"Film My Ride" on Expedition GeForce @ Holiday Park, Germany

Hi,

Just thought you might be interested in this:

http://www.holidaypark.de/newstool/news_detail.php?News_ID=1285&lang=DE&portal=1

Here's a translation I've done to give the main gist of it (because the link is to a German page - it doesn't seem to appear on Holiday Park's English-text side of their site at the moment). I have paraphrased it in places:

QUOTE BEGINS HERE:

"Expedition GeForce is 62m high, nearly 1.5 km long and with a speed of 120 kph a circuit takes 57 seconds. These are the most exciting 57 seconds of any discerning rollercoaster enthusiast's life. Apart from an on-ride photo, EGF's fans have nothing to take home with them to demonstrate their courage etc. to their mates... until now! Holiday Park is offering an exclusive digital video to passengers in the forthcoming weeks. An experienced cameraman will be wearing a special helmet camera (rear-facing to capture shots of those behind him - i.e. you) and a second camera will be installed at the front of the train to capture a POV [or as Holiday Park put it, every drop, hill and curve!].

Director of the park, Wolfgang Cutter said : 'We are asked again and again whether riders can take a video camera onboard. But that is forbidden for reasons of safety - nobody is able to guarantee that they will be able to hold onto a camera with the G forces that arise on this ride. And, of course, no passenger wants to meet a camera flying towards them at 120kph'.

The solution comes from media enterprise 'OLS Media'. Jurgen Lotz and Willi Franc have worked for years as photographers and cameramen for the media/publicity department of Holiday Park. Over the last few months, they have modified a motorcycle helmet in order to integrate a high-quality DVD movie camera. Now videos from the rollercoaster are possible. Jurgen Lotz said, 'We have already, naturally, helped TV stations make reports on the ride. My partner Willi Franc has already ridden hundreds of times with a camera. The main problem was always the preparation - the camera had to be fastened securely with thick tape in order for it not to fly off and crash down 62 metres! The securely installed helmet-camera makes things a lot easier'.

Starting from 5th August, Holiday Park is offering this new video opportunity to all interested rollercoaster fans. For 17.90 EURO you get 2 videos - the forward facing POV and the shot of the passengers directly behind the helmet-cam (i.e. you / your friends). Lotz is particularly proud of the speed at which they are able to turn the DVD discs around and goes on to talk about the fact that screams can still be heard through the helmet!

Reservations for 'Film My Ride' are being taken right up until 3.08.05 - simply send an e-mail with the subject 'FILM MY RIDE' to info@holidaypark.de indicating which day you intend on visiting the park. Reservations can be made for 5th August to 15th August. Reservations will be confirmed by e-mail - present a print-out of the e-mail confirmation on the day of your visit at 10am at the special 'FILM MY RIDE' booth (which I believe is next to EGF) in order to receive the time at which your filming will take place (it'll be between 10am and 1pm)."

QUOTE ENDS HERE.

I believe Robb Alvey was allowed to try out the helmet cam. on a very recent visit to Europe!

Hope this is of interest,
Robin

Robb Alvey is the devil! Burn him! Burrrrrrn!

Ahh, yes, I am the devil!

I did try out the helmet cam! It was very 'interesting.' Personally I prefer the lipstick cam mounted to the train, but the helmet cam did work very well also. Especially when I mounted the camera backwards and filmed Elissa and Dan. For POV it was still a little shakey.

I even showed them a few interesting angles and tricks, so hopefully that will show up in their productions. =)

Here is a pic of me using the sexy helmet cam! =)

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/holiday6_527.jpg

Walking the lift hill of GeForce was the most insane thing we did during the whole trip!
*** Edited 7/8/2005 6:42:02 PM UTC by mrbeanz***

Oh My, you're gonna get banned again, Robb;).

Perhaps they should strap the camera to a wrestling head guard.

http://www.thesportsauthority.com/sm-asics-zw01-halo-wrestling-head-guard--pi-502221.html

Or something similar.

Less weight to be supported by the camera ops neck under the g-loads.

Yeah, that helmet was heavy!

The thing is they are strapping an entire DV cam to the helmet. They have bolted on the same kind of screw plate you see on a tri-pod to the side of a helmet.

What I would do is strap on a lipstick cam like the one I use here:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/tusenfryd6_210.jpg

to something much lighter so it doesn't put so much wear on the rider. I took 4 rides with the helmet cam and it did hurt a bit!

Heck you could put a lipstick-cam on each ear of the head gear to look forward and back and still have pounds less on your head/neck. The headgear is much cheaper than a decent comfortable helmet and should fit a wider range of head shapes and sizes.

The place where I buy my lenses actually sells a really cool headgear setup. It's pretty light and looks comfortable. You can mount the camera forwards or backwards.

It's the same guy that does the cams for Fear Factor, so he knows what he's doing!

Should have known some one was already marketing something.

Does he sell big wigs to cover them too? That would be so wrong though. ;)

About time!

Skydivers have been wearing helmet-mounted cameras for years now, to the point where seeing multiple cameras (still, video) on one person's head isn't out of the ordinary. One company has even molded the helmet to include space for a small tucked-in camcorder, without any fear of it breaking loose.

If these things can regularly handle freefall speeds, opening shocks, and occasional rough landings without incident, there's no question that they'd be fine for a roller coaster.

Of course, you're going to look very odd :) (It'd be like wearing a fanny pack to the dropzone...)

-Skydiving Jeff

Thankfully, you don't have to worry bout it. You look odd anyways, Jeffric.

Clint, was that a compliment? ;)

yeah. you're such a hottie and all. I'm so jealous.