Updated! Film Riot’s Ryan Connolly reviews The VBAG “Philip Bloom Edition”

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My good friend and ludircously talented filmmaker Ryan Connolly has reviewed my VBAG on the brilliant Film Riot. He talks about his ethics in the video and was in way influenced by our friendship. Check it out. He is quite a funny chap and do check out Film Riot and Pimp Your Production!!

VBag Philip Bloom Edition – Review from Nino Leitner on Vimeo.

I launched my first “signature product” three years ago with Kessler Crane, the Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly: http://gopb.co/pbdolly and have been approached to do others since, but I haven’t felt the need to do anything else or been excited enough about anything, or had a reason why my name need be on it. Although I do have my own fragrance and swimwear line coming out soon! 😉

The key thing for me, is to have my name on something is a big deal, it’s insanely flattering and with the Kessler Dolly it clearly set the bar high that the product needed to be incredibly useful and this is essential, it must not SUCK!!!

Which ironically brings me onto Vbag 🙂 They sent me some of their older vacuum bags to check out. These are great bits of kit designed to mount your camera rock-solid onto almost anything you want, within reason! It’s a soft bag filled with pellets that ,when you suck the air out, becomes rock-hard and won’t lose its shape at all until you release the valve and let air back in! I said I liked it, but would prefer a number of things changed for me to really like and use it. Smaller, lighter, softer, more flexible material to make it easier to mould to things, MUCH smaller pump, one valve but still with a small hole to attach to bag and…I needed to make it as portable as possible for my work…They said OK, and that is really how the second product came about!

The difference between my special one and their standard pro line is that mine has a more flexible softer material, much better for me for going in bags, a single valve (all that’s needed on a small one) a MUCH MUCH smaller pump and is MUCH cheaper…hooray!!

Please note I am only using two bags for one example in the video to show how a VERY extreme situation you could use two to get out of it but one is all you need for 99% of situations.

It’s incredibly flattering to have my name now on two film-making products and I love this one to bits. It’s so bloody useful and easy to carry around. Honestly, it has gotten me out of a number of awkward spots already in placing the camera where I want it.

In this video I explain what it is, what it does and how to use it.

 

These are being sold exclusively by the manufacturer: www.vbag.com

Enjoy the video and if you buy the bag I hope you love it as much as I do!

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Filmed by Nino Leitner

Edited by Philip Bloom

Assistant Kat Dietl

 

35 comments

  2. Love the info and reviews you provide. Your humor and experience as well as the no-nonsense attitude you have is great for noobs like myself. Your eye for composition inspires me.

    thanks

  3. Looks good. Really like these bags but the price of the bigger ones have forced them onto the wish list in the past.

    You mentioned a number of cameras. WOuld you use it with a light weight set-up on a Scarlet/Epic?? (lens and redvolt battery)

    cheers
    wes

    1. Yep totally! Tony, the part owner of the company uses it with his Red Epic (not heavy set up) just fine. I truly think this is better than the others for the reasons I mentioned in the post AND it’s much cheaper!! 🙂

    2. It’s not possible to put more pellets into the bag as it’s a balance between the amount of pellets and the space inside the bag that determines how well it will hold it’s shape. But you can always use two bags in coorporation as Philip shows in the video.

  6. Looks great!
    What will the full price be after movember has ended? Not sure I can stretch for one until payday which will be too late. Unless this is a big saving and then I will make do with baked beans for the rest of my meals 😉

  7. Will add to the wishlist. Can also see the bag as useful for just very basic things — substitute sandbag, or as a ground-level platform. If it holds its shape well, maybe even as a sort of hi-hat?

    Philip, by the way, have to ask — what do you think of the RED price drop? You must be tempted to buy an Epic back. Do you feel relieved you got you money back when the price tag was higher?

  9. Brilliant! Cant wait to get mine!!! You said you use it on your C300? Does it hold up well? Because thats what I mainly shoot on, Besides my Canon 7D. Your a freaking Genius by the way. Cheers

  10. wow! i worked extensively with this product in denmark as one of the inventors was my camera assistant on many location shoots. ive been trying to get my key grip to buy a couple ever since. great product, saves time and really helps the cameraman get shots and put the camera in unordinary places. we rigged the camera in a bike basket in about 2 minutes and it was completely locked down and safe to ride all over cobble stone streets. simply amazing!

  13. Well this is going on the list of things to get this month! a goof chunk of my video work is in the circus world and I can see this getting quite handy for those shots I’ve always wanted to do, but never could.

    I was considering going for a lowrider or some other cradle bag, but those things are so bulky, they’re really not compact when it comes to traveling and moving around a lot, this on the other hand seems perfect.

  15. Philip, are you going to have any of these with you at Masters In Motion, so we can try it out? Or should I just stop thinking about it and buy now 🙂
    I may have a cool mini-doc idea for you when you get in, if you want.

    See ya soon.

    Greg

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