Okay, sometimes you come across something on the World Wide Web that kind of befuddles you with its absurdity and its potential usefulness. That's what happened to me when I came across Tentikle, a—I guess you could call it a camera mount, but it's actually a lot of things. This strange Gorillapod-esque tool can be used in a myriad of ways, but filmmakers in particular will like that you can mount phones, GoPros, or small size cameras to it using not only a 1/4-20" thread but it's suction cups, as well. (You heard me. Like an octopus.)
Take a look at Tentikle's Kickstarter campaign video to get a better picture of what we're dealing with here.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1906609363/tenikle-the-third-hand-for-your-phone-and-camera
Again, Tentikle uses the same idea as a Gorillapod in that its arms, or tentacles, can be bent and contorted into pretty much any shape you need. However, the unique feature of this thing is that it utilizes suction cups for mounting devices, which doesn't seem like a huge selling point given the fact that, unless you're James Bond or Ethan Hunt, suction cups don't tend to work all that well. However, creator Hans Dose says that due to the thermoplastic material and "geometry of the suction surface," suction lasts for up to four weeks with an 8 lbs. payload.
The Kickstart campaign page, which shows that Tentikle has already surpassed its goal by over $60,000, gives a bunch of ideas on how to use it for different things in your everyday life, but they also show you can you can put it to work in your filmmaking and vlogging as well. Here are just a few, including a small tripod, car/window mount, and selfie-stick/boom:
In the end, for $25-$30, it's a pretty interesting little tool, especially because that 1/4-20" thread means you can mount other stuff to it, too, like a handheld recorder or even an external microphone (if you can get your hands on a 3/8"-16 to 1/4"-20 adapter). If you pledge $35 or more, you get the "Shutterbug Kit", which includes a bunch of accessories like a Bluetooth selfie button, 1/4"-20 adapter screw, solid phone clip (for if you case won't work with suction cups), and a GoPro adapter.
Is this thing going to revolutionize filmmaking? No, probably not. Is it going to be a pretty cool stocking stuffer or gadget to fool around with? If it actually works, totally! Could you just get a Gorillapod instead? Yeah, you could, but those suction cups, man, if they work as well as they advertise that'd be a pretty sweet feature. And I think it needs at least one of its key features to be a big homerun if it's going to be marketable to filmmakers because we already have tools that do the other stuff it does—and they're bigger and can handle bigger heavier cameras.
If you want to learn more about Tentikle, head on over to Kickstarter.
Source: Kickstarter
