I remember when “camcorders” first became widely available to the average consumer in the mid 80s. Remember those honkin’-huge shoulder cams that recorded straight onto VHS tapes? You felt (and looked) like a News Channel 5 cameraman hauling that thing around, peering into the black and white viewfinder.

We’ve come a long way, though. Now you can film in HD with a camera the size of a pack Marlboro 100s.

I knew we’d be capturing a ton of video on this trip and that it would eventually be edited into a documentary (more on that in a bit). At the same time, I’d been messing around with the Flip Ultra HD camcorder, a tiny little guy that produces amazing results in made-for-web video. The fact that it fit in a shirt pocket didn’t hurt either.

So I bought a half dozen of these relatively inexpensive guys before we hit the road. The idea was that everyone on the crew could have a camera with them at all times to capture all aspects of RunTellmanRun. This would lend the final documentary an intimate, do-it-yourself atmosphere that an audience could connect with. That appealed to me.

Having Flip Ultra HD camcorders at our fingertips every waking moment, we recorded a little bit of everything. When Ben shaved his beard in the hotel bathroom somewhere in Pennsylvania, Luke got it all on camera. When we toured the Yuengling Brewery in Pennsylvania, the Flip was along for the ride. And for better or worse, those little cameras captured all of my moods and emotions while running almost 600 barefoot miles.

All that footage was being fed to Sara, our offside editor who absolutely kills it on FinalCut. She organized and compiled it all and she’s in the thick of editing up the documentary. She should have a rough draft ready by early next week (if you were one of the backers of our Kickstarter fund, you’ll get a link to that rough cut).

We also sent a few Flip Ultra HD camcorders to our friends at the Stepping Stone youth shelter in State College, PA. They’ll be using them to document the process as they remodel their outdated kitchens with the $10,000 supplied by your donations.

And that’s the story of our Flips, our documentary, and our quest to help homeless youth in America.

SHABAMBO!

-Tellman

Luke logging some "proprietary" footage on the road with his Flip, somewhere in Ohio. Look how small that camera is.

Tagged as: flip ultra HD camcorder

{ 7 comments }

1 Thomas David Stringer Mar 04, 2010 at 23:58:55

Tellman, or whoever reads these comments: I must admit, without the graphics, the only thought I had was, 'the proverbial, chip on the shoulder.' -And why would someone carry it in their pocket??? You people are so very crafty!!! But nothing beats out, the duct tape diversion thing, in the area of confusion; nothing.......

2 DJ Mar 06, 2010 at 19:11:00

Hello Tellman, I, personally, would liken setting a goal such as running barefoot across the USA to raise money and awareness to combat youth homelessness here in our great nation exactly like becoming suddenly homeless myself. Have you ever been there? Homeless I mean. SUX, and this is a VOE speaking! Like I said in an earlier comment, I threw that Tshirt away. So anyhow, the aspects that compare the two of them, the barefootedness for such a pace and distance and the abrupt loss of roof and place and comfort, is that all of a sudden, with no training, yer sorry butt is stuck in something that isn't much like-able at all. There-fore; getting back off the street means some angel came along or else you've managed to pick your own self back up. None of us is immune to the possibility of being... "outdoors, ya know" and the rescue would be welcome whence ever if came from. Heel bruises which make you slow down can possibly equate to an aggregation of problems combining together to make even hunting for a job something no-longer within the realm of possibility.Thank the angel or self that makes getting back in out of the cold possible. Or hunker down for another round of shivering,,,,, $500K COULD buy 2K StraightTalk computers (TopOfTheLine) and 60 days worth of unlimited everything cards for $209.28 (@7%included tax that is...) for the group, and have just over 41K$ left for feeding trainees, the ones that're being groomed to go continue the rescue. 60 days of training by the crew of a MASTER INTERNET MARKETING GURU should see the dumbest of the motivated able to continue on (This concept is based on at least two things gurus have iterated to me again and again, "Making money from anywhere in the world is possible with an internet connection." and "So simple a 12 year old could do it!"...) I may be still endeavoring to make the internet work for me and be profitable, but I will somehow figure out how to make that first darned nickle and then they should oughtta be easier after that. And if someone who knows what they are doing ever shows me or I get it finally figured out some-other-how then I'll finally be soaring. Great days to you, yours' and the whole crew, too. DJ www.enlightenedgreengroup.com

3 DJ Mar 08, 2010 at 20:27:55

Tellmans Outreach Program? Training Rescue Initiative Because Unhomed Teens Endure. T.O.P. T.R.I.B.U.T.E.

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