I had been thinking of how to turn a GoPro into a really long camera crane so I attached my GoPro 960 to the end of a 28' pole and got the following shots. The camera was static at the end of the pole so I had to set my tilt angle in advance. The pole has a good bit of flex but with some practice, this can be manageable. The very first shot of the video was my very first attempt and it actually looks pretty good.

A couple things I'd like to point out...

The GoPro 960 is having a terrible time looking for the right exposure between the white snow and the blacktop. My daughter chose to wear a black coat which didn't help either. I'd say this was probably the worst case scenario.

Except for the few instances of SloMo, there is no other manipulation to the image. This is exactly how it came out of the camera. Of course I wouldn't use the 960 (Hero 3 Black would get the nod) and I eould expect to be doing some color correction.

The GoPro960 is heavy at the end of a 28' pole. I think this would be a lot better with the lighter Hero 3 which also has the wifi remote. You could use the wifi and the smartphone App to give you an idea of framing. I understand there is about a 3 second delay with the video in the app so you couldn't use it for framing while recording but at least a producer could watch the monitor to see if they are getting what they want.

My boom pole breaks down into a 4' unit for transport which makes this into a perfect "Backcountry" poorman's camera crane. I am exloring some ideas on how to add a tilt control which can only improve things.

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