The new Crank 2: High Voltage film was shot entirely on prosumer Canon camcorders, utilising five HDV XHA1's and fifteen AVC-HD Vixia HF10s, even stretching out with EX1 for 60p slow-motion scenes.

The filmmakers however, are clear they were not trying to ape the look of a bigger camera. The cameras were used precisely for their smaller size. The tiny cameras were strapped onto the end of 10-foot poles to get unique looks that have never been seen before.

Brandon Trost, the film’s cinematographer, told HD Video Pro magazine what they were trying to accomplish. “We wanted to shoot with the highest-quality cameras that would allow us to do fast hand-held camera moves with super wide lenses - basically running with the action. If the action was happening, we, as camera operators, were just feet from what was going on,” said

Trost.“We never had a steadicam or dolly on this movie.

The XH A1 isn't a very big camera but was too big for some of the applications that we wanted to do, which is why we used the HF10s,” he added. As for settings, Trost explained that they shot flat except for detail.

The directors wanted every pixel of every frame to be so incredibly sharp. “Something that we did differently on this film was crank up the sharpening, or detail setting. The directors wanted a look for the movie that was so sharp that it would kind of hurt your eyes just to watch. The detail is super crispy.

We shot the whole movie at either 1/1000 or 1/2000 shutter speed, giving the image a very staccato look. With the wide lenses and deep stop, it's a deep focus movie, and with the sharpening, it's a look that has never been seen on the big screen.”