M&M'S Scream Time

For M&M'S Scream Time, the brand's 2026 Halloween campaign, we supplied a hidden PTZ camera package and a PTZ operator to film Rylan Clark scaring cinema-goers at Vue Islington.

Rylan, disguised as a sofa, jump-scared unsuspecting audiences and ambushed people at the cinema's photo booth, with every reaction caught on camera.

The Brief

The stunt only works if nobody sees it coming.

That meant the cameras had to stay out of sight inside a working cinema while still capturing every scream, from wide shots of the room to close-ups on faces.

The shoot ran on September 8, 2026, with the footage recorded for the campaign film that launched in October.

The Crew

We supplied a freelance PTZ operator to run all 3 cameras for the day.

What We Supplied

Cameras and control

• 3 x Panasonic AW-UE70 4K PTZ cameras
• Panasonic AW-RP50 PTZ controller
• 3 x grip kits for rigging

Recording and timecode

• 3 x Atomos Shogun Inferno recorders
• 3 x Ambient Lockit boxes with a Lockit controller

Monitoring

• TCL 55" 4K monitor on a Unicol stand
• Panasonic 17" monitor
• Decimator MD-QUAD multiviewer
• 3 x Blackmagic Micro Converter SDI to HDMI 12G

Cabling

• 3 x 50m BNC drums
• 3 x 50m Cat 5 ethernet cables

How It Came Together

PTZ cameras are made for this kind of shoot. They're small, they can be rigged where a full camera rig would stand out, and nobody needs to stand behind them.

With the grip kits, the 3 UE70s could sit out of the way while still covering the action.

Our PTZ operator ran all 3 cameras remotely from the AW-RP50, panning, tilting and zooming to follow each scare as it happened.

BNC carried the video and ethernet carried camera control over 50m runs, so the operator could work from a separate space, well away from the audience.

Each camera recorded to its own Shogun Inferno, with the Lockit boxes keeping timecode matched across all 3 so the edit could line up every angle of every reaction.

The MD-QUAD put all 3 feeds on one screen, so the team could watch everything at once.

We've supplied kit and crew for hidden-camera cinema shoots for several years, and this setup follows the same approach.

Planning a hidden-camera shoot, prank or reaction film? Request a quote and we'll put the cameras and crew together for you.