Five Weird Filmmaking Camera Hacks You’ve Probably Never Seen Before

The internet is awash with camera hacks, and most of them end up being pretty disappointing, often involving a glass ball, some fairy lights, or a cracked mirror. By contrast, this is a collection of five ingenious methods that not only offer shortcuts to getting some cinematic footage, but will hopefully trigger some inspiration.

Experienced filmmaker Dan Mace has worked on a wide variety of projects across a huge range of budgets and has often had to come up with innovative means of getting the most for his money. Presentation here is top-notch, and even if you don’t use any of them directly, they might get the gray matter working the next time you’re working on a super-tight budget and need to pull something spectacular out of the bag.

One of my favorites is the first crappy rig that Mace tests out, probably something that would have benefited from the newly released GoPro Max. You wouldn’t be able to mix in any slow-motion footage, but you’d have the significant advantage of not having to worry about which way the camera is pointing, with the 360 capture giving you the ability to choose your viewing angle once the footage has been captured.

What are your favorite crappy rigs? Leave your ideas in the comments below.