How can I hide a camera?

C

Clarence Lohan

Carbonite Member
I have a small consumer camcorder(HDC-SD200)...
How can I hide it or disguise it as something else to shoot a guerilla-style movie? I don't want people around to know I am shooting a movie...
 
You still need to get releases to show someone's likeness in a movie I believe... Although I remember in film class hearing that you only need it if you have their voice recorded as well. Not 100% sure on how it works, but I'd definitely find out the legal stuff before making a movie like that if you're gonna have people on video without their knowledge.
 
you could buy one of those new photo cameras like D90 or EOS MK2 and nobody will think your filming;-)
or get a button hole cam

but btownproductions is absolutely right! If you film people secretely, you are infringing laws and are asking for more trouble than you would like to encounter!

Unless you work for a big national broadcasting company which knows what they are doing, I highly discourage such activities.
 
Are you saying if I film a street full with people, but the focus is not on them, I need to get release forms for every single one of them?
There are tons of documentaries that show plenty of people and I am pretty sure they didn't get release forms from them....

Anyway....I need to disguise the camera somehow but also put it on a tripod or monopod to get steady footage....Any idea how to do this?
Let's say if I put it in a trunk or something like this with a hole in it?
People will just see a guy strugling with a big trunk....
 
Legal concerns aside, using mirrors or reflections from windows may assist. Shooting from rooftops and parked (or slowly moving) cars could also serve to camouflage you. Where are you planning to do this?
 
Just wanted to add:

Make sure you let the local authorities know if you are planning on doing hidden camera recording, in the current climate of things wondering around filming with a hidden camera is asking for some kind of trouble.

Anhar
 
We did some filming on a train without permission and got away with it. I requested permission from the train company and they said they'd probably give it, but in the end, they didn't reply. We did it anyway on a quiet sunday afternoon and nobody objected. There were no train passengers in shot and the train guard ignored us.
Some of the film was in public places and in the UK no permission is needed for this. The only problem anywhere, permission or not, is people who stare at the camera so any method of avoiding the camera being visible is worth using. I've sat in the car and filmed with the camera on the dashboard and no-one apart from the actors knew the camera was there.
Another way is to place the camera some distance away where it's less likely to be noticed, and have one actor carrying a mini disc or digital sound recorder to capture the sound.
 
12quidkidinnit said:
The only problem anywhere, permission or not, is people who stare at the camera so any method of avoiding the camera being visible is worth using..
Click to expand...
If you keep the camera on a tripod and the people are moving they can be digitaly removed by using information from other frames...
 
Clarence Lohan said:
I have a small consumer camcorder(HDC-SD200)...
How can I hide it or disguise it as something else to shoot a guerilla-style movie? I don't want people around to know I am shooting a movie...
Click to expand...

If it were me I'd just hide it like Christopher Walken's war buddy hid that watch... and then anytime you want to shoot somebody without them suspecting that you're filming... just act like you're doing an Ace Ventura impersonation... that way you can also pull focus. :beer:
 
MattinSTL said:
If it were me I'd just hide it like Christopher Walken's war buddy hid that watch... and then anytime you want to shoot somebody without them suspecting that you're filming... just act like you're doing an Ace Ventura impersonation... that way you can also pull focus. :beer:
Click to expand...

"Excuse me, I'd like to ass you a question!"
 
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