Fire Breathers Captured in Slow Mo and Bullet Time Using 50 Cameras

In addition to running a giant stock footage archive of over 1,500 4K clips, Philadelphia-based DOP Mitch Martinez also shoots Time Slice, or Matrix-style Bullet Time, footage.

The video above shows slow-motion and bullet-time footage of firebreathers spewing fireballs. It was captured using a rig of 48 DSLRs, a RED Epic, and a Panasonic GH4.

There’s no VFX or CGI involved: everything was done in camera. The DSLRs were used to capture the scene from 120 degrees to freeze time, and the RED Epic and GH4 were used to capture high-speed footage at 120fps and 96fps, respectively.

Here’s a short behind-the-scenes video showing how the 120-degree “Time Slice” rig is set up for this type of shoot:

You can find more of Martinez’s work on his website, Instagram, and Twitter.

---

P.S. Photographer Tyler Johnson did something similar to this using a rig of 27 GoPro cameras.