You’ve probably stumbled upon tiny cameras like this while browsing sites like Amazon. I know I’ve been getting loads of suggestions on Aliexpress. Isaac Carlton saw it too, and decided to use it and make a movie with it. Not only was it the only tool he used for filming, but also the main prop and the very center of the story. And it turned out awesome! In his latest video, he shares the process behind shooting with “the world’s smallest camera,” and his short movie is already out, too.
He found the camera online and immediately saw its potential for a creative story. After lots of brainstorming, he thought of a story centered around a man who discovers the camera can shrink objects, leading to a series of comedic and dramatic situations. So, he needed two tiny cameras – one for filming, and the other one for props. And a bunch of miniature objects as props, too. A great excuse to visit Amazon again.
As you can imagine, filming with the tiny camera like this presented its challenges. The camera was small and delicate, making it difficult to mount onto a tripod and keep steady. And since filming required lots of cut transitions, moving the camera even slightly could ruin the scene. Then, a small camera maens a small battery, meaning short battery life. Still, the footage quality was surprisingly good, even for such a tiny device.
Isaac used practical effects for almost the entire movie. He would simply swap regular objects with miniature versions between cuts, making it appear as though the objects were shrinking. This required precise camera placement and multiple takes to ensure continuity.
But the final scene was the most ambitious. Isaac wanted to show himself driving a miniature car. For this, he needed some help from his friends, and I had a blast watching them have a blast while filming. The “camera car” they improvised was actually a bicycle. Isaac used the tiny camera on a gimbal with his phone on it. But no, the phone wasn’t filming. It was there merely as a weight because the camera is so light that the gimbal couldn’t detect it. Finally, he had help from a VFX artist Tom Cowles, who digitally shrunk Isaac and placed him inside the car in that final scene.
When the shooting was done, Isaac did the post-production. He edited the footage, added music and sound effects, and Tom incorporated the visual effects Isaac later added to the final movie. The project was a success, to say the least. I loved every minute of the movie as much as I enjoyed Isaac’s humorous video about the entire process.
Take a look at the result:
Okay, sure, the quality isn’t the best there is, but I love the idea. I think Isaac’s movie shows that it’s the idea that counts and that you can do so much, even with the most basic gear and with some help from your friends. While you probably won’t make an Oscar-nominated movie with a $12 tiny camera, use this as inspiration to turn your creative ideas into reality even without high-end gear.
