Netflix’s 6 Underground action sequences were composed of an orchestra of 10 cameras rolling at once. All of that goodness was directed by Michael Bay. You’ll be surprised about the diversity of the cameras and formats were used. 

6 Underground: The second most expensive film produced by Netflix

At a budget of $150 million, 6 Underground is the second most expensive film ever produced by Netflix, following Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019) which was budgeted at $175 million (Read our article about the making of The Irishman). Furthermore, this is Michael Bay’s first movie ever made for a streaming service. Each of Bay 14 feature films, from Bad Boys (1995) to 6 Underground (2019), possess the same basic qualities: They’re big, fast and sumptuous. 6 Underground was a great chance for Bay to jump on the opportunity to create his old school high-octane action piece with a lot of explosions, car chases and maximization of cameras maneuverability and kinetics. In one word: A Bayhem.

He’s in there and sort of sees it all on his head and everyone else is in an absolute fog because nobody knows what they’re doing

Ryan Reynolds

10 cameras rolling at once

According to the American Cinematographer Magazine interview with 6 Underground cinematographers Bojan Bazelli, ASC, Bay shoots almost exclusively with Red cameras. “He has a lot of faith in Red, and no one is going to convince him otherwise,” says Bazelli to ASCMag. “A normal action scene is shot with three cameras on similar angles, but each with a different vibe” Bazelli adds. As many as 10 cameras would be rolling at once including four Red Weapon camera body (with Monstro sensor shooting 8K cropped to 5K or 4K to de-squeeze Panavision anamorphic lenses), two Sony Venice for shooting interiors of the vehicles, a Red Raven on a drone, further aerials from a helicam and an ARRI IIC 35mm camera owned by Bazelli himself which shot 10% of the film on 35mm.

According to IMDB, these are the cameras that shot 6 Underground:

1. Apple iPhone X
2. Arriflex 35 IIC, Panavision Primo and T-Series Lenses
3. DJI Zenmuse X7
4. GoPro HD Hero
5. Phantom Flex4K, Panavision Primo and T-Series Lenses
6. Red Komodo 6K Bayhem, Vantage One Bayhem Lenses
7. Red Monstro, Panavision Primo, and T-Series Lenses
8. Red Raven, Panavision Primo, and T-Series Lenses
9. Red Weapon Helium 8K Bayhem, Vantage One Bayhem Lenses
10. Sony CineAlta Venice, Panavision Primo, and T-Series Lenses
11. Sony a7s

Have a look at the chart below which presents all the cameras used to shoot 6 Underground:

Watch the video below with exclusive behind the scenes during a 27-day shoot in the Emirate.

He’s (Michael Bay) got his little green camera, and he’s jamming it into places and he’s just shooting stuff

Ryan Reynolds

Bay’s “little green camera”

They say that Michael Bay has a kind of ability for visuals that no other person has. Ryan Reynolds describes Bay in an interview with the Collider: “He’s got his little green camera, and he’s jamming it into places and he’s just shooting stuff”. “He’s in there and sort of sees it all on his head and everyone else is in an absolute fog because nobody knows what they’re doing” Reynolds adds. Watch the complete interview down below: