How to go about making an overhead camera from the wall?

I would like to start out basic using simple devices like my iPhone and Flip UltraHD and record videos from above using a boom arm or something of the sort screwed to the wall. It needs to extend roughly 40 inches, but I can sacrifice some length if it means saving a significant enough amount of money to justify doing so. Having it mounted on the wall would be ideal for what I plan on using it for since I need the room.

I'm mainly wondering two things:
1. Is there any best way to go about doing this? I'm very unfamiliar with the hardware needed to bring these different pieces together, which leads to my second question…

2. How do I attach an iPhone and/or Flip at the end? I'm asking this because the tutorials I have seen have only used what I can only imagine to be high end camcorders, and I would think such devices connect differently than if you were to just use your phone. I know there are iPhone holders for say, tripods, but I don't know if that is what I would need or how I would connect it all together.

Apologies for my noobishness.

I would like to start out basic using simple devices like my iPhone and Flip UltraHD and record videos from above using a boom arm or something of the sort screwed to the wall. It needs to extend roughly 40 inches, but I can sacrifice some length if it means saving a significant enough amount of money to justify doing so. Having it mounted on the wall would be ideal for what I plan on using it for since I need the room.

I'm mainly wondering two things:
1. Is there any best way to go about doing this? I'm very unfamiliar with the hardware needed to bring these different pieces together, which leads to my second question…

2. How do I attach an iPhone and/or Flip at the end? I'm asking this because the tutorials I have seen have only used what I can only imagine to be high end camcorders, and I would think such devices connect differently than if you were to just use your phone. I know there are iPhone holders for say, tripods, but I don't know if that is what I would need or how I would connect it all together.

Apologies for my noobishness. An iPhone or Flip will be relatively light weight. 40 inches - over 3 feet - is a pretty long way to stick out of a wall. Is the ceiling available?

If the ceiling can't be used for mounting the boom arm, then one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/..._Boom.html
You *must* install it properly. This means the mounting screws *must* be in a wall stud. If not, the arm will detach from the plaster or drywall and come crashing down at the worst possible time. If a wall stud is not available, then you'll need to securely mount a decent sized piece of plywood to distribute the weight of the boom.

The double ended 1/4"x20 will mount to a standard tripod screw hole on the Flip. For the iPhone, you'll need a tripod adapter, like
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...apter.html

We don't know which iPhone you have… The sizes are different… I.e., the 4 series are not as wide as the 6 series…

No need to apologize - we've all been there. In my case, there was no forum like this, so we depended more on trial/error/learn or made stuff out of what was available in the garage… Build your own for cheap using PVC pipe, available at Home Depot. You can attach the iPhone in a hundred different ways from brackets to Velcro to rubber straps to spring clamps. However if you have no mechanical abilities whatsoever, go with some expensive solution that may or may not work.

Build your own for cheap using PVC pipe, available at Home Depot. You can attach the iPhone in a hundred different ways from brackets to Velcro to rubber straps to spring clamps. However if you have no mechanical abilities whatsoever, go with some expensive solution that may or may not work.