New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Wednesday, 11 May 2016
The Eurovision Song Contest - A Song for Slow TV?
Watching the first semi final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 I was delighted to hear a song which could well be a song for Slow TV. Writing this blog post has caused me to think over Slowness in media, Norway and Eurovision.
Back in 2014, The Common Linnets' song "Calm After the Storm" got my vote - a stand out acoustic country music song - and many others must have felt similar as it came second, behind Conchita Wurst.
Well, this year The Netherlands is back with another fine acoustic number - which on the basis of this first semi final stands out because of that. With a title and chorus of "Slow Down" and a meaning of using a decelerating technique to solve a problem, well, its link to one of the dynamics of Slow Television and Slowness becomes clear.
Relax, take it easy and allow a more organic pace of being enable the way forward to be found.
Eurovision in some respects could be thought of as a form of Slow TV in that it's a long live televised event, but only in that way. If you keep in mind the editing pace - how quickly it's cut between different camera angles - it absolutely is not Slow TV. It is also meticulously planned in camera angles, lighting, stage effects - and everything apart from the voting is worked out in advance.
Now, Norway has a winning formula with NRK's Slow TV - perhaps for a future year someone ought to write a Slow TV song for their Eurovision entry? Norway has so far won three times. The upbeat Eurovision pop of La Det Swinge from Bobbysocks in 1985, Alexander Rybak in 2009 with Fairytale - a little slower - but not as slow as their 1995 winner.
Nocturne from Secret Garden won in 1995. It surely must be the slowest Eurovision winner? Also notable about it, is that it is almost entirely instrumental. Have a look and listen to the below clip; the whole pace of the piece is dreamy - very much at home within the Enya and Clannad school of music. So, you could argue Norway has an antecedent for Slowness in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Remarkably noticeable is the pace of the camera changes, the near static performance of the group and compare the lighting and stage effects with the contest's stimulation-fest of today. You don't have to keep up with the editing - it's relaxed and calming.
Like Slow TV in the mainstream media landscape of today is noticeable with its calmness, Nocturne stands out hugely in the history of Eurovision for its feel. With music writers like Stargate, or A-ha - or someone like Kari Bremnes (not that far from the feel of Nocturne), there are ample world-quality established names who could use Slow TV to inform a Eurovision Song Contest entry. Just a thought.
So, this year, it's The Netherlands to bring something slower to a contest you either love, or love to hate. I don't know which song will get my vote in the end (I loved Armenia and Austria's entries - and haven't heard the other 20 entries yet) - but for the sake of Slowness, this blog celebrates 'Slow Down'. Good luck, Douwe Bob!
Related content: What was so right with Russia's War and Peace Slow TV?
New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Back in 2014, The Common Linnets' song "Calm After the Storm" got my vote - a stand out acoustic country music song - and many others must have felt similar as it came second, behind Conchita Wurst.
Well, this year The Netherlands is back with another fine acoustic number - which on the basis of this first semi final stands out because of that. With a title and chorus of "Slow Down" and a meaning of using a decelerating technique to solve a problem, well, its link to one of the dynamics of Slow Television and Slowness becomes clear.
Relax, take it easy and allow a more organic pace of being enable the way forward to be found.
Eurovision in some respects could be thought of as a form of Slow TV in that it's a long live televised event, but only in that way. If you keep in mind the editing pace - how quickly it's cut between different camera angles - it absolutely is not Slow TV. It is also meticulously planned in camera angles, lighting, stage effects - and everything apart from the voting is worked out in advance.
Now, Norway has a winning formula with NRK's Slow TV - perhaps for a future year someone ought to write a Slow TV song for their Eurovision entry? Norway has so far won three times. The upbeat Eurovision pop of La Det Swinge from Bobbysocks in 1985, Alexander Rybak in 2009 with Fairytale - a little slower - but not as slow as their 1995 winner.
Nocturne from Secret Garden won in 1995. It surely must be the slowest Eurovision winner? Also notable about it, is that it is almost entirely instrumental. Have a look and listen to the below clip; the whole pace of the piece is dreamy - very much at home within the Enya and Clannad school of music. So, you could argue Norway has an antecedent for Slowness in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Remarkably noticeable is the pace of the camera changes, the near static performance of the group and compare the lighting and stage effects with the contest's stimulation-fest of today. You don't have to keep up with the editing - it's relaxed and calming.
Like Slow TV in the mainstream media landscape of today is noticeable with its calmness, Nocturne stands out hugely in the history of Eurovision for its feel. With music writers like Stargate, or A-ha - or someone like Kari Bremnes (not that far from the feel of Nocturne), there are ample world-quality established names who could use Slow TV to inform a Eurovision Song Contest entry. Just a thought.
So, this year, it's The Netherlands to bring something slower to a contest you either love, or love to hate. I don't know which song will get my vote in the end (I loved Armenia and Austria's entries - and haven't heard the other 20 entries yet) - but for the sake of Slowness, this blog celebrates 'Slow Down'. Good luck, Douwe Bob!
Related content: What was so right with Russia's War and Peace Slow TV?
New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Sunday, 8 May 2016
The Morning After - Saltstraumen
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| Approaching sunset - The Golden Hour at Saltstraumen - NRK |
There's a lot to say about it. In fact, there's been much to say about Slow TV in the last week. So much afoot.
I'll look to get my review of Saltstraumen Minutt for Minutt here within the next few days, hopefully Monday afternoon or evening, but there is a lot of work to do at the moment! Nevertheless I was pleased to see many of my anticipated highlights came to pass.
The 12 hour programme is available in segments here.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Saturday, 7 May 2016
Anticipated Highlights of Saltstraumen Slow TV
It's here! To view NRK's Saltstraumen live go >HERE<; if you have problems with that, go via the frontpage www.nrk.no. After broadcast, the 12 hour programme will available in segments here. Home of the world's strongest tidal maelstrom. Look for #nrksaltstraumen on social media.
The broadcast begins May 7th midday Norwegian time (11am BST, 6am eastern US, 3am western US) and continues live for 12 hours on NRK2.
Slow TV is just another way of telling a story on TV. A journey, theme or activity. The big story for Saltstraumen is the tide, from high tide, to low tide back to high tide. There will be lots of small stories which will be woven into that tapestry. Natural events, the wildlife (surface and sub-aquatic) and human interactions with the broadcast. Which stories will you observe or take away with you?
The show starts literally just before high tide at 12:12, at the midway point the low tide is at 18:32. By the next tide it will be dark, at 01:10 the next morning, so the transmission ends at midnight. If it's clear, there will be light until late as the sunsets at 22:20 local time - you can usually squeeze up to another hour after sunset for light for the naked eye when it's clear, so it should fit the broadcast just nicely. It's practically right on new moon, so there will be no moonlight rippling on the water.
WHAT WILL BE THE HIGHLIGHTS?
Expect to see nature in the spectacular - the spectacle of the sea, its motion, the dramatic backdrop of mountains.
Saltstraumen has a large bridge as a centrepiece, one assumes the public has access to this 'platform' as has been the case in previous broadcasts, if that's so expect waving, flags, banners and placards. It's a Saturday, so no one should be late for school, but you never know, there could be marriage proposals, water skiing borat or gorilla - random things which could never have been thought of in previous broadcasts. Expect the unexpected! One Norwegian paper refers to a beach where people run naked across it - jokingly one of the presenters has said he'll do it in his underwear!
Subject to the tide's health and safety, expect boats - again with flags and waving.
Expect immersive long takes - shots with might bore or shock those used to quick paced image change of regular TV but end up giving other stories courtesy of the delayed gratification to take away and savour.
Expect immersive photography - quite literally. Mini submersibles to observe aquatic life and movements have been mentioned by producers in the run up to the broadcast.
Expect mini-stories - the forming and spinning of vortices in the water, behaviour of wildlife going undirected about their own activity, the movement of the sun and its interplay with landscape and landmarks.
If we're blessed with a clear day, we can expect the golden hour approaching sunset. From 9pm local time we could have the deepening colour tones of the sun's light quality, changing colour hues on the water and in the water.
After sunset (if it's clear) the deepening of twilight with crepuscular magic in the natural ambience. If someone could bring a few goats on to Saltstraumen Bridge, perhaps we could even get a troll to come out of its daytime den (cue Otto Jespersen to put in a cameo 'TROLL!';) ).
Expect a high quality broadcast with high definition images from a variety of cameras, onland, in the water, on the water and in the air, and expect to keep the TV on for longer than you'd planned if you haven't watched Slow TV live before.
Keep an eye on NRK Nordland's Instagram account, I'm sure they'll be putting up their own photos and re-posting others' related pictures. [Nearly two hours into the broadcast - there's been far more activity on Twitter].
MORE NORWEGIAN SLOW TV on the way for 2016!
There are another two Norwegian Slow TV projects around other themes through the summer months. Way way up north there will be birdwatching at Hornøya, very close to the Russian border, around midsummer. If you can't wait until then for a little Norwegian birdwatching, take a look at this project with a live camera on an Eagle's nest.
At the other end of the country, in July over a week there will be daily transmissions from a paddle steamer, Skibladner, from Lake Mjøsa (not far from Oslo Gardermoen airport).
More details to follow on those.
Have a look around The Slow TV Blog.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
The broadcast begins May 7th midday Norwegian time (11am BST, 6am eastern US, 3am western US) and continues live for 12 hours on NRK2.
Slow TV is just another way of telling a story on TV. A journey, theme or activity. The big story for Saltstraumen is the tide, from high tide, to low tide back to high tide. There will be lots of small stories which will be woven into that tapestry. Natural events, the wildlife (surface and sub-aquatic) and human interactions with the broadcast. Which stories will you observe or take away with you?
The show starts literally just before high tide at 12:12, at the midway point the low tide is at 18:32. By the next tide it will be dark, at 01:10 the next morning, so the transmission ends at midnight. If it's clear, there will be light until late as the sunsets at 22:20 local time - you can usually squeeze up to another hour after sunset for light for the naked eye when it's clear, so it should fit the broadcast just nicely. It's practically right on new moon, so there will be no moonlight rippling on the water.
WHAT WILL BE THE HIGHLIGHTS?
Expect to see nature in the spectacular - the spectacle of the sea, its motion, the dramatic backdrop of mountains.
Saltstraumen has a large bridge as a centrepiece, one assumes the public has access to this 'platform' as has been the case in previous broadcasts, if that's so expect waving, flags, banners and placards. It's a Saturday, so no one should be late for school, but you never know, there could be marriage proposals, water skiing borat or gorilla - random things which could never have been thought of in previous broadcasts. Expect the unexpected! One Norwegian paper refers to a beach where people run naked across it - jokingly one of the presenters has said he'll do it in his underwear!
Subject to the tide's health and safety, expect boats - again with flags and waving.
Expect immersive long takes - shots with might bore or shock those used to quick paced image change of regular TV but end up giving other stories courtesy of the delayed gratification to take away and savour.
Expect immersive photography - quite literally. Mini submersibles to observe aquatic life and movements have been mentioned by producers in the run up to the broadcast.
Expect mini-stories - the forming and spinning of vortices in the water, behaviour of wildlife going undirected about their own activity, the movement of the sun and its interplay with landscape and landmarks.
If we're blessed with a clear day, we can expect the golden hour approaching sunset. From 9pm local time we could have the deepening colour tones of the sun's light quality, changing colour hues on the water and in the water.
After sunset (if it's clear) the deepening of twilight with crepuscular magic in the natural ambience. If someone could bring a few goats on to Saltstraumen Bridge, perhaps we could even get a troll to come out of its daytime den (cue Otto Jespersen to put in a cameo 'TROLL!';) ).
Expect a high quality broadcast with high definition images from a variety of cameras, onland, in the water, on the water and in the air, and expect to keep the TV on for longer than you'd planned if you haven't watched Slow TV live before.
Keep an eye on NRK Nordland's Instagram account, I'm sure they'll be putting up their own photos and re-posting others' related pictures. [Nearly two hours into the broadcast - there's been far more activity on Twitter].
MORE NORWEGIAN SLOW TV on the way for 2016!
There are another two Norwegian Slow TV projects around other themes through the summer months. Way way up north there will be birdwatching at Hornøya, very close to the Russian border, around midsummer. If you can't wait until then for a little Norwegian birdwatching, take a look at this project with a live camera on an Eagle's nest.
At the other end of the country, in July over a week there will be daily transmissions from a paddle steamer, Skibladner, from Lake Mjøsa (not far from Oslo Gardermoen airport).
More details to follow on those.
Have a look around The Slow TV Blog.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Thursday, 5 May 2016
New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...
Are you new to The Slow TV Blog? Here are a few things to have a look at, especially if you're viewing on a phone or device which removes the left hand menu.
The Slow TV Blog's purpose.
Click these links to explore what Slow TV is, what Slow TV is not and what Slow TV is also known as.
Click these links for a brief history of the term 'Slow TV' or list of Slow TV broadcasts.
Are you looking for an interview about Slow TV? Get in touch via e-mail or look around various social media platforms for ways of getting in touch. If I have a signal, it should be easy! I have done a number of Radio and TV interviews around Slow TV; I have been interviewed on:
* BBC Radio Stoke, December 2014
* NRK2 in Norway, December 2014
* BBC Radio Merseyside, May 2015
* That's TV (Manchester), July 2015
* Strategies magazine (France), April 2016
* BBC Breakfast, April 2016
* BBC Radio Wales - Good Evening Wales, May 2016
See also
* Trailer for my documentary about Slow TV
* I presented about Slow TV at The Slow Media Symposium at Bath Spa University, March 2015
This is an independent blog. Opinions here, unless otherwise clearly attributed, are my own. All original material copyright Tim Prevett. Others' material should be clearly attributed.
The Slow TV Blog's purpose.
Click these links to explore what Slow TV is, what Slow TV is not and what Slow TV is also known as.
Click these links for a brief history of the term 'Slow TV' or list of Slow TV broadcasts.
Are you looking for an interview about Slow TV? Get in touch via e-mail or look around various social media platforms for ways of getting in touch. If I have a signal, it should be easy! I have done a number of Radio and TV interviews around Slow TV; I have been interviewed on:
* BBC Radio Stoke, December 2014
* NRK2 in Norway, December 2014
* BBC Radio Merseyside, May 2015
* That's TV (Manchester), July 2015
* Strategies magazine (France), April 2016
* BBC Breakfast, April 2016
* BBC Radio Wales - Good Evening Wales, May 2016
See also
* Trailer for my documentary about Slow TV
* I presented about Slow TV at The Slow Media Symposium at Bath Spa University, March 2015
This is an independent blog. Opinions here, unless otherwise clearly attributed, are my own. All original material copyright Tim Prevett. Others' material should be clearly attributed.
Slow TV News and Reviews No. 31 - Interview on BBC Radio Wales
I talk with Peter Johnson and Mai Davies on Good Evening Wales, BBC Radio Wales, 4th May 2016 about Slow TV and Slow Radio.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Slow TV News and Reviews No. 30 - Interviews on BBC Breakfast
Friday, 29 April 2016
Is Slow TV coming to the Mid West?
Further UPDATE, April 2016...
Prerecorded web Slow TV has indeed arrived in the Mid West; FoodFarmsCSA now have a few videos available on their channel.
******
UPDATE on the story originally posted below on 17th December
Hear an interview on the Green Visions feature from KUMD Duluth Public Radio, Lisa Johnson talks with Janaki Fisher-Merrit of Food Farms - at this link here. Updated 21st January 2016.
******
You may have wondered "Will Norwegian Slow TV ever arrive in the USA? Even in the Mid West?" Well, a family run organic farm in Wrenshall, Minnesota is bringing "Food Farm Slow TV" to the web.
A short taster clip on YouTube gives the suggestion that this is going to be a web based Slow TV of the type closer to 'Wallpaper TV' or 'Ambient TV' where small details change. It looks to be similar in spirit to the engaging web based Slow TV now broadcast online from the Czech Republic.
Watch the rotating potatoes and occasional darting green gloved hand with the ambient noise of the machinery feeding the produce along. What questions does this make you ask? What are the selection criteria? Where are the spuds coming from? What happens next? Enjoy the taters teasing you with their clip...
Coincidentally just this week Norwegians Worldwide shared on their advent calendar on Facebook that Minnesota has 851,000 Norwegians - the greatest number of Norwegians in any state in the USA.
Norwegian Slow TV has already been transmitted from the Mid West when the First Lutheran Church, the Luren Singing Society and Northern Lights choirs from Decorah, Iowa - just 279 miles drive south from Wrenshall - took part via satellite link in the marathon Hymn Book Slow TV broadcast from Trondheim in November 2014.
Ponderings on a TV broadcast in the USA in 2016 can be found here; and there's a BBC4 broadcast on Christmas Eve of reindeer pulling a sledge for two hours. More details here.
Food Farm has an extensive blog worth looking at here, a Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Prerecorded web Slow TV has indeed arrived in the Mid West; FoodFarmsCSA now have a few videos available on their channel.
******
UPDATE on the story originally posted below on 17th December
Hear an interview on the Green Visions feature from KUMD Duluth Public Radio, Lisa Johnson talks with Janaki Fisher-Merrit of Food Farms - at this link here. Updated 21st January 2016.
******
You may have wondered "Will Norwegian Slow TV ever arrive in the USA? Even in the Mid West?" Well, a family run organic farm in Wrenshall, Minnesota is bringing "Food Farm Slow TV" to the web.
A short taster clip on YouTube gives the suggestion that this is going to be a web based Slow TV of the type closer to 'Wallpaper TV' or 'Ambient TV' where small details change. It looks to be similar in spirit to the engaging web based Slow TV now broadcast online from the Czech Republic.
Watch the rotating potatoes and occasional darting green gloved hand with the ambient noise of the machinery feeding the produce along. What questions does this make you ask? What are the selection criteria? Where are the spuds coming from? What happens next? Enjoy the taters teasing you with their clip...
Norwegian Slow TV has already been transmitted from the Mid West when the First Lutheran Church, the Luren Singing Society and Northern Lights choirs from Decorah, Iowa - just 279 miles drive south from Wrenshall - took part via satellite link in the marathon Hymn Book Slow TV broadcast from Trondheim in November 2014.
Ponderings on a TV broadcast in the USA in 2016 can be found here; and there's a BBC4 broadcast on Christmas Eve of reindeer pulling a sledge for two hours. More details here.
Food Farm has an extensive blog worth looking at here, a Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Slow TV en los medios españoles - Slow TV in the Spanish media
It's good to see Slow TV being talked about around the world; this week The Slow TV Blog has had hits from Spain (I usually get a few Spanish hits each month), but significantly activity from Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina.
I have what I consider to be a good net of searches which tracks Slow TV but this one had escaped me. A bit of asking around online reveals that Slow TV had a good feature in Spanish magazine, Magnet (thanks, NM!).
Relying on google's translation to English shows a well thought out, considered piece looking at Slow TV from a few angles, embedded footage of different types of Slow TV.
"Boring things can become your new pleasure" nails one way of understanding it, perfectly. Allowing everyday happenings to be invested with a sense of worth, a sense of event and something to marvel at, enabling the subject to tell its own story and facilitating the viewer to take from the broadcast something of their own. It's a sympathetic, considered tone and well worth a look.
To see more, have a look here; if you're using Chrome, right-click and translate to English (or whatever!) to get a reasonable sense of what the article is saying.
A Slow TV is made in Barcelona, of the pre-recorded internet video type, as means of exploring Barcelona. See this link for Slow BTV.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
I have what I consider to be a good net of searches which tracks Slow TV but this one had escaped me. A bit of asking around online reveals that Slow TV had a good feature in Spanish magazine, Magnet (thanks, NM!).
Relying on google's translation to English shows a well thought out, considered piece looking at Slow TV from a few angles, embedded footage of different types of Slow TV.
"Boring things can become your new pleasure" nails one way of understanding it, perfectly. Allowing everyday happenings to be invested with a sense of worth, a sense of event and something to marvel at, enabling the subject to tell its own story and facilitating the viewer to take from the broadcast something of their own. It's a sympathetic, considered tone and well worth a look.
To see more, have a look here; if you're using Chrome, right-click and translate to English (or whatever!) to get a reasonable sense of what the article is saying.
A Slow TV is made in Barcelona, of the pre-recorded internet video type, as means of exploring Barcelona. See this link for Slow BTV.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Appearance on BBC Breakfast for Slow TV and Saltstraumen
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| Me, Thomas Hellum & Naga Munchetty |
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| BBC Breakfast 17th April |
The second interview was shared with Thomas Hellum, Slow TV project manager and one of the innovators of the format from NRK Hordaland, in Bergen. It was all over very quickly, as befits most media experience, but I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to speak about Slow TV. It seems a very simple format, a very simple idea - but the way it plays out for the broadcaster and is received by the audience is a very complex, manifold experience. Here's to more speaking out for Slow TV. Bring it on.
If you wish to catch more than a few seconds of the Norwegian Ferry journey from 2012 (also refer to Thomas' t-shirt!), the entire Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt is available here.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Monday, 11 April 2016
Full interview about Slow TV, the blog and me...
I was recently interviewed (via email) for Strategies, a French media magazine - you can read the edited version, in English in the blog piece here. I found writing the responses a helpful exercise, so here is the full transcript of my interview:
1.
When did you start your blog, and how did you become interested in Slow TV?I started the Slow TV blog early autumn 2014 in response to the lack of a centralised resource about the format. I was working on my final film for a Masters Degree in TV Documentary Production at Salford University; obviously, the final project was to make a documentary. I'd begun ruminating over Slow TV as my major film in January that year. The news had been picking up the seemingly bizarre success of the format in Norway and I was looking for another way of doing a documentary, as opposed to a typical 'facts and figures' documentary. The more I scratched the surface, the more interested I became. When I started the blog, I'd already had one production trip to Oslo and Bergen to interview key NRK staff involved in the development, broadcast and distribution of the shows and was surprised there was no bringing together on the web for something which has rapidly become 'a thing' of note. With a second production trip to Norway on the cards to film behind the scenes at 60 hour Slow TV event I also wanted to have somewhere I could point people to when producing.
2. What’s the interest of Slow TV for the audience?The reason I became interested is that Slow TV can be many things to different people at the time. Bearing in mind the format has emerged into different types. There are journey types (Bergensbanen and Hurtigruten from Norway), there are the participatory types (singing through the entire 899 hymns of the Norwegian hymnbook and the reading of the whole of War and Peace in Russia), there are the 'ambient' type such as a DVD of ploughing, or the webcam type such as available in Czech Republic. The interest of the audience includes relaxation, wallpaper TV (treating it like ambient music - background or immersive media trip), to aspects of national heritage, pride and identity. When it's done very well, Slow TV can become a monster of a national event such as several times in Norway or in Russia with War and Peace. At the same time it can be a warm and cosy affair which you may lose yourself in more than you'd planned. Over all, Slow TV at its best is a real time documentary experience.
3. What demographic does Slow TV appeal to?
In Norway, it's principally broadcast on NRK2 which is an older age group. In the UK so far it's been on BBC4, which is for specialist audience of all ages, but I'd suspect it would fall under the same larger demographic as Norway. It tends to be more contemplative in nature and its editing pace (real time in length, cuts not happening so often) better fits older viewers. My children can't stand the idea of Slow TV! Looking at audience motivations is a very interesting thing; older folk (in which I, in my 40s, would include myself) are more mindful of life and the need to savour moments have 'eudaimonic' motivations as opposed to 'hedonic'. Of course, this is broadly speaking. Different Slow TV subjects will draw slightly different audiences. Train journeys, knitting, singing hymns are very diverse topics. There is a live 1km sheer rock-climbing Slow TV on the cards, which instead of the expected relaxing form of Slow TV, will bring an element of risk and peril. I expect this might pull in younger 'stimulation seeking' viewers. Another angle to take is the participatory Slow TV - when 3,000 people are reading War and Peace over several days or a couple hundred choirs taking it in turn to sing 899 hymns over 60 continuous broadcast hours, friends, family and connections will want to see them. I also got to interview a project manager from TV2, Norway's principal commercial channel, who cited their mainly web-based, pre-recorded Slow TV of helicopter flights brought in a different demographic than NRK2. As for social media, indeed, that brings in a whole new layer of participation and interaction.
4. How do you think brands and advertisers might be able to use Slow TV? Have shows ever been sponsored?Yes, absolutely. A local station in the US broadcast a steak being grilled over 13 hours with embedded competitions to keep people hooked. There was a spoof real-time advert of a 'flight from hell' filmed over several hours by an airline, put together as means of juxtaposing its own superior service and experience. As for 'linear TV' on a major broadcaster, it's yet to happen as far as I know. I have approached a commercial broadcaster in the UK with ideas and they feel there is nothing in Slow TV for them; I have gone to an independent production company with several ideas and they feel the UK TV landscape will not accommodate anything like the Norwegian format as it's too much of a risk. Even though NRK has created several national events with Slow TV and has become world famous for it. An obvious inspiration for commercial Slow TV could be drawn from the film which foresaw reality TV. "The Truman Show" is the 'Slow TV' of a man's entire life, broadcast continuous in real time. Much in Truman's world - from appliances to clothes - are available to buy in catalogues, not to mention the obtrusive product-placement pieces-to-camera. Slow TV in a commercial context is something waiting to happen and could work well if the broadcaster concerned gives it their all and not a half hearted truncated accommodation of Slow TV late at night.
5. Where do you see this trend going - what hasn’t been achieved yet that you’d like to see?I see this trend continuing and spreading, though really only Russia has pulled off a Slow TV project worthy of that of NRK's consistent track record. I am delighted other countries and broadcasters are having a go but haven't yet understood its full potential. It's an amazing format, give it the time, broadcast slot and production value it deserves.
Norway has a couple Slow TV projects to come this year; we're overdue a Norwegian-guided USA based Slow TV production (meant to have been November last year). The BBC I expect will further dabble in Slow TV and I hope will better frame its conceptualisation of the subjects it's been showing. I'd like to see a British broadcaster have a full-on go at Slow TV before online platforms catch on (shhhh!); the TV we watch at home on the big screen is still what makes for more 'important' TV, although younger viewing habits and nascent technologies. Indeed, as viewing technology evolves, there could be applications for immersive Slow TV experiences via 360 degree headsets. One of the Norwegians' driving factors in producing Slow TV has been to push the technological challenges in delivering their projects and as broadcasters look to the future, adapting that production to viewing possibilities will no doubt be something which will be explored.
Slow TV should be around for a long time. New subjects, new countries and broadcasters. If it's done well and correctly it will be something audiences will love and ask for more of - as Norway has been showing the rest of the world for nearly seven years now. My working in producing Slow TV is also something I'd like to happen, to - and another reason for my blog!
My documentary is available to view entirely here, or as a playlist here.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Monday, 8 February 2016
Can we help kick start Slow TV in New Zealand?
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| A Slow TV day exploring in Whatipu, New Zealand |
Maybe one could argue a case that Slow TV in New Zealand could be watching all three Hobbit films and the extended director's cut box set of The Lord of the Rings in one sitting for that immersive experience of Middle Earth. Maybe even an extended Haka before the All Blacks demolish their opponents.
Well, there's an opportunity to help start some Slow TV in New Zealand without Hobbitses and nasty stinking orcses. Or odd shaped balls.
Nicholas Dunning, who has a background in different visual media is looking to kickstart a project to produce NZ Slow TV long format videos - mainly needing to fund the storage media and power sources needed to record for so long.
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| Slow TV fishing from the rocks at Orua, New Zealand |
Like many of us, he is inspired by the Norwegian series of Slow TV and how well it captures travelling through Norway. The 'vicarious experience' of Slow TV is one reason that people like it. Nicholas comments,
"I felt that it allowed people to experience a trip like the train trip for those who can't afford to get there or don't have the ability or time.
I live in New Zealand and I feel too lucky sometimes, especially when I am overseas and I hear countless times that people would love to visit New Zealand if they ever had the chance. My aim is to bring New Zealand to these people and allow more people to explore this amazing country.
This project would be able to capture all of my true passions and for this I feel that I can do the project justice.
I've got a few videos planned already which are listed on the kickstarter page, they involve long tramps in the bush, days out in the islands fishing, dawn til dusk mountain, beach and forest scenes and much more.
I'm not doing this to make money, I just want to allow people to experience things in the world that they otherwise wouldn't be able to."
 |
| A Slow TV day at Marble Bay, New Zealand |
So what's needed to make it happen? According to the Slow TV travelling through New Zealand Kickstarter page,
"$1500 covers the cost of all the gear needed to produce high quality 1080p video with high definition sound. If the project reaches $3500, we will be able to produce the footage in 4k resolution with a better stabilising system and better lenses."
Nicholas adds,
Nicholas adds,
"Part of our funding goes towards a steadicam rig that is built into a backpack that holds all of our equipment except for the camera and lens. This way we can walk for 12 hours through the bush and have seamless, cinematic, flowing footage. We will be using proper audio equipment that will be tucked out of sight and out of the wind."Locations and subjects currently planned - subject to kickstarter success - are some of the best places that New Zealand has on offer.
- -an 8 hour day tramp along Cape Brett in the bay of islands
- -sunrise to sunset on the equinox filming Cathedral Cove
- -a day fishing at the Mokohinau Islands
- -a day out sailing on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland
- -a day watching the rain fall on Kauri in the Puketi Forest
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| Hiking in the woods near Kerikeri Waterfalls, New Zealand |
So, if you're from New Zealand and really proud of your country's beauty and want to help show it to the world or if you would like to experience some of the landscapes and ambiences without forking out for long flights, help kickstart Slow TV in New Zealand.
We have until March 10th 2016 to help make this happen.
New to Kickstarter? See their FAQ.
New to Kickstarter? See their FAQ.
Images in this post courtesy N Dunning.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
The Road - Slow TV - Y Ffordd
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| You never know what you could film with Slow TV |
A5 Hanesyddol Telford - Y Ffordd - Gogledd Cymru Teledu Araf
In 2014 I produced a research film for making Slow TV; to watch the videos, follow this link. See below for more information about the road and the production.
ABOUT THE ROAD AND ROUTE
The A5 into North Wales, constructed under engineer Thomas Telford’s planning, direction and ingenuity opened up the area in a way which had never been done before. Prior to this revolution the road to Holyhead from England and the ferry to Ireland was hazardous, circuitous and something really only for the hardy, determined traveller.
Formerly, the principal route was to Chester then west loosely following the North Welsh coast, with boat crossings of the River Conwy and Menai Strait - both perilous and at the mercy of sometimes questionable operators.
Getting around the headland at Penmaenmawr was left to judging the tide or an inland way - the Sychnant Pass - from Conwy to Dwygyfylchi, which wasn’t for everyones’ nerves.
Telford’s strategic revision of the route from the Midlands linking Llangollen to Betws y Coed to Bangor, the creation of the Menai Suspension Bridge, and the onward route to Holyhead for connection with Ireland, remain unsurpassed in terms of breath-taking scale.
At the instigation of the Holyhead Road Commission in 1815, Telford instructed three of his team to survey the entirety of the route from London to Holyhead, with the addition of the road from Chester to Bangor since the mail from Liverpool and Manchester took this route to join the journey to Holyhead. Starting in September 1815, the team completed their appraisal in March 1817.
The single most dramatic piece of the work was that which completed the route in 1826 - The Menai Bridge from North Wales’ mainland to Anglesey. On the 30th January 1826 the bridge opened, to celebrations far and wide; flags were even flown from the Pyramids in Egypt, and a decent meal with plenty of good ale was brought in to mark the occasion for all those who had worked on the project.
It had taken nearly 50 years from initial discussions and arguments in the 1780s for the bridge to be realised. Robin Ddu, a sixteenth century poet, had spoken prophetically of the the Menai Strait being bridged in the future. Certainly the bridging most have been something that had crossed people’s minds for millennia beforehand, in times when all that was lacking was the technology to literally bridge the expanse.
The wider aspect of the road from Shrewsbury was similarly auspicious in its endeavours. The Welsh side of the project was “not so much a matter of road improvement as of road making”.
What is seen in the clips represents a total transformation of getting through North Wales. What can now be done in 150 minutes via motorised transport would have been several days of hard journeying - even after Telford and before the advent of the internal combustion engine it was a considerable effort. So, split up into bitesize chunks, is the section of the A5 from England into and through North Wales.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Filmed early one August morning in 2014, this film represents a couple important factors. It was practical production research into making a Slow TV recording - what things had to be done to make it actually happen? It was conceptual research in framing the idea of what a Slow TV project could be - what might work and how does one relate the concept from recording to the viewer?
This had started out as possibly the main project but was put on the backburner when it became clear my major film was to be about Slow TV, not Slow TV itself. A production trip to Oslo and Bergen was about 10 days away when I filmed this, but I’d invested several weeks in planning a route, making practical arrangements and obsessive thinking it needed to happen.
Like any production, there were difficulties. The filming of the Llangollen to A55 stretch was set to happen a couple weeks earlier but the clutch on the car went before we even got anywhere near Wales, scuppering not only filming but a family holiday as we needed recovery home to repair the car.
I’d borrowed three go-pro cameras and mounted my Sony Xperia Z smartphone on a small gorillapod on the dashboard. The film footage from the phone is nearly always questionable. It hunts for its focus point nearly all the time when moving, resulting in footage which is impossible to watch.
The go-pros had battery issues and despite thorough checks, not all the batteries charged properly the night before. This meant that by the time the journey was about 4/5 done there was only power left in one, so for almost all of Anglesey I only have the rear camera available.
The A5 into North Wales, constructed under engineer Thomas Telford’s planning, direction and ingenuity opened up the area in a way which had never been done before. Prior to this revolution the road to Holyhead from England and the ferry to Ireland was hazardous, circuitous and something really only for the hardy, determined traveller.
Formerly, the principal route was to Chester then west loosely following the North Welsh coast, with boat crossings of the River Conwy and Menai Strait - both perilous and at the mercy of sometimes questionable operators.
Getting around the headland at Penmaenmawr was left to judging the tide or an inland way - the Sychnant Pass - from Conwy to Dwygyfylchi, which wasn’t for everyones’ nerves.
 |
| Take it Slow - 'Araf' in Wales |
At the instigation of the Holyhead Road Commission in 1815, Telford instructed three of his team to survey the entirety of the route from London to Holyhead, with the addition of the road from Chester to Bangor since the mail from Liverpool and Manchester took this route to join the journey to Holyhead. Starting in September 1815, the team completed their appraisal in March 1817.
The single most dramatic piece of the work was that which completed the route in 1826 - The Menai Bridge from North Wales’ mainland to Anglesey. On the 30th January 1826 the bridge opened, to celebrations far and wide; flags were even flown from the Pyramids in Egypt, and a decent meal with plenty of good ale was brought in to mark the occasion for all those who had worked on the project.
It had taken nearly 50 years from initial discussions and arguments in the 1780s for the bridge to be realised. Robin Ddu, a sixteenth century poet, had spoken prophetically of the the Menai Strait being bridged in the future. Certainly the bridging most have been something that had crossed people’s minds for millennia beforehand, in times when all that was lacking was the technology to literally bridge the expanse.
 |
| Travelling the old way - Stage Coach at Tyn y Coed |
What is seen in the clips represents a total transformation of getting through North Wales. What can now be done in 150 minutes via motorised transport would have been several days of hard journeying - even after Telford and before the advent of the internal combustion engine it was a considerable effort. So, split up into bitesize chunks, is the section of the A5 from England into and through North Wales.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Filmed early one August morning in 2014, this film represents a couple important factors. It was practical production research into making a Slow TV recording - what things had to be done to make it actually happen? It was conceptual research in framing the idea of what a Slow TV project could be - what might work and how does one relate the concept from recording to the viewer?
This had started out as possibly the main project but was put on the backburner when it became clear my major film was to be about Slow TV, not Slow TV itself. A production trip to Oslo and Bergen was about 10 days away when I filmed this, but I’d invested several weeks in planning a route, making practical arrangements and obsessive thinking it needed to happen.
 |
| Production problems - failed clutch and recovery home |
I’d borrowed three go-pro cameras and mounted my Sony Xperia Z smartphone on a small gorillapod on the dashboard. The film footage from the phone is nearly always questionable. It hunts for its focus point nearly all the time when moving, resulting in footage which is impossible to watch.
The go-pros had battery issues and despite thorough checks, not all the batteries charged properly the night before. This meant that by the time the journey was about 4/5 done there was only power left in one, so for almost all of Anglesey I only have the rear camera available.
 |
| Checking the Go-Pro - Menai Bridge and Strait to rear |
So, I learned a lot of lessons for making Slow TV from producing this research film - I’m not posting those lessons here - but you’re welcome to watch and make notes. Suffice to say there are things to be improved, which is the whole idea of production research.
Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog
Links for 'The Road - Slow TV - Y Ffordd'
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| You never know what you could film with Slow TV |
Telford's Historic A5 -The Road - North Wales Slow TV
A5 Hanesyddol Telford - Y Ffordd - Gogledd Cymru Teledu Araf
A5 Hanesyddol Telford - Y Ffordd - Gogledd Cymru Teledu Araf
For more about the road and the production, see this post
For a linked playlist for the segments in order, see here.
For individual links to parts - see below:
Part 1 Chirk to Llangollen
Part 2 Llangollen through Corwen to Druid junction lights
Part 7 A55 Roundabout through Bangor and Menai Bridge to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Part 9 Anglesey Show Ground through Gwalchmai, Bryngwran, Caergeiliog, Valley to Holyhead Ferry TerminalSlow Television - The Slow TV Blog
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