Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner ascended 24.2 miles into space on October 14, 2012. He opened the door of his stratospheric balloon and jumped off a platform, breaking the sound barrier in the process of his free fall to Earth. The whole thing was captured on a 1.6-inch-by-2.4-inch camera: a GoPro.
A GoPro is a high definition personal camera that can be worn using specific attachments on the body. The cameras cost from $199.99 and are traditionally used to capture footage of extreme sports or once-in-a-lifetime events. Juniors Brett Amendola, Cooper Lev and Liam Higgins have all implemented a GoPro into their respective sports and have used this technology in a novel way.
According to Higgins, he and his boat always use his GoPro during crew races. He says it allows him to help boost his boat’s performance and analyze his races carefully afterwards.
“He places it on his head mount, and he can basically use it to film the race as it simultaneously records the audio. It allows him to look back at how the race was,” junior Yiorgos Karaminas said. “He uses it because he is coxswain, so instead of using a voice recorder, he is able to actually look back and see what the race was like so he can take detailed notes and identify what to work on.”
Karaminas said that he thinks that GoPro has helped Higgins’s boat improve overall and has been prompted to buy one himself.
However, purchasing a GoPro is not always necessary, as was the case for both Amendola and Lev.
After being assigned to create a documentary about the high school’s history, sports and overall mission, Amendola and Lev, assisted by their Documentary Filming teacher Krissie Jankowski, came up with the idea to create a short film using a GoPro.
Thanks to the class as well as the Brookline Interactive Group (formerly Brookline Access Television), Amendola and Lev said they got the opportunity to use the camera during a few of their varsity baseball practices.
“[Jankowski] mentioned that the Brookline Interactive Group had two GoPros that could be used to capture action footage,” Amendola said. “Cooper and I were instantly hooked. It was perfect to get the footage that we needed for our section of the movie.”
Amendola and Lev taped various parts of their baseball practice by strapping the camera onto their chests with the harness provided.
“We weren’t really looking for anything specific,” Amendola said. “We just wanted to get some footage of what it is that varsity sports do. I videotaped some shots of us playing catch, shagging some fly balls in the outfield and hitting. It was really cool to see the game from a different perspective.”
Lev said that it would have been nearly impossible to create the film without the assistance of Jankowski and the Brookline Interactive Group.
“The Brookline Interactive Group definitely gave us the chance to be creative in our work,” Lev said. “Without them, we would never have been able to use a GoPro. I’m very grateful for this wonderful opportunity.”
Eoin Walsh can be contacted at [email protected].
