Using a Hand-Held Bullet-Time GoPro Rig to Shoot a Music Video

You might remember PermaGrin Films’ Marc Donahue from his amazing “Dream Music: Part 2” lyric-lapse video that took 6 hours of work for every 3 seconds of footage. We even shared a behind the scenes look at how that time-lapse was put together, complete with deleted scenes and director commentary.

Dream Music: Part 2 ultimately got some 2 million views on YouTube, but that doesn’t mean that Donahue has slowed down. His most recent project again involved putting together a unique music video, only this time it didn’t take six months to shoot. Instead of tackling time-lapse, “On Smash Live” was filmed using a hand-held bullet-time GoPro array.

At the top, you’ll find a behind the scenes look at how it was all put together, and we have to admit, it’s an interesting way to film. He used a total of 15 GoPro Hero 2’s mounted on a custom-built rig to capture all of the footage, and all in all the project took only a few hours to shoot.

Editing it together is another story. Working with 750 gigs of data, Donahue put three 12+ hour days into the final product, which you can see below. (Fair warning, the constant, abrupt angle changes could be a bit nauseating for some).

To see more of Donahue’s work, visit the PermaGrin Films website or check out his Vimeo.