[News] Canon SLRs Used for Stunts and Action in Marvel's The Avengers

[News] Canon SLRs Used for Stunts and Action in Marvel's The Avengers

Canon SLRs are known for their high quality video and that did not go unnoticed by the videographers behind the latest box office smash hit "Marvel's The Avengers." The Canon EOS 5D MKII and the EOS 7D were selected as the stunt and action cameras that shot the outrageous scenes. The Canon cameras were perfect for capturing "intense action and visual effects" which "required close-quarter action work with unrepeatable stunts."

From the official Canon press release:

"With intense action and visual effects captured by the Canon cameras, "Marvel's The Avengers" required close-quarter action work with unrepeatable stunts. "The 5D Mark II and the 7D digital SLR cameras produce excellent, cinema-worthy images. They are great for shooting additional angles that give film editors more options for creating powerfully immersive and kaleidoscopic views of action scenes," explained the film's cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey.

On the set of "Marvel's The Avengers," McGarvey and his crew used five Canon 5D Mark II cameras and two 7D models. Using multiple cameras limited the need to re-shoot complex action scenes, and the affordability and compact size of the cameras enabled the crew to obtain ample coverage by strategically angling them from various vantage points throughout the set. "The cameras' small size was a major advantage to us. We were able to place them in tight locations that were really close to the big stunts, which would be too risky to do with bigger cameras that would require an operator and two assistants," McGarvey said. He was able to slide one of the Canon cameras into a sewer grating, while placing another under a pile of debris for a key shot of a car hurtling toward the lens, flipping through the air on fire."

To read the full press release, head over to CanonUSA.com.

Jaron Schneider's picture

Jaron Schneider is an Fstoppers Contributor and an internationally published writer and cinematographer from San Francisco, California. His clients include Maurice Lacroix, HD Supply, SmugMug, the USAF Thunderbirds and a host of industry professionals.

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6 Comments

sweet, do you guys think I may have seen what this camera saw in the movie 1 for yeas 2 for no. So cool!!!  its that a pelican case!!! name drop lol

spellcheck. 

Reminds me of a "failed" fstoppers video I was doing years ago....they did the exact same thing I did for my crash camera.  Might have to revisit this again

That's great. I just read an article about this camera, 
http://www.talktechnews.co.uk/2012/03/03/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-announced I would love to own this camera. It is great that it is being used in this way. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

we are talking about 5d ii here Matt...

They only used them to shoot additional footage. Putting these cameras into areas too dangerous for the camera operators, like right next to an explosion. So basically they treat them like giant GoPro's, stick them in the firing line and hope they get something good.
I'm all for talking up how awesome DSLR's are at shooting video but they still used the Alexa for the whole movie including the stunt & action scenes.