their cities to create a series for use by Sony Mobile to catch the oft fleeting attention of the telecoms industry and lifestyle media.

“Pairing technical expertise with a passion for the beautiful things in life, Sony Mobile creates smartphones that enhance memories, capture and share meaningful moments, inspire creativity, fuel curiosity, and deliver incredible entertainment that can go wherever you go. Fleeting moments encapsulates just that – capturing special moments and communicating a unique take on the world’s most iconic cities with top of the line smartphone and camera technology,” says Sony Mobile’s PR manager for global communications and PR, Anthony Devenish.

The mobiles were both the subject and the means in the fleeting moments series. The Xperia Z5 can shoot in 4K – a technology that is making waves in the corporate space – which allows for better control over the editing process, high definition imagery and a high resolution of 4,000 pixels. The films highlight that capability, but also serve to reinforce Sony Mobile’s brand positioning as the mobile manufacturer with the best cameras. The Z5 was ranked with as the best smartphone ever tested for photography by camera and lens standard setter DxOMark.

Lee Cheney, the director who shot the London film, says, “Using Xperia Z5 and its unique camera capability gave me the opportunity to show an audience the beauty of a city like London, without any limitations. Its technology provides so many interesting opportunities for me as a filmmaker, and it’s impressive that a smartphone can be used to capture quality footage in 4K that is usually required by professional film equipment.”

The camera’s features are superlative in the world of smartphone photography, making it even easier for mobile filmmakers and photographers to achieve professional-grade work. This brand differentiation is increasingly important for Sony Mobile as the underdog in a market dominated by Apple devices and prominent Android manufacturers like Samsung. Sony Mobile, which merged with Ericsson in 2001, has married Sony’s history of quality optics and technology with Ericsson’s smartphone capabilities, but its market share is still hovering at 3.1%, according to a January 2015 TrendForce study. Apple sits at 16.4% with Samsung taking the lions share at 26.6%. The fleeting moments series is designed to highlight the Z5’s capabilities, yet it also serves as an interesting, personal view at some of Europe’s most vibrant cities. The London film offers the filmmaker’s eye-view of the sprawling, diverse capital. Cheney’s narrative and mix of iconic and everyday shots offers a portrait of what the city is and what it can be.

The Barcelona film offers portraits of locals in brief moments, stunning cityscapes and a pace that ranges from frenetic to melodic. Berlin’s film includes shots inside clubs and in low-light settings – highlighting another achievement of the Z5 camera, which DxOMark says excels in low-light and at night.

Berlin director Oliver Valente says, “As a professional director, it’s important for me to have equipment that is capable of telling a story the way that I want it to be told. With Xperia Z5’s 4K capabilities, combined with the level intimacy and candidness that only a mobile device can provide, I was able to do exactly that. The subject of my film is the city of Berlin – a living collage of cultures, people, diversity and experiences that seem strangely familiar yet refreshingly new. I wanted to isolate and share those elements that make Berlin uniquely Berlin and play on the commonly heard phrase: ‘That’s so Berlin.’”

Milan’s day-in-the-life is a love story to the city as it follows a couple through the streets of Milan. Paris is depicted as diverse, first and foremost, through a few short vignettes representing the main themes of the campaign, creativity, brotherhood, love and freedom. Eric Beaupre, who directed the Paris film, says, “My idea was to focus on lesser known areas of Paris, where real Parisians live and the neighbourhoods are bursting with life, creativity and diversity.”

To identify the filmmakers who would offer their unique views on the project, Sony Mobile put out a pitch on Genero, a platform design to connect brands to artists and creatives. That allowed the brand to select filmmakers that would depict their cities in a fresh way, authentically and distinctively.

This campaign, though, is not Sony Mobile’s first foray into video for use in external communications. It has in the past won multiple Digital Impact Awards for its ability to create excellent film-based communications. To complement the launch of the Xperia Z smartphone, the Z5’s predecessor, Sony Mobile used a series of films created by brand ambassadors to show the camera’s ability to perform in exceptional circumstances. One such film was a four-minute piece by musical artist OK GO on the northern lights. By primarily promoting the videos from this campaign through social media and encouraging sharing by avoiding overt branding, Sony Mobile was able to achieve a high visibility.

More recently, Sony Mobile UK collaborated with Red Bull on the film Kaleidoscope, starring BMX rider Kriss Kyle as he attempted to make five world-first BMX tricks, says Devenish.

The fleeting moments series is being followed up by a media campaign and Sony Mobile is encouraging Xperia customers to create or share their own fleeting moments on social.

“Each film premiered on our global YouTube channel and will also be used in stores across the globe to showcase the unique display capability of Sony’s 4K BRAVIA TVs and the world’s first 4K smartphone, Xperia Z5 Premium,” Devenish says.

The fleeting moments campaign had, within five days of going live, achieved over 38,000 views on YouTube alone and had garnered over 100 tweets and retweets.