Netflix and Chill Slow TV #1

Netflix and Chill - Slow TV Northern Passage

There is quite a bit of Norwegian Slow TV on Netflix. 

Last night's viewing: a 58 minute overview of the 5 1/4 day Hurtigruten boat broadcast where a documentary becomes a national celebration, moments of beauty, joyful tears, thousands of uninvited but welcome participants, a phone call from the prime minister, a wave from the Queen of Norway, and a culmination in the fullest epic sense. This is one of the behemoths of Slow TV, if you get your head and heart around this, you'll get to love Norway and understand Slow TV a bit better.

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Rune Møklebust über Slow TV und Postschiffe

NRK producer Rune Møklebust gives a four minute interview with Christina Tournatzes from German based AFK TV, hosted on the YouTube Channel Lokalrundfunktage. Introduced in German, the interview is conducted in English - with insights on the reasons for the documentary in the first place and reflections on its effects.

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Slow TV High Production Values

As I have talked to more and more people about Slow TV, especially the NRK way of doing Slow TV, communicating the production values can be a challenge. As first it seems like people are imagining essentially one or two cameras mounted with a pretty view and something akin to 'hoping for the best' happens. Not so, no indeed. Not all Slow TV is about a pretty view of a natural subject, and this behind the scenes video from the Hurtigruten broadcast shows that the production value, skill and technology which NRK puts into the minutt for minutt broadcasts are on par with a global sporting event. Indeed, the Hurtigutens Kontrollrom was the equipment NRK used for the London 2012 Olympics... even if you don't understand a word of Norwegian (I'm beginning to get a few now!), have a peep at this video from NRK Beta on YouTube.



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Glorious evening for Hurtigruten

Nordkapp moored at the Hurtigruten terminal, ready for its evening departure at Bergen. It was about this moment that it gave an almighty honk on its horn. Very brief, but like a sonic punch it echoed around the mountains.

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Into the sunset...

Filming the Hurtigruten ferry, Nordkapp, departing from Bergen, August 28th. Sailing off into the sunset on a perfect blue sky evening.

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Meeting the Producers of NRK Slow TV

Meeting the Producers -
Thomas Hellum (left) and Rune Møklebust (right)

One of the highlights of making a documentary about Slow TV and researching it in depth was meeting the producers and developers of the first Norwegian Slow TV films. During a fleeting research trip to Bergen I was able to interview Thomas Hellum and Rune Møklebust from NRK - onboard the docked Hurtigruten ship, Finnmarken. 

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NRK Slow TV Projects - Hurtigruten (2011)

Hurtigruten minute by minute – a coastal voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes

Broadcast on NRK2 from Thursday 16 to Wednesday 22 June 2011.

Live transmission: 134 hours, 42 minutes and 45 seconds.

3.2 million tuned in. NRK2 most watched channel during the broadcast. 

Market share: 36 %.

http://nrk.no/hurtigruten/?lang=en

Courtesy of NRK.

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