Smooth video for Incredible-Perspective mobile video

Have you seen those short movies where a sports car is careening

through a mediterranean city, taking random streets here and there?

All you see is the street becuase the camera is (apparently) mounted

on the front of the car. How do they get that smooth, undisturbed

video?

I have the opportunity to travel to Pakistan this summer, and will be

a day or two traveling along the mountain roads with my Sony TRV900.

I would like to try and duplicate it for some of the mountain roads,

maybe for some general city stuff, too.

Low-down to the ground is cool, but introuduces debris that could

make the camera go kaput. Any ideas? Thanks.

Well, there's always the option of mounting a Steadicam on a bumper

(e.g., http://www.kiwifilm.com/steadfaq.html)... but if you're

traveling alone in Pakistan that would be extremely expensive and

cumbersome. How do they make those short movies? Suffice to say that a

team of video/film people with tens of thousands of dollars to burn

and a week or two of setup time simply can do some things that

individuals cannot.

I serendipitously came across some info related to my question. An Austrailian company called Cinekinetic has a neat item that helps isolate bump and vibration of mobile-video, while also serving as a posh, informal camera support. Looks like something you might be able to make at home.

The "CineSaddle" looks like a supple (leather?) bag partially filled with foam balls; your video cam snuggles in the middle, hedged in like your butt in a saddle. Small foam balls alledgedly absorb much of the bump and shock, allowing for smoother mobile video.

The 'saddle comes in 3 sizes, and include either basic or deluxe "mounting package" (used for mounting on hood, luggae racke, etc.).

There are some testimonials, pics, etc. on the Cinekinetic website. Here's the site link that demonstrates the theory of the Cinesaddle

http://www.cinekinetic.com/invention/howitworks/howitworks.html

Enjoy.