Crisis commercial first to use Cyclops POV camera

The first TV commercial to be shot on the new Cyclops camera has been revealed.

The 90-second Christmas spot for Crisis centres on images captured by the Cyclops, which is described as “the world’s first genuine point-of-view camera, designed to deliver a high-quality 4K authentic picture.”

Cyclops has been developed from scratch specifically for filming POV footage. It’s been designed to be used on a range of productions from promos, commercials and feature films.

The camera system uses customised optics, with the operator’s view reflected into the camera system without obstruction. This means the Cyclops films precisely what the actor sees, in what the developer describes as “never-seen-before realism”.

The 24mm lens captures true naturalistic depth of field so arms or legs can be framed in shot and in true proportion.

The Crisis Christmas commercial tells Michelle’s story – a true story of a middle-aged woman who couldn’t pay her rent and ended up on the streets.

To ground the film in reality, the images are seen through the eyes of Michelle. “I wanted a visceral and immersive experience both physically and metaphorically, so the audience would experience the gritty reality of life on the streets. Placing the viewer quite literally in Michelle’s shoes,” says director Tim James Brown.