calling all camcorders…

back when I was a grad student heavily involved in teaching various forms of “writing” with media (traditional verbal in various genres, yes, but also visual/interactive), I had a great resource at my disposal: the university’s media lab for teachers– we could checkout digital video cameras for various projects, play with them to our hearts’ content, and turn ’em back in, ta da. it was awesome.

so now, unsupported by great mother university and back out in the rillworld, I wonder how to get my mitts on a little handful of digital video cameras for an event thingy I have in mind to put together, say 3 or 4. I’ve taken a peek around at rentals in the area, and could do it for $35/day per camera. alternately, I could put a call out to friends and friends of friends for camera loans and hope that I’m not setting myself up for a format nightmare when it comes to compiling footage and also that nobody’s beloved camcorder gets accidentally dropped. it’s kinda challenging to figure out.

see, this is the problem with being a dilettante and having my hand dabbling in about a zillion different areas– all my knowledge is pretty superficial, sometimes little more than anecdotal or briefly experiential, whereas others geek way out, research the thing top-to-bottom, and create a mental catalog of various highly technical points of note. me, I cannot be bothered– quick n dirty does the job. idle and lazy, from some perspectives. eh, it’s all in the name of play.

so that’s the littlest wee thumbnail peek at my current project, just hatching. more later as it develops. shoot me any advice you might have about corralling cameras when you have a minute– all thoughts welcome (via email if you can’t comment here). thank you kindly. xo, sat.