I noticed an A1 attached to a, what looks like an old steering wheel, different looking hand held camera mount. Pretty cool. This scene is from the set of Crank 2 showing Amy Smart in an action sequence. Does anyone recognize the mount, is it homemade?

The 'steering wheel' is called a Fig Rig and was invented/developed by Mike Figgis. They are manufactured by Manfrotto.

There's a thread on the Fig Rig here:
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=59586&highlight=fig+rig

Anyone have an idea why the use of the A1 on a movie set. I counted two in use from several photos.

Only two reasons I can think of:
A. To shoot the movie
B. As a prop

I saw what I think was an A1 or G1 along with an XL-H1 on the set of Sidney White when it was filmed on my college campus, they seemed to be filming the behind the scenes stuff with them. Might be doing something similar here.

Ah, I forgot about that. Lots of productions now have a video crew shooting everything that happens for the DVD extras.

Only two reasons I can think of:
A. To shoot the movie
B. As a prop

C. Yes, to shoot behind-the-scenes documentary footage
D. Privately owned by a crew member who doesn't want to leave the camera in the car trunk (obscure reference to another thread)

Why is it so impossible to imagine that the movie is actually being shot with that camera? There have been lots of high-profile movies shot with even cheaper and lower-resolution cameras, some of which have been screened at Cannes and Sundance. The Blair Witch Project was shot with crappy digital-8 cameras and played on basically every screen in the country. If not strictly a budget thing (maybe they spent all their money on the talent), maybe the producer went with lightweight HDV cams for some aesthetic, practical, or story-related reason.

Maybe the A1 is in fact only being used for throwaway DVD filler material, but everyone here seems to be acting as if it'd be physically or logistically impossible to actually shoot a feature with it when there may be any number of reasons for wanting to do so.

There have been a number of features shot on HDV. "Once" could be the most high profile over the last year. I believe it was shot on a Z1; so the Canon should match that.

This was done for budget reasons, when the funding fell through and there was a change from the original cast.

BTW They didn't use any lighting - director's decision.

The Z1 was also used to shoot "Mojave Phone Booth," which made the festival rounds a couple of years ago. It had a great look.

I just left the gizmodo.com site and they are saying that Crank 2 is being shot mostly with the A1. Here is the link: http://gizmodo.com/386778/crank-2-high-voltage-being-shot-with-cheapo-best-buy-hd-cameras-still-ridiculous
It would seem to me that our camera is small enough to allow for scene angles that would be tough to get with larger cameras. Although I did see some photos of the Crank Set where it appeared that the the main camera was in fact the A1.

I suspect the main reason for the A1 on crank2 is cost

evidently they plan to destroy several cameras during the course of the shoot

I suspect the main reason for the A1 on crank2 is cost

evidently they plan to destroy several cameras during the course of the shoot

They are doing a full motion version of the bullet time effect.
There's 8 HF10's on a rig and rails and they move it around the subject.
The A1 is being used for the main scenes. Here's some pix

http://www.jfxonline.com/images/crank2/

Thats pretty awesome... XHA1 and a WA lens.. no letus etc etc!

Looking forward to seeing the end result,

I would never have entertained the idea of seeing this movie in a million years. Now I'll likely catch this at the theater just to see how the A1 holds up on the big screen.

I would never have entertained the idea of seeing this movie in a million years. Now I'll likely catch this at the theater just to see how the A1 holds up on the big screen.

Yes, this movie looks pretty darn hokey, but I'll pony up the green just to see how our precious XHA1 holds up!

The good looking blonde helps too!