Killer Rental used Blackmagic cameras for horror shoot

Independent horror film Killer Rental was shot entirely on Blackmagic Design digital film cameras, using URSA Mini Pro 12K and Pocket Cinema Camera models.

Co-directed by Ben Hausdorff and Jonathan Kadin, the film combines hidden-camera and found-footage techniques with a slasher format set in a holiday rental in Joshua Tree.

The production used three URSA Mini Pro 12K cameras, along with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro units. It was edited and graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Hausdorff, an independent filmmaker whose previous work includes Higher Education and Fran, developed the project with Kadin, whose credits include Moneyball, Cinderella and the Jump Street franchise. They designed the shoot around a large number of cameras to match the story's surveillance-based premise.

"When Jonathan and I moved from the script to planning how we would shoot Killer Rental, we quickly realised the story needed a large number of cameras. The budget was at the indie level, but our vision definitely was not for a one-camera indie shoot," said Ben Hausdorff, Co-Director of Killer Rental.

He said the narrative required several camera positions in and around the house used as the main location. That approach also extended to sequences built around recovered or low-resolution footage discovered by the characters.

"The group of friends were being watched everywhere they went in the house, which required at least four to six cameras of different sizes. We also needed to shoot additional found footage that the group discovers, which required different setups to track their reactions as they watched low-resolution footage. Finally, we used the URSA Mini Pro 12Ks to capture the present as The Carpenter took action. The affordability, compact design, ease of use and high-quality images from the Blackmagic cameras made our vision possible on a limited budget with a small crew," Hausdorff said.

Hidden setups

For many of the found-footage scenes, Hausdorff, Kadin and Director of Photography Taylor Pelletier positioned cameras throughout the house, garage and pool area. The compact size of the cameras allowed the team to place them in concealed locations, including bushes, ceilings and toolboxes.

Blackmagic RAW was used during production to manage the volume of material recorded across the multicamera shoot. According to Blackmagic Design, the format was chosen to support image quality and storage efficiency during filming.

"The Pocket Cinema Cameras are perfect for shooting anywhere. We had them hidden in bushes, ceilings, toolboxes - all over. They allowed us to get as much coverage as we needed to build tension, jump scares and terrifying action," Hausdorff said.

Post-production

After filming, the team used DaVinci Resolve Studio for colour correction and online editing. Blackmagic Design said the camera files moved into post-production smoothly, which was important for a project shifting between present-day scenes and material presented as found footage.

The film's visual structure depends on frequent shifts between polished narrative horror and footage that appears to come from surveillance cameras or older recordings. That placed emphasis on maintaining a consistent workflow while preserving distinct looks within the same feature.

"Killer Rental is a big movie that needed a large production. The audience is moving between intense present-day horror and found footage, and the quality we were able to get with the Blackmagic workflow made sure nothing took them out of the story," Hausdorff said.