Super excited about this months EXTRA Every Third Thursday episode. (surprise, it’s not a 3rd Thursday!)
This idea had been suggested a few times in the comments and discussed in several production meetings. It actually seemed like quite the challenge. Which is amazing when you think about the crazy boards they’ve created.
In this month’s Every Third Thursday, Dave Lee and the Signal crew set out to make a snowboard out of a product that is basically built to fail—paper. Paper has very little structural integrity, which only worsens when it’s damp. So it makes perfect sense to try to make this material into a weight bearing, torsion tortured, snow-sliding device with the help of the crew at Ernest Packaging. Dave meets up with Signal teamrider Melissa Riitano and Morrison Hsieh at Copper Mountain in Colorado to see if this board can take the punishment—how many runs do you think they’ll get out it—one run, two? On the upside this “paper shredder” is totally recyclable!
It’s a pretty common scenario as a videographer to feel burdened by your oversized camera equipment. Usually resulting in putting your camera away. Putting your camera away typically gives you some really good stories and more excuses than shots of what happened when the camera wasn’t rolling.
I’d been getting in the habit of carrying around a GoPro as a backup camera for a while. They’re great for capturing traveling shots when your higher quality camera gear is safely stowed away. But I also noticed that people have become very comfortable around these tiny, unassuming cameras. Which makes it great for late night party footage!
Only problem is that they don’t have a light. Which makes late night party footage useless. So, I just went to ACE hardware and bought a $5 LED light and slapped a 3M sticky on there. I tested it a few times in total darkness and thought it was too much of a spot light. I crudely masking taped some printer paper over the top to defuse the light a little and it seemed to work fine.
A few months later I was attending the World Premiere for The Art Of Flight and also had the side job of shooting footage of the weeks events. Being a part of the Brain Farm post-production crew on the film, I was given the night of the premiere off. I left my larger camera equipment at the hotel and opted for the “GoPro Party Cam” instead. The event film crew I’d been working with was told that Justin Timberlake would be there, but not to stick lights and cameras in his face. He was there to support his friends and didn’t want to be swarmed. I initially slid in just to get a quick shot of JT and Travis Rice. I never expected JT to borrow my camera.
I’ve been watching this web series throughout the year and was really excited to get the opportunity to edit their season finale. This series is probably one of the best examples of DIY web marketing I’ve ever seen a company come up with. Season two sounds like it’s going to be even better, so stay tuned!
Here’s an experiment I’ve been wanting to try since I was a kid. If ZipLoc bags can hold liquid, why can’t it hold it out? And if it can keep water out, than I can put a camera in that shit! First problem that I encountered is that shooting through a plastic bag looks like crap, so you need a better conduit than just freezerbag and that means more chances for leaks.
Originally, I went to the grocery store to buy an old pair of sunglasses to use for the exterior lens, but they were $15, so I found a $3 snorkel mask, then I realized that the plastic packaging that the mask was in would work well enough.
So, here’s the “how to…”, I also shot a test run clip, but wasn’t super happy with the out come. Although, the first test did prove that I could take a camera underwater with no more than left over plastic and some duct tape.
Everything you’ll need.
Cheap camera
Cheap wide angle lens- www.goshotcamera.com
Plastic dome….something? basically needs to be clearer than the zip-lock bag.
ZipLoc bag
Gorilla glue
Felt tip marker
Scissors
Plastic lens. There’s lots of this crap packaging on so much stuff these days. I got this one from a coax TV cable that I had to buy anyways. Keep this thing as clean as possible during the building process! (Mine got some glue on it, which you’ll see later.)
Draw circle
Fold and cut
Pull tight through hole in plastic bag.
Gorilla glue the seam and let dry. You don’t really need to over do it. I tried to put it inside the bag and it was completely unnecessary. Just put it on the outside seam and smear it on there. (don’t use your finger!)
Once dry place multiple small strips of duct tape around the seam. Avoid wrinkles in the tape.
Test the bag with nothing in it before throwing the camera in there.
Put the camera in the bag, roll the excess bag to avoid leaking. This also decreases buoyancy and increases control of camera. (notice that crappy glue all over the lens, lesson learned)
Other lessons I learned:
Keep plastic dome clean
Tape and fold the hell out of that ZipLoc seal
Tape your zoom button in the wide position or it’ll move around on you.