Well, sometimes you need a bit of bulk if you're outdoors in a decent wind. Or the back of a moving vehicle. The basic question is do you want your mics to follow your camcorder on said tripod? Or do you want the mics to be independent? You could mash a cheap stereo bar stripped down between the camcorder and the plate. But you don't want to put a lot of weight on that. i.e. Boom arm would be too much. Even a gooseneck might be a bit much. Not the only option, but if you're cheap or just want to use available gear in your current inventory.
Do you even need a tripod? For low realestate situations I'm finding that putting the camcorder on a tabletop tripod, mounted to a headphone mic stand clamp, mounted onto a mic stand is the quicker and lighter option on the go. Sort of a poor mans monopod. Not ideal for all situations like if you need the fluidhead pan and tripod leveling. But serviceable for having all your gear while still being a bit lazy. But not ideal, if you need to fiddle a lot, you will definitely need shock mounts for your mics. Even mics that might not otherwise need them.
Kind of like this:
(not my usual rig)