Have you ever seen actioncam footage where the camera is mounted on a pole attached to the shooter’s helmet, looking back at them? If not, well, it’s pretty bizarre – their head is the only stable object in the shot, with the rest of the world appearing to swivel around it. The BoomPro is a prototype device, designed to allow anyone to get these kinds of shots using their GoPro HERO.
Ordinarily, videographers have to rig up their own systems, perhaps gaffer-taping a piece of doweling or PVC pipe to the top of their helmet. Mechanical engineer and dirt biking enthusiast Daniel Madsen decided that a ready-made product should be available, which is why he invented the BoomPro.
The device incorporates two adhesive-backed GoPro curved base plates, one of which is equipped with a GoPro J-hook mount, and the other with a custom support fitting. These are stuck onto the back and front of the helmet. A 28 inch (71 cm)-long nylon extension rod is then attached to those plates (J-hook at the back, support fitting at the front), keeping it rigidly attached to the helmet while also allowing it to extend out in front of the wearer. The rod is flexible, so it can adapt to the curvature of each user’s helmet.
The user’s GoPro is then attached to a mounting point at the front of the rod, so that it’s looking back at the wearer. It would no doubt require some trial and error – or one of GoPro’s LCD viewfinder screens – to find a camera angle where the user’s face was in the shot, but the rod wasn’t.
Both the J-hook and the fitting are attached to the plates via quick-release mounts, so the rod can be easily removed from the helmet.
Madsen is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, to finance commercial-scale production of the BoomPro. A pledge of US$39 will get you the rod and fitting, if you already have the required GoPro plates. If you want the whole package, a pledge of $69 will do the trick – assuming the financing goal is met.
Examples of the type of weird-looking shots it gets can be seen in the pitch video below.
Source: Kickstarter
