Category " News"

Real Madrid coaching staff recieve quick lesson on
HI-POD operation from Enrique Morales, HI-POD President.

(HOME DEPOT CENTER- Los Angeles, CA , July,18,2005) HI-POD president Enrique Morales met with the REAL MADRID Futbol Club coaching staff and Real Madrid Television during their recent visit to Los Angeles. Real Madrid is in the middle of a world tour and were in town to play the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Recognizing the immediate value of an aerial shot above the goal , the REAL MADRID coaching staff hired HI-POD to videotape the friendly match between the Galaxy and the Golacticos.

Positioned behind the Galaxy goal for the first period, the HI-POD captured the score by Michael Owen, the breath-taking footwork of Zinadine Zidane, the almost goal by David Beckham, the crosses by Roberto Carlos and the great saves by the Galaxy Goalie Hartmann.

In the second period the mobile HI-POD moved to other goal to capture the crosses by Figo, the shots by Beckham, and the score by Roberto Soldado.

(06/07/05- Santa Maria, CA) On this third day of Jury deliberations at the Michael Jackson trial, very little activity has occurred in the courthouse. This leaves the hundreds of media professionals with little to do but to turn their attention on the spectators and themselves.

The “thriller” on this day was the HI-POD. Towering high above the heads of everyone, the HI-POD was able to provide unusual imagery of today’s carnival atmosphere. Rivaling the footage of the network cameraman perched on a crane across the street, the HI-POD was at almost the same height , but directly on top of the action. Now with the introduction of the HI-POD base the operator was able to elevate the HI-POD, lock it off, and walk away. No more stability concerns.

“I can’t believe how easy it is to operate now”, exclaimed HI-POD operator Ricardo Murga. “With the base I only have to worry about my shot, and not about stability. For long jobs this is a life saver.”

(5/18/05- Los Angeles Convention Center) For the debut of the new playstation, Sony wanted to capture aerial views of the event. They wanted high quality shots from above the booth. For such an important event a crane would have occupied too much of the expensive booth space and left little room for visitors to the booth. HI-POD was the answer.

Easily traveling around the large Sony booth, the HI-POD was able to provide many different locations shots, as well as different styles of shots. Moving from the Portable Playstation area to the XBOX zone to the much desired “Playstation 3” zone, the HI-POD delivered breathtaking altitude shots from all the locations. There was no other way to capture these shots.

Outside of E3, Activision wanted the HI-POD to document the Great Tony Hawk’s performance in the Wasteland Halfpipe.

Some of this footage is available at the E3 website: www.e3.playstation.com

(Los Angeles, CA 5/4/05)- When America’s Most Wanted needed to capture spectacular footage of a chase and apprehension, they contacted HI-POD. The scene called for a simulation of a criminal being pursued by an officer down a long Seattle alley. The desire was for an aerial shot of the chase. Cameraman Gerald G. Massimei Jr. determined the best way to achieve the shot was to track the subject by car. But instead of shooting out the window, the team extended the HI-POD out of the sunroof. This gave the impression of a very expensive moving crane shot, but in actuality it was a HI-POD operator extending the HI-POD approximately to twelve feet and following the shot as needed.

“I was impressed with the HI-POD’s ease of use and intuitive design,”exclaimed Cameraman Gerald G. Massimei, Jr. “The results are stunning and really gave our microbudget project a big budget production feel.”

The America’s Most Wanted “run and gun” style was also able to take advantage of the portability and mobility of the HI-POD. When the camera crew prepared for the “takedown” the HI-POD was able to quickly extend over backyard fences , to capture amazing aerial shots.

America’s Most Wanted shooting schedule makes it almost impossible to set up for crane shots. They just would not be able to finish a shoot. Now with HI-POD they have the best of both worlds- they can capture crane shots and still stay on schedule.

Cameraman Gerald G. Massamei Jr. provides instruction to HI-POD operator as Actor/Police Officer Gary Fredo prepares for chase.

HI-POD has unveiled its plan for the new line of products. The new and improved HI-POD will include not only the base, and hard travel case, but also a Sony mini-dv camera. All of this for the same $2995 price.

The Sony mini-dv camera has a 20 optical lens, video out, firewire out, and LANC control.

In addition to the standard features of the HI-POD (anti-glare monitor, battery, LANC Controller) the new HI-PODs will be lighter to move, faster to setup, and safer to operate.

Each of the three units (15 ft, 20 ft, and 25 ft ) will be upgradeable to the next taller unit for $500. This makes it easy for the user to obtain a unit and to grow with the unit in the future.