Studio Production: GoPro Hidden Camera Research

As our domestic abuse VT consists of a prank, we need to make sure that we maximise the use of cameras so that we get enough coverage and more importantly making sure all the action is covered and has a clear vision. Therefore, I decided to research into hidden cameras, particularly with the use of GoPro cameras. Nonetheless, my research came to an article posted by Kizny Visuals, which talks about how they setup a prank for a 7up campaign in Saudi Arabi.

The link to the article is shown below:
http://kizny.com/know-how/shooting-pranks-with-hidden-cameras/

How Were the Cameras Set Up?

The post firstly outlined the challenges which the prank faced plus what exactly they wanted to cover. For example, it mentioned how they were faced with both high and low lighting, and that they wanted to compel a mixture of both wide and close up shots. These requirements can be seen below:

Although this shoot requires much more cameras and has a higher budget than what we expect, the article provides useful tips for making sure that the cameras are completely hidden and are almost guaranteed that they can't be found. For example:

'Going Straight'

It firstly mentioned how 'Going Straight' and not hiding the cameras can work without being noticed. This was achieved by mounting Go Pros onto ceilings for example, which even the public wouldn't notice as you would expect it to be a surveillance camera. The only way this works is by placing the camera in an obvious place which you wouldn't even expect to look at. This can be incorporated into our VT - perhaps not with a GoPro, but the camera on a computer screen could be used and purposely face a set location on which the prank victim will walk past. It's high unlikely that they will think its recording let alone even notice how the computer may be positioned in a unordinary position.

Hiding the Camera

The article then goes into detail on how to hide the cameras accordingly. It may sound easy and simple to hide a camera - for example simply placing the camera with objects surrounding it so you can't see the camera body. However, it goes into saying this can sometimes be too obvious if the objects seem as if they are out of location. For example, in our shoot, it may seem obvious that a camera is hidden if say there are random plants, books, ornaments placed on a table. Nonetheless, to perfect hiding a camera it says to use the environment you have, instead of moving objects into different and unexpected locations for the camera. For example, if there is a light in a corner of the room, then you shouldn't move the light so that you can get a better camera spot. Instead, move the camera around the light - you could try placing it at the bottom or top of the light, angling it dependent on what you are trying to film.

Power

The article then discusses about what power outputs and inputs you should use for the GoPro and recording equipment. Nonetheless, this isn't too important for our shoot as each prank should last no longer than 5-10 minutes, meaning the batteries are capable enough to last. However, as we plan to film around 3-4 shoots, it is essential that the GoPros have enough charge to last for all the pranks, meaning they may need to be charged once or twice in between the pranks. 

Part of the setup. You can see how they have several computers
to enable all the cameras to function

Accessibility

Because we are hiding cameras, it is essential that the GoPros have wireless, otherwise it will waste battery and memory if the GoPro is left on record before the prank. Therefore, the article discusses that the GoPro apps should be installed, as this enables an option to pause and stop recordings through a mobile or laptop device. As well as this, it enables you to view what the GoPro is seeing live, making it much easier to position the cameras. However, the article then warns you about a couple of problems they faced. Firstly the Wifi uses the battery of the camera much faster, and that the signal never has a reliable strength, which may cause the GoPro to cut out at certain points.

Tips & Advice

The rest of the article was quite irrelevant to our shoot. This is because the prank they undertook involved over 10 cameras, so there was a section on how to maximise signal and power reliability of cajon - this is mainly to disguise DSLR cameras which we planned we weren't going to use as we would've needed to create a more complex set up. Nonetheless, below are some other tips which they mentioned:

The cajon which they created to hide a DSLR camera

all the cameras (it mentioned that you should have no more than 2 cameras connected to one laptop). It then discussed how to create a hidden design called a

   - The messier the room, the easier to hide cameras. This tip is quite vital and makes more sense as 

     the victim will obviously have to search longer for a camera if they thought something was 

     suspicious

   - 'Dont hide them, show them', as discussed earlier

   - Keep the suspects busy. Making sure they are distracted means they are less likely to look around 

     the room which they are in. However this can't be too suspicious!

   - Setting up the cameras the day before - testing them to make sure they will definitely work.

   - Keeping it as simple as possible: the more cameras and gear, the more complex it will be.

  

Conclusion

To conclude, this post is exactly what I was looking for. It provides important tips and information which now we should hopefully be able to create a set up where our victims won't notice any of the cameras. I will shortly post our actual set up soon once it has been created, so stay tuned!

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