It’s going to be the greatest windsurfing movie ever made, and I am going to make it. This is because I am in the early stage of enthusiasm which accompanies all my stupid projects. In a couple of weeks, reality will set in and I will be aiming for a (more realistic) hastily patched together assortment of mediocre clips, accompanied by an inappropriate soundtrack.
But for now, I am Martin Scorcese. I have the camera, which is not exactly what Martie uses to make his epics, but it will do. I have Final Cut Express software to edit my video and I am currently working through a book which explains how to use it to people who have more brain and more patience than me. But at least I am learning to use words like Roll, Ripple, Slip and Slide in everyday conversation which perplexes she who must be obeyed (and me as I have forgotten what they mean). I have my Mac Pro which I recall being partially justified on the basis of “I am going to render video, I will need a Mac Pro”. Can’t remember if I actually said that out loud, but you can’t be too careful. And indeed it has consumed all I have thrown at it so far with considerable ease. All I need now is the footage.
Gathering video from a windsurfer is not that easy. You can’t sail with one hand and wave the camera around with the other. Well, you can, but after a couple of seconds you will be filming an accident. So you need to attach the camera to yourself or the board or the sail. And then you need to start recording and hope it stays in one place while you bounce over the water.
I tried using a Gorillapod flexible tripod. Worked for a little while, but then slipped into a new position and I lost the shots I was wanting.
This gave me a little bit of board, a little bit of land, and too much sea.
The other is an altogether too splashy shot taken from the deck. My toes look sexy though. Flickr’s conversion seems to have added some nasty ghosting effects however,
These are HD video clips which are large in file size and do not appear to play smoothly over the internet. But they do look good full size on my machine. Come round some time and take a look.
I decided to construct something more rigid, the first project being a clamp that I could fix to the boom. This meant a trip to the plumbing supplies store. Some build their creations out of carbon, titanium and stainless steel, precise to a fraction of millimetre. I use plastic water pipe and a hammer, precise to nothing at all.
So here I was again in the basement of Home Something or Other, perusing the wide range of blue plastic pipe and fittings. Given that all the local shops are devoid of custom at the moment, it was no time at all before an eager young man was by my side, offering assistance.
Can I help you sir?
Yes. I am looking for some fittings that will enable me to mount my camera to a standard windsurfing boom. The device must be easy to remove, light, and adjustable. Tell me young man, what are my component options from this veritable cornucopia of toilet and drainage plumbing delights?
No, of course I didn’t say that. I doubt he could have helped me with a plumbing requirement, let alone Spike’s flight of fancy for which no known solution currently existed. He left me to my pondering and eventually I went home with an assortment of bits.
There then followed a period of quiet contemplation where my years of advanced design and engineering skills fermented together to produce this:
I know what you’re saying. “Come on Spike, you don’t fool us. Surely you used an top line design house, Porsche perhaps, to come up with the design?” But no, it’s all my own work. One piece of blue plumbing stuff (real purpose unknown), two clamps and one partially destroyed tripod. Pure genius.
Next creation: Bicycle helmet cam. I sense a design award pending.
Comments 🔗
2009-05-05| Billy saysBears a family resemblence to the thing you built for keeping your surfboards away from the wall in the garage and the desk thingy in the study - maybe you should think about changing your plumbing supplies shop; mind you cheap is cheap.
2009-05-06| Spike saysI am getting sick of blue plastic. Need to find a source of red plastic.