If you're the kind of person that keeps up with trends or even spends any time on the good, old Internet, you've noticed a lot of people posting videos of their rants, opinions, poetry and even a wide variety of oddball humor, shot while sitting in their cars. Why that particular location has become such a popular venue is anyone's guess, but there are an awful lot of individuals building a huge following with these “driver's seat statements”.
If you've got something to say and want to tell the world, have a particular talent for lip-syncing popular songs or just want to put your mug out there to see how people react, you might be thinking that these now-famous personalities are using sophisticated equipment to record these clips. In most cases, you'd probably be surprised at the actual simplicity of the setup. In fact, there's a good chance that most of the videos you've enjoyed – or endured – were recorded on a smartphone, often mounted with a device like HandlePod.
Obviously, the trick is to have a good way to mount the phone or camcorder you'll be using to a convenient spot in your vehicle. As you've probably noticed from the point of view in many videos, the frontal view is very popular and the angle is usually a little higher than eye-level, which pretty much tells you that a visor or the rear-view mirror is a common choice. If you opt for that location, my best advice would be PLEASE, DON'T RECORD AND DRIVE.
I've seen some videos shot with dash mounted cameras and in some cases, even police officers apparently reversing their dash cams temporarily to get the message out. Again, these are reasonable choices, but probably not a good idea while driving.
There are a few spots that might be a little safer, for example the passenger side headrest, which will let you get yourself in profile while you're traveling, provided you're not constantly looking over at the camera. One more option I've seen a few times is mounting the camera so that it sees your reflection in the rear view mirror. If you want to look cool in a clandestine, “super spy” sort of way, maybe that's the look you want to go for. Whatever position you choose, just be sure it's not blocking your vision or distracting you if you're planning to drive.
The other popular in-car video trend (and my preference) is time-lapse video taken through the windshield and this, too, can be created with many smart phones as well as with a simple mounting setup. The only precaution here is to make sure the rig doesn't block your view, because that can earn you a citation in many states, not to mention more serious consequences.
Check out this blog post for some practical ways to mount your device for your 5 minutes of fame!