"Slow TV" on BBC Four

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm also curious about the start of a BBC4 series, tomorrow- 3 May - BBC Four Goes Slow - 20.00-22.55 hrs - Frederick Wiseman's film, National Gallery; there are no sound effects or voiceover, "in order to enhance unhurried, pleasurable viewing"

I've just posted about a similar approach to a programme on Monday about The Dawn Chorus

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?9951-What-birds-(are-you-have-you-been)-watching-What-birds-have-been-watching-you&p=484743#post484743

Must be the "in" thing...

[Nick Armstrong]

Here is an article about this 'slow TV' concept....

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/01/gently-does-it-from-canal-trips-to-birdsong-bbc4-to-introduce-slow-tv

[Serial_Apologist]

They can come and film me not going about my business anytime. I'm open to post-election negotiations.

[Dave2002]

Here is an article about this 'slow TV' concept....

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...roduce-slow-tv

I had a similar idea for a film or TV series once. I thought it should be called "The Seasons", and conceptually the film featured a road trip from Sundsvall to Umeå in Sweden done in real time during different seasons/months of the year. Four seasons would have provided about 12 hours of viewing, though if the action had been slowed down further this could be increased. Doubling the time was possible by providing a video of the reverse journey as a sort of sequel. Sadly ( !!) most people didn't think it was worth pursuing. However, I do recall Andy Warhol filming the lights on the Empire State building and also that some people actually went to see the film, so maybe there is a latent demand for slow films.

[greenilex]

When a certain Education minister was demoted last year I decided to celebrate by hanging chocolate baubles in my front hedge and breaking out the NUT banner and filming the hedge for at least three minutes. It turned into a great Work of Art.
My granddaughter has since used it to show me how best to edit film...

[Richard Tarleton]

Anyone watch this? I have to say that, even with a professional interest in the subject (I'm leading a dawn chorus guided walk next week, and know two of the sites), I found it, er, slow going. I ended up wondering who it was for.

Some editing queries - I think I'd have said something nearer the start as to what the dawn chorus is actually for, and why birds do it (attracting mate, defending a territory), instead if leaving it until 31 minutes into the programme. It got these two the wrong way round - defending a territory probably comes first for most species. Even then it didn't make the rather important point that only male birds sing - does everyone know this? Not in my experience. (Female robins sing and hold territory in winter, but otherwise...) It said "singing by one species encourages others to join the chorus" but not that singing by one male encourages other neighbouring males of the same species to join in (right at the start, there were two robins and two blackbirds singing against eachother).

Birds were introduced rather selectively. Wren - the third bird we heard, not counting the cockerel, was not introduced until 46 minutes in, likewise great spotted woodpecker whom we heard drumming in the first few minutes. Blackbird wasn't introduced till the Exeter section in spite of featuring prominently in the woodland. Pied flycatcher was introduced as "the first summer visitor to join the woodland chorus" - well, only if you are in a Western oak wood, for most people this will be the chiffchaff. One or two were heard but not seen or introduced (goldcrest), or seen and heard but not introduced (coal tit, and, unless I missed the label, great tit).....

I liked the wood ant nest shots, like an extract from an Indiana Jones film. You expected to see the hat of some luckless victim bobbing along.

Altogether some lovely shots, and beautiful sound recording, but I'm not sure this held the attention for an hour - I had to force myself to see it through (recorded, today), and I'm a birder. I think, given that they'd limited themselves to on-screen graphics, I'd have been tempted to make more use of them to give a spatial sense of where the songs were coming from, especially in the woodland. An interesting experiment but I'm not sure it worked.

[Nick Armstrong]

Anyone watch this?

I contrived to miss the Dawn Chorus one but saw some of tonight's Canal Trip programme. I found it intriguing, but had difficulty suppressing the thought that it's an 'Emperor's New Clothes' way of making very cheap telly under the banner of a modish artistic 'label'. That said, I find the nature documentaries with David Tennant et al. (even D Attenborough in recent years) gabbling an anthropomorphic commentary above manipulative orchestral muzak, to be unwatchable.

I wonder if they're best seen for an hour at a time; I think I'll be using the 'playback from last stopped' facility and watch in 10 minute chunks when a spot of calm is called for. But tonight I rushed gratefully into the hilarious and frantic arms of "Ballot Monkeys" !

[mercia]

I watched the Canal Trip with the sound down and the radio on, which probably wasn't quite what they intended. The graphics were a clever idea but I could only read them by standing very close to, and above, the television

I would say the bird programme was purely an audio experience and not televisual at all. These programmes remind me of the videos on youtube purposely made for insomniacs - eight hours watching and listening to a waterfall - that sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r8NE4osAYA

[Sir Velo]

I'm surprised no one has advanced the view that these programmes are clearly being put on to bore the pants off viewers, so that they can then turn around and say: "Look you all said you wanted fewer gimmicks, no soundtracks, no smarmy voiceovers; no dumbing down; but see how boring this sort of TV is. In future, leave the programme making to the experts."

[Dave2002]

We wondered what to do last night and didn't really want to watch the canal trip. Mrs D was surprised that I wasted recording space on one of our PVRs, but I pointed out that we can watch it at 64x so it should last just a couple of minutes!

Has anyone else considered this?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In future, leave the programme making to the experts."

Like with anything else, the answer is never simple. Pace is important, but so is discretion with voiceovers and the level and frequency of background music. But as far as "experts" are concerned, if they were experts they wouldn't subject us to hand-held cameras, with itchy zoom fingers, hose piping willy-nilly.

In the National Gallery film, which I thought was excellent, there was still the irritating habit of focussing the camera on someone talking about the paintings, rather than spending enough time on showing the paintings themselves.

[Nick Armstrong]

We wondered what to do last night and didn't really want to watch the canal trip. Mrs D was surprised that I wasted recording space on one of our PVRs, but I pointed out that we can watch it at 64x so it should last just a couple of minutes!

Has anyone else considered this?

That would be 'Fast TV' and is old hat....

[Sir Velo]

In the National Gallery film, which I thought was excellent, there was still the irritating habit of focussing the camera on someone talking about the paintings, rather than spending enough time on showing the paintings themselves.

One has to remember that just as many editorial decisions have been made even in these so-called "Slice of life" films.

[Stanfordian]

I'm surprised no one has advanced the view that these programmes are clearly being put on to bore the pants off viewers, so that they can then turn around and say: "Look you all said you wanted fewer gimmicks, no soundtracks, no smarmy voiceovers; no dumbing down; but see how boring this sort of TV is. In future, leave the programme making to the experts."

Sir Velo,

I started watching the 'Morning Chorus' and the 'Canal Barge Trip' and I'd had enough of both after 15 minutes or so.

[Dave2002]

That would be 'Fast TV' and is old hat....

Well spotted.

At 64x the canal trip might actually be Superfast TV, which is surely new! Perhaps it could be applied to Chinese or Japanese high speed train videos to get Hyperfast TV.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3047627/Japanese-Maglev-breaks-12-year-speed-record-Train-FLOATS-366mph-faster-tomorrow-s-test-run.html