Category — Video Camera

I can see the opening scene now: Phelps shoveling down his 12,000-calorie breakfast, ending with those chocolate chip pancakes. There must be tons of footage available already thanks to all of those digital camcorders and video cameras that have been following him around.

I haven’t thought about swimming much since I was a kid, but watching Michael Phelps at the Olympics made me notice that something is missing from my life: the opportunity to eat whatever I want and not have it show.

Thinking of Phelps and all of the technology-assisted broken records as the subject of a film made me think of how Hollywood has looked at sports over the years. Here is a short list of my personal favorites:

1. Bang the Drum Slowly
2. The Natural
3. Hoosiers
4. Field of Dreams
5. Chariots of Fire

Rocky just rates an honorable message in my book.

The are more video cameras on the market these days than any sane person can keep tabs on. But you won’t find many that are designed to record underwater. Not without a “housing,” anyway.

Even if you just want to take your camera into the bathtub with you (Ready for your close-up?), you’ll need a waterproof if you want to get any underwater shots. If you want to take it with you when you go snorkeling, you’ll be able to have a greater variety of subjects to choose from—and even more if you are scuba diving.

If you have an older camera, you may have to buy a new one. Manufacturers often discontinue making cases for older models. If you do have to buy a new one, make sure you buy a camera from a manufacturer that also offers a housing. Not all of them do.

You can find a more detailed discussion here. If you’re a hardcore DIY type, you can build your own. It looks like a major task to me though.

I’ve saved the best solution for last. I have enough trouble managing the gadgets I have already, so this nifty camcorder from the folks at Panasonic is just what I’d buy.

Panasonic SDR-SW20

Think your stuck with mediocre sound quality with your camcorder? Think again.

Check out BH Photo for some sound tips. You’ll quickly learn the basics of how to get professional sound quality from whatever consumer camcorder you currently use. The manufacturers market higher costing camcorders as having superior, professional sound.

But if you need (or just want) better sound, these articles will tell you what you need. Most of the camcorder add-ons available aren’t prohibitively expensive and well worth the cost. You’ll also get a few tips that will help you in other ways, e.g., recording directly from the sound board at a wedding or other locations. If you don’t want to settle for the OEM, there are alternatives. Now you know.

Another movie I discovered at the rental store was Loaded with Catherine McCormack, Thandie Newton, and Oliver Milburn. It’s the first feature from Anna Campion.

The movie follows a group of English twentysomethings over a weekend trip to the country. The main purpose of their excursion is to film an amateur horror flick. The audience gets to see the grainy video footage of the student film as the characters shoot each scene. They were probably using a Hi8 or vhs camcorder to give it that amateurish feel.

The main character, Neil, is troubled by repressed childhood memories. The film is interlaced with scenes from his therapy session and memories. Campion focuses on this group to explore how one’s perception can change literally overnight. Things always get interesting when you add a dash of drugs and murder.

I know “Law & Order” has that disclaimer saying the events and people portrayed are purely fictional. Still, on occasion, they portray events that surely have to hit close to home for some viewers. An episode from this season was called “Political Animal” where one of the characters was a female New York Senator running for president. Now that’s dangerously close to Hilary Clinton, so all I’m saying is Dick Wolf knows exactly how to comment on current events, even if some details have been changed.

I also noticed that video footage from camera phones can be very useful to the police and prosecutors. In the episode about a woman murdered at an immigration rally, the police were able to track down the suspects by dissecting the video clips found on the victim’s cell phone. It was practically their whole case.

I guess being able to capture footage in the palm of your hand means something. I suppose it was only a matter of time before those images would be considered as evidence, even on tv.

Bonus: Law Order WGA spoof