That suffocating, nightmare energy you feel on-screen? You can thank Will’s use of the Insta360 camera, which turns the chaos of shared living into a dizzying, immersive experience.
“I’ve been playing with the capabilities of 360 cameras for the last couple of years as a way to shoot visceral, and dynamic action sequences quickly and on the cheap,” explains Will. “For me, the distorted and lo-fi aesthetic that comes out of this amazing little camera when you really push it was perfect for a claustrophobic story set in a shared flat.”
In an era where 360 cameras are often relegated to novelty “tiny planet” shots and vlogging, ‘This Place is a Sh*thole’ stands out as a bold technical experiment. “Typically, 360 cameras are used in quite limited ways,” Wightman says. “But I used one on a commercial shoot a few years ago and immediately got excited about its untapped potential. Blinkink had one lying around in the studio, so me and my DoP, Will Marchant, started experimenting with it in our spare time to see how far we could push it.”
Sticky moment with Will Wightman
