Flip This!

Today I put to good use--or at least performed a good demo/experiment--a new digital video camera (one of fifteen purchased for my video production class at Hun): the Flip Ultra HD. This handy little cam is not new, however it is the next generation in "necessary" technology for the video class I teach. These cameras, if they meet my [high] standards and perform well, will be the first tapeless cameras to be used in the introductory video classes.

One of the continuing themes of the video production class, as time marches on, is the ever changing nature of technology in our world. No better example exists for the aphorism "smaller, faster, cheaper" than this $150 camera, the size of a cell phone, that can shoot two hours of high definition, full frame video. Try that fifteen, or ten or even five years ago my little homebody hobbyist or high school video amateur!!


Let the Experiment Be Made!!
Below, is a sequence shot at the Allen Lane Train Station in the Mount Airy Section of Philadelphia. The tressle/pedestrian overpass has been under construction since the fall of 2009 and should be completed by this coming fall. This $7+ million dollar undertaking is well documented on the Philadelphia Neighborhoods blog. Check it out to learn more about this ongoing neighborhood revitalization project.

I chose the bridge as my first "test subject" because its design seemed to call out for high def shooting. (Plus there are many fond memories I have of this station stop along the R8 Line from my youth as a Mount Airyite...particularly ones of me getting the hell outta that neighborhood and into Center City ;)!! Here's a very brief glimpse of the construction project:



I was really happy with the ease of use and the image quality from this camera. There isn't much that can go wrong in the [hopefully steady!] hands of a high schooler with a point and shoot video product of this caliber. For early-in-the-school-year projects, this is a perfect device!! Simple operation. Easy interface to transfer footage directly to a computer. Quicktime format imports directly into Final Cut editing program. Can't wait to get this camera into the hands of the kids and see how much easier the technical end of production will be for them during the first few weeks of the course.

Later in the day I shot some footage of my daughter at another "old haunt of mine" using the same Flip Utra HD camera. Here she is, feeding the ducks and geese at Valley Green. Great color, wonderful resolution, perhaps a bit 'sketchy' on the frame rate (but what do you want for a camera with no manual controls for shutter speed, focus, exposure.) A keeper, at least in my book!




-Marty