Tips for Filming with Your Helmet Cam

A lot people capture an epic powder day on HD, then show it off to every friend they have. Welcome to Awesometown, population: You (and only you). You’ve now joined the ranks of your parents, when they invited the neighbors over to watch the a family video of vacationing through Yellowstone.

You may be forever entertained watching your own radness. But if you want to keep sharing it, and keep your friends at the same time, consider these few simple tips:

The Nostril Shot
It doesn’t matter how chiseled your mug is, no one wants to look up your nose. Also avoid the nostril shot’s cousin, the double-chin shot, spawned from looking down at the camera. Try some new angles. Or at least try a pre-run nose hair trim.

Edit
It’s totally acceptable to keep the camera rolling. Anything can happen: an endo, an albatross swooping in to steal your cliff bar. But before subjecting your friends to it, find some basic editing software and cut out the monotonous parts. It’s five minutes of their lives they will never get back. Plus you’ll feel even more satisfied by bringing your video to the next level.

The Endless Shot
For editing, keep it short and sweet. Unless you’re doing something incredibly groundbreaking or fantastically stupid, assume your audience has the attention span of a Yellow Lab. We get the idea of how great the single-track is from 10 seconds at a time and the snow from five turns. Show your runs in their entirety and you’ll be like a golfer who thinks you want to hear about every shot of his last round.

Organize It
If you don’t feel like editing, so be it. Just make sure to know which clips you want to show your friends, so you don’t spend a half an hour opening every file. By the time you find it, the anticipation will be so high the video will never compare.

Use Technology
If you can swing it, get the new LCD screen to help with framing. Get to know the camera’s settings as well. For example, the R1 frame rate setting is best for fast-action sports, because it’s higher frame rate will allow for better slow motion in editing. But the R3 setting is the most versatile for higher resolutions.

Get Creative
Experiment and have fun trying different shots and techniques. It isn’t too hard to come up with new ideas, though with the same three shots clogging up YouTube, it’s easy to think otherwise.

So there you have it, $50,000 of film school education for free. You’re welcome… but the motive is purely selfish. The time has come for the world to unite against a common atrocity. The time has come for you to pack your bags and leave Awesometown. Your friends will thank you.