Will the Flip camera ruin our careers, or does it have a place in the production company arsenal?

Not too long ago we were hired by a client to shoot employee interviews for a new project. We arrived at the site, loaded in our gear, set up a black backdrop, and attractively lit the scene. After two strong interviews, our third candidate arrived. She was a higher-up exec from HR. She walked in, looked around, stared at me and said, “I just can’t believe you guys still make a living at this. Haven’t you heard of a flip camera? That’s all you need!”
My cameraman went pale and dropped his bagel.  The audio operator broke into a sweat.  What if it was true?

The very next day I bought a Flip camera and started to explore. And you know what?  I was excited; the camera was pretty amazing, given its form factor. With the flip of a switch and one tap of a button I was recording High Definition video with great visual quality, at a cost of $250—mere pocket change when compared to the price of professional cameras. Back at Mountain View, our production company, with the device, we explored it further.  Was this really the end of our careers, or an innovative new tool to have in our arsenal of creative approaches to story telling? 

Not long after that, we started using “Flips” on a few projects. One of our clients had deployed cameras to their remote sites, so when they needed a single interview where it wasn’t easy to get a crew, they had a ready solution. A client engaged us to create a project profiling their retail customers. More than a dozen Flips were sent to consumers, resulting in some really dynamic user-generated profiles. This was a good application of the technology. Is the Flip the be-all-end-all of video advancement and adaptability? Has consumer technology perfectly collided with professional technology, resulting in the consummate handheld video device equally powerful in both the social media revolution and the professional creative world?

The Flip shoots a good HD 1080 resolution image, although the image is obviously more compressed than what is shot on larger-format cameras. The camera itself is the size of a cell phone, so it’s super-portable and shippable, attributes we’ve taken advantage of in our work. Most models have a fixed lens, though a few have limited zoom, which can have significant consequence in getting the right shot. It records decent audio through its small, on-camera mic; it’s certainly not equal to the audio quality captured from professional recording gear and can be problematic for interviews or presentations when sound is critical. But it is a great device for a high-resolution b-roll, Web video or that homemade, user-generated look and feel. 
 
The Flip is cool. It’s fun. It is an innovative tool that will undoubtedly have a place in our creative arsenal. It works best alongside the philosophy we bring to each project — a philosophy that begins with a strong project-driving strategy, moves into original concepts and thoughtful creativity, executes on production days, and in the end is founded in good story telling. So, is the Flip all you need?  Sure, if you’ve got all those other things as well.

Stephen Pruitt is one of the principals and owners of Mountain View Group, Ltd. He works closely with clients to deliver effective communications programs for Raytheon Company, GE, MS&L, and The Coca-Cola Company, among others. Pruitt received his Bachelor of Science in Cinema and Photography with a minor in creative writing at Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY. Mountain View Group specializes in moving communications that effectively drive and deliver sustainable results through consultation, planning and highly engaging film, video, and digital media productions.  With offices in Atlanta and New York, some of the world’s most preeminent corporations rely on Mountain View to create powerful communication tools to further their brand. Mountain View blends strategy and creativity to move audiences and activate change.