Why, yes, this is a camcorder

Michael O'Rourke
646 words
4 November 2006
San Antonio Express-News
STATE&METRO
English
© Copyright 2006 San Antonio Express-News. All Rights Reserved.

"Today we are just scouting locations."

That was the answer we would all give when my dad would wonder why no one had the video camera. You couldn't blame him really. The camera was state-of-the-art, expensive and the perfect technologically advanced tool to capture the memories we were making at Disney World, Crater Lake or the Grand Canyon. The images of my early childhood were captured on 16-millimeter and Super-8 film. Whenever I think back on those days, I hear Joe Cocker belting out "With a Little Help From My Friends." I heard film critic Leonard Maltin recently comment that everyone's home movies from that era look exactly the same. They all start with a kid or two standing perfectly still then bursting into an almost inappropriate level of excitement.

"Why do you and Uncle Kevin look so goofy?"

To anyone born during the video age, the antics of those of us captured on Super-8 do look goofy. Here is why. We were told to stand still whenever we had our picture taken. So when the Super-8 started clicking away we stood still. About five seconds into the shoot would come the announcement, "Don't just stand there. Move around." So we would move around. Being young, and not accustomed to taking direction, our version of doing something was usually flailing around. We have a lot of 8-mm footage of flailing.

"Wow, you really like those pajamas."

Yes, a lot of the footage is from Christmas morning. Kevin and I would have just opened some pajamas from Grandma. About five seconds into the shot came the direction, "Show Grandma how much you love the pajamas." Kevin and I would start flailing around like orphans receiving extra coal for the fire. Switching to video was a transition for everyone. We had become accustomed to moving when the camera was on but we weren't accustomed to the audio. Suddenly you had to watch what you said. I have a great video of my young daughters jumping in a Moonbounce while a family member describes a gruesome murder they read about in the background. We watch that video on mute. After a few more "oopsies" we began making an announcement before taping. "OK, everyone, I am turning the camera on." The first video camera my father bought was just so big. An entire VHS tape fit in it. It hurt our shoulders. It was a pain to lug around. So we started leaving it in the car. That is when we started saying we "were just scouting locations."

Camcorders, like cell phones, kept getting smaller and smaller. My brother gave me one for Christmas a few years back that was quite small. The girls gave me an even smaller one for my birthday last year. This month, I received the best camera ever made. It is the Pure Digital Point & Shoot Video Camcorder. It is the size of the original iPod, has no tape, can hold 30 minutes of video and plugs right into the computer. I am not qualified to review it beyond saying that I love it more than life itself. "Is that a video camera?" I hear it several times a day and I am happy to show it to you. "Look at this," I say as I push a button and the USB arm pops out. "Plugs right into the computer so I can e-mail them." I keep my pocket video camera in my shirt pocket always. I no longer need to find excuses to leave the video camera in the car. With this thing I am always on location.

Michael O'Rourke documents his life on Thursdays and Saturdays in S.A. Life. E-mail:
Ourhackmoliere@yahoo.com.