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.
Showing posts with label Admin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Admin. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 May 2016
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
Saturday, 19 December 2015
My background (briefly) in Slow TV
Are you looking for an interview about Slow TV? Are you from a production company wanting to develop new Slow TV content? I have a lot of experience in studying, reflecting and developing ideas for Slow TV and Ambient TV with a lot more to come.
 |
| Courtesy NRK |
Media Interviews
Interviewed on That's Manchester TV, 27th July 2015
Interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside, 15th May 2015
Interviewed on Norwegian national TV, NRK2, 1st December 2014
Interviewed on BBC Radio Stoke, 1st December 2014
In the Press
The Foreigner, 14th May 2015
Dagbladet, 17th May 2015
Documentary
"That Damned Cow - Just what is Norwegian Slow TV?" (2015, 29 mins)
Academic
Masters Degree in Television Documentary Production from Salford University, MediaCityUK
Presentation of documentary and discussion at the Slow Media Symposium at Bath Spa University, March 2015
Thursday, 13 November 2014
What is Slow TV?
What is Slow
TV?
Slow TV
can be understood in a number of ways. Trying to define it could be perceived as semantics, as playing with words, but it helps to give clarity as to why it is different to other forms of TV.
First and foremost it is a long recording or broadcast of a subject done in real time. No jump cuts, no editing out the bits that may be less interesting. Whatever happens, happens in the time it would take to happen – very literally real time. So that could be an animal, journey or event. This tends to make longer sequences and in turn a longer program. It could be ten minutes or five and half days.
That is not to say there is no selection of image for the viewer to watch or construing the parameters of the recording. Anything put on TV and any producer / editor will have criteria to filter a production accordingly. This will ensure that the viewer will have something which matches the goals, values and criteria of a Slow TV program.
The subject of a Slow TV program has got to be something which would not ordinarily be broadcast in real time. Cricket, football - many sports events would be Slow TV otherwise. While sports do hold that attribute of Slow TV, they are not.
Similarly, marathon broadcasts such as BBC Children in Need, State weddings, funerals, election coverage, waiting for vote counts and other national events could be Slow TV, but they are not. Slow TV can become a national event on occasion though.
Real time is it. The most basic, fundamental ingredient. Past this understanding Slow TV diversifies in its production values depending on broadcaster, on its medium, whether live or prerecorded, whether pre internet and social media if indeed Slow TV as we now have it existed before the internet became popularly accessible. Even the live events can be very different in their character.
The Slow TV which emerged from NRK (the Norwegian state broadcaster) since 2009 – is described as "Minutt for Minutt" - literally minute by minute. The time the recording or transmission takes is what the viewer sees. This is the undergirding principle of Slow TV, at least as far as the Norwegian incarnation of it is concerned - and Norway has been the only country to really plumb the depths and possibilities of Slow TV so far.
First and foremost it is a long recording or broadcast of a subject done in real time. No jump cuts, no editing out the bits that may be less interesting. Whatever happens, happens in the time it would take to happen – very literally real time. So that could be an animal, journey or event. This tends to make longer sequences and in turn a longer program. It could be ten minutes or five and half days.
That is not to say there is no selection of image for the viewer to watch or construing the parameters of the recording. Anything put on TV and any producer / editor will have criteria to filter a production accordingly. This will ensure that the viewer will have something which matches the goals, values and criteria of a Slow TV program.
The subject of a Slow TV program has got to be something which would not ordinarily be broadcast in real time. Cricket, football - many sports events would be Slow TV otherwise. While sports do hold that attribute of Slow TV, they are not.
Similarly, marathon broadcasts such as BBC Children in Need, State weddings, funerals, election coverage, waiting for vote counts and other national events could be Slow TV, but they are not. Slow TV can become a national event on occasion though.
Real time is it. The most basic, fundamental ingredient. Past this understanding Slow TV diversifies in its production values depending on broadcaster, on its medium, whether live or prerecorded, whether pre internet and social media if indeed Slow TV as we now have it existed before the internet became popularly accessible. Even the live events can be very different in their character.
The Slow TV which emerged from NRK (the Norwegian state broadcaster) since 2009 – is described as "Minutt for Minutt" - literally minute by minute. The time the recording or transmission takes is what the viewer sees. This is the undergirding principle of Slow TV, at least as far as the Norwegian incarnation of it is concerned - and Norway has been the only country to really plumb the depths and possibilities of Slow TV so far.
Being live
gives an edge which prerecorded shows may lack (though any show can only be
live just once). A broadcast on television so that people can watch it on their
TV sets (not just laptops and handheld devices) during primetime sends the
message that ‘this is important’ and invests a sense to the audience that the
ordinary subject coming in to their television is being treated in an
extra-ordinary way. Therein lies some important chemistry.
TV2,
Norway’s main commercial channel produced a high quality web based Slow TV
broadcast in May 2014. The continuous leg of a prerecorded journey was
broadcast without commercial break via the broadcaster’s website with edited
highlights of that leg being transmitted via the TV signal later that night. A
blend of different media platform used to fit the mold of commercial TV. In
contrast to TV2, NRK do broadcast their
Slow TV online, but it is live and a supplement to the TV signal; the internet
broadcast is not the principal broadcast.
A better way of understanding Slow TV is to take a peep at the history of programs and projects which could be and have been described as Slow TV. See here for more.
A better way of understanding Slow TV is to take a peep at the history of programs and projects which could be and have been described as Slow TV. See here for more.
Typically
it is rich in visual aesthetics, often a relaxing scene, but not exclusively
so. Subjects have included the beauty of the Norwegian landscape, but with
lectures, knitting and singing making content, nature is not the only dynamic.
Even in shows where nature is the centrepiece of the broadcast (such as the
ferry trip, Hurtigruten), there may be a few hours of the cameras focussed on
the dockside.
This
camera ‘idle time’ introduced another dynamic during the ferry broadcast; it
provided a platform for members of the public which was neither invited nor
populated in content by the broadcaster but was the catalyst for spontaneous
dockside events of music, dancing and plenty of hand and flag waving.
Viewers at home also interact via social media, online chat; and it seems that Slow TV may generate different ways of interaction in the viewer-medium relationship which other TV formats do not. That will be pondered and unpacked as this blog unfolds. "Slow TV reaches the parts other formats do not", one could say.
First published 7th October 2014, first revision published 13th November 2015.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Slow TV - Defining the boundaries
It may
seem existentially odd to define something by what it is not, however, it is a
necessary exercise sometimes to make things much clearer. Especially when it is
as new a format as Slow TV linked by similar characteristics to material which
is not completely the same. I appreciate it may come down to being pedantic,
perhaps, though it helps to give definition. I would like to offer the below
observations.
Slow TV:
- is not looped material played repeatedly. The material in the loop may have qualities of Slow TV. It can be similar content played out over a long time but there will be obvious or subtle changes to that content which does not make different moments identical.
- does not consist of timelapses, hyperlapses and changes in frame rates such as slow motions or. Slow TV does reveal something to the viewer which 'regular' TV does not, but does not use methods speed ups. These techniques do have their obvious aesthetics which reveal something usually unperceived and often beautiful, but they relate a different time frame than which was used in filming.
- does not use jump cuts; productions with a large budget, several cameras and reasonable crew will select the image which best suits the moment, but there will be no jump in the time of the event being portrayed.
- is not sports events, long themed broadcasts, charity fund raising marathon broadcasts, royal or state events (weddings, funerals, anniversaries etc), rolling news channels. All of these happen, but do not use long held sequences from the same perspective. There will be near continuous commentary on such broadcasts.
- usually does not rely on the need for continuous commentary when there is 'nothing' happening. In Slow TV, the view, the sound and the music (if selected) are enough; they are the subject which takes the viewer on the journey without being ‘presenter driven’. There may be times when there is a commentary but when it is said, it is said - no awkwardness of silence as you can get when a rolling news channel realises it has nothing to say mid-flow.
- is not Slow Cinema. Slow TV is for, well, television - or in these days, other small screen devices. If you want to know more about Slow Cinema do visit this excellent blog, The Art(s) of Slow Cinema.
- is not art for art's sake. Maybe. It may draw on artistic ambience but is not arty or abstract for the sake of it. Maybe. The Tokyo Reverse could be an exception. Andy Wahol’s films “Sleep” and “Empire” while having an aesthetic of Slow TV were neither for TV nor shown in real time. More here (content coming soon).
Previously I had not included the Australian SlowTV (notice the brand contraction of of SlowTV into one word) channel as being Slow TV. I now include this – reasons being
- Slow TV is about content being shown in real time, no jumps. SlowTV’s content is real time without jumps. It allows the content to unfold.
- NRK produced the 24 hour lecture on significant aspects of Norway’s history in 1814, as well as 200 years in 200 minutes lecture. Both these match the SlowTV channel in their ethos. The Australian SlowTV channel posts "interviews, debates, conversations and public lectures about Australia's key political, social and cultural issues" - in full length - not reduced to 8 second soundbites as news media tends to. Hence the 'Slow' label.
Thanks to interaction with Alice Scheerer of www.slowlifelab.de for stimulating a think again on this last point.
This is a revision of what Slow TV is not; I was not entirely happy with the first version, which I have left in place here.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
The Future of Slow TV
The future of Slow TV looks very promising.
NRK in Norway are set to produce the occasional Slow TV event with production values in keeping with their standards thus far. Their standards are part and parcel of the format which NRK sells through a global distributor, Digital Rights Group (DRG). In November 2013 DRG sold the format rights to California based reality TV production company, LMNO Productions. A search reveals a belief from LMNO that the format will stand out in their marketplace.
In the former UK Head of Commissioning for documentaries on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4, Emma Willis was reported in Broadcast and The Daily Telegraph in June 2014 as being very interested in the Norwegian format and believed there was something in it for the BBC. Emma Willis left the BBC in autumn 2014, but in March 2015 the Channel Editor of BBC Four, Cassian Harrison announced a series of commissions which would form part of a Slow TV themed week in June.
The South Koreans have been very interested in Slow TV, too. A documentary team were present at the NRK Minutt for Minutt event 60 hour hymn book sing through in Trondheim in November 2014 as part of a documentary about unusual TV formats. Whether or not that translates into their own Slow TV remains to be seen - or if they just continue to enjoy what the Norwegians are doing.
In April 2014 Norway's main commercial channel, TV2, announced its 3 week long broadcast of 5 to 6 hours of helicopter flights over Norway for what appears to have been a well received show in May and June. Even with the worldwide interest in Slow TV during the month following with British Airways buying up NRK's Bergensbanen, English speaking press and media did not pick up on another Norwegian broadcaster producing a lengthy live Slow TV event. Now that a commercial broadcaster has more than dabbled in Slow TV one would expect the channel to ponder other suitable related projects as well as other non public service broadcasters to follow suit.
Russian Yuri Grymov has launched a Slow TV package of channels. "Noise, Slow and Relax - aimed at those who wish to escape from the information stream, and includes a TV for psychological relief. The channels are made in the format of "slow television", which is popular in Europe... Content channels are videos of own production and the work of authors from around the world." Source here. Given that Slow TV has only been done by Norway and France in Europe, its European popularity needs a little qualification. Sounds like it may be more akin to British based Landscape TV which plays mainly aesthetically rich landscape montages with ambient, instrumental or classical music.
On the web many videos, segments and montages describing themselves as 'Slow TV' or "Minutt for Minutt" grow on such platforms as YouTube and Vimeo. Obviously they do not have the budget and tech of a large production company or state broadcaster, but these are very much embracing the spirit of Slow TV - a desire to slow TV down to a bit less drama and easier pace. There is an alternative (additional) way to do TV, there is a desire for it and a desire to make it.
The USA will also have its first Slow TV production, "Slow Road Live", on 27th November 2015. This comes in a good year for Slow TV. Having been largely confined to Norway to date, Easter sees German Channel ARD-Alpha with a Slow TV project, in June the BBC will have a week of "BBC Four Goes Slow". The developers and masters of the format, NRK will have another Slow TV transmission - probably in June - and then the first proper development of the Norwegian format outside of Norway, in the USA in November.
Just like winter in Game of Thrones, more Slow TV is coming.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Post Updated 1st April 2015
NRK in Norway are set to produce the occasional Slow TV event with production values in keeping with their standards thus far. Their standards are part and parcel of the format which NRK sells through a global distributor, Digital Rights Group (DRG). In November 2013 DRG sold the format rights to California based reality TV production company, LMNO Productions. A search reveals a belief from LMNO that the format will stand out in their marketplace.
In the former UK Head of Commissioning for documentaries on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4, Emma Willis was reported in Broadcast and The Daily Telegraph in June 2014 as being very interested in the Norwegian format and believed there was something in it for the BBC. Emma Willis left the BBC in autumn 2014, but in March 2015 the Channel Editor of BBC Four, Cassian Harrison announced a series of commissions which would form part of a Slow TV themed week in June.
The South Koreans have been very interested in Slow TV, too. A documentary team were present at the NRK Minutt for Minutt event 60 hour hymn book sing through in Trondheim in November 2014 as part of a documentary about unusual TV formats. Whether or not that translates into their own Slow TV remains to be seen - or if they just continue to enjoy what the Norwegians are doing.
In April 2014 Norway's main commercial channel, TV2, announced its 3 week long broadcast of 5 to 6 hours of helicopter flights over Norway for what appears to have been a well received show in May and June. Even with the worldwide interest in Slow TV during the month following with British Airways buying up NRK's Bergensbanen, English speaking press and media did not pick up on another Norwegian broadcaster producing a lengthy live Slow TV event. Now that a commercial broadcaster has more than dabbled in Slow TV one would expect the channel to ponder other suitable related projects as well as other non public service broadcasters to follow suit.
Russian Yuri Grymov has launched a Slow TV package of channels. "Noise, Slow and Relax - aimed at those who wish to escape from the information stream, and includes a TV for psychological relief. The channels are made in the format of "slow television", which is popular in Europe... Content channels are videos of own production and the work of authors from around the world." Source here. Given that Slow TV has only been done by Norway and France in Europe, its European popularity needs a little qualification. Sounds like it may be more akin to British based Landscape TV which plays mainly aesthetically rich landscape montages with ambient, instrumental or classical music.
On the web many videos, segments and montages describing themselves as 'Slow TV' or "Minutt for Minutt" grow on such platforms as YouTube and Vimeo. Obviously they do not have the budget and tech of a large production company or state broadcaster, but these are very much embracing the spirit of Slow TV - a desire to slow TV down to a bit less drama and easier pace. There is an alternative (additional) way to do TV, there is a desire for it and a desire to make it.
The USA will also have its first Slow TV production, "Slow Road Live", on 27th November 2015. This comes in a good year for Slow TV. Having been largely confined to Norway to date, Easter sees German Channel ARD-Alpha with a Slow TV project, in June the BBC will have a week of "BBC Four Goes Slow". The developers and masters of the format, NRK will have another Slow TV transmission - probably in June - and then the first proper development of the Norwegian format outside of Norway, in the USA in November.
Just like winter in Game of Thrones, more Slow TV is coming.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Post Updated 1st April 2015
Effects of Slow TV
Slow TV is experienced on the whole like any other TV format, like any show, people experience it from where they are at in their own frame of mind and react from there. From this there will be a spectrum of ways in which people are affected.
Interestingly, there are at least two accounts of people being so absorbed into the viewing that they forget their immediate surroundings and become convinced they are in the environment being screened on the Slow TV transmission; eventually they are jolted back to the reality that they are in their living room.
76 year old Olav Øverland watched the entire Bergensbanen train journey of seven hours fourteen minutes; at the end he stood up to retrieve his coat from what would be the luggage rail and bumped his head; with that he realised he was in his living room. (1)
Interestingly, there are at least two accounts of people being so absorbed into the viewing that they forget their immediate surroundings and become convinced they are in the environment being screened on the Slow TV transmission; eventually they are jolted back to the reality that they are in their living room.
76 year old Olav Øverland watched the entire Bergensbanen train journey of seven hours fourteen minutes; at the end he stood up to retrieve his coat from what would be the luggage rail and bumped his head; with that he realised he was in his living room. (1)
Knut Grimeland, 82 years watched as much as possible of the five and a half day Hurtigruten boat transmission with minimal breaks from his armchair. He remarks, "The time was around three in the night and the boat was going to depart Stokmarknes. When the boat blew the horn, I lived so much inside the trip I started running up the stairs to catch to get back on board the boat. It was not until I got up that I realized I was not on board Hurtigruten". (2)
Are these folk particularly suggestible? What would one say about the psychological suggestibility of folk immersed into that environment?
More commonly it is reported that Slow TV has a particularly calming, even hypnotic effect. Is this true? It seems commonplace enough for the Bergensbanen train journey to have been bought up by British Airways as a way of settling people into the flight after the preparation and airport checks.
Andrew Zolli's blog refers to "... Norwegians who told me about the Slow TV movement expressed considerable pride in its existence. One woman in her 20’s told me, “Everything moves so fast now, going slow is the new punk.” Another told me that the absence of a narrative allowed her to look – really look – at what she was seeing on the screen – and to notice details she would have otherwise missed. And middle-aged man told me he found the broadcasts comforting..." (3)
Are these folk particularly suggestible? What would one say about the psychological suggestibility of folk immersed into that environment?
More commonly it is reported that Slow TV has a particularly calming, even hypnotic effect. Is this true? It seems commonplace enough for the Bergensbanen train journey to have been bought up by British Airways as a way of settling people into the flight after the preparation and airport checks.
Andrew Zolli's blog refers to "... Norwegians who told me about the Slow TV movement expressed considerable pride in its existence. One woman in her 20’s told me, “Everything moves so fast now, going slow is the new punk.” Another told me that the absence of a narrative allowed her to look – really look – at what she was seeing on the screen – and to notice details she would have otherwise missed. And middle-aged man told me he found the broadcasts comforting..." (3)
Slow TV has indeed had drug like attributes ascribed to it.
Temazepam TV: Referring to the drug-like hypnotic and calming effects which some have encountered while watching it. Seems to have been first used here by Time Magazine in July 2013 - but not the first time it has been likened to a drug. (4)
Valium TV: By sociologist Trond Blindheim - here at Dagbladet (5) in June 2011, in response to the Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt becoming a national event. It's not the first time TV in general has been referred to as a drug - The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy had a track in 1992 called "Television - The Drug of the Nation". Video worth watching.
Admittedly more sources need to be cited here, which they will in time. Research is embryonic and very little has been done academically about Slow TV so far. To be continued...
-----
Just ahead of the BBC Four Goes Slow season, I gave an interview to the media psychology department at the University of Salford. A blog post from that interview can be seen here.
(1) http://www.nrk.no/kultur/1_2-millioner-innom-_bergensbanen_-1.6888505
(2) http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/06/23/nyheter/hurtigruten/innenriks/17046147/
Valium TV: By sociologist Trond Blindheim - here at Dagbladet (5) in June 2011, in response to the Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt becoming a national event. It's not the first time TV in general has been referred to as a drug - The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy had a track in 1992 called "Television - The Drug of the Nation". Video worth watching.
Admittedly more sources need to be cited here, which they will in time. Research is embryonic and very little has been done academically about Slow TV so far. To be continued...
-----
Just ahead of the BBC Four Goes Slow season, I gave an interview to the media psychology department at the University of Salford. A blog post from that interview can be seen here.
(1) http://www.nrk.no/kultur/1_2-millioner-innom-_bergensbanen_-1.6888505
(2) http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/06/23/nyheter/hurtigruten/innenriks/17046147/
(3) http://andrewzolli.com/norwegian-slow/
(4) http://world.time.com/2013/07/08/norways-slow-tv-movement-so-wrong-its-right/
(5) http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/06/23/nyheter/hurtigruten/innenriks/17046147/
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Slow TV - also known as...
In the time I've been researching Slow TV, I've seen it referred to as:
Wallpaper TV: Something which is always 'there' while you're in the same place as it (obviously). The same kind of effect as a good screensaver which can be a pleasing distraction for a short while. I don't like this alternative so much as it links up with ideas of hanging wallpaper, or something to look at while you're bored. Which of course it can be, but it can be (and largely is) something to watch because you want to, not just happen to be looking at because you're not passively staring at something else.
Temazepam TV: Referring to the drug-like hypnotic and calming effects which some have encountered while watching it. Positive in linking to good effects, not so positive in associating with a drug which makes you sleep. While Slow TV can be calming, it is more about staying in a relaxed, aware and awake state. Seems to have been first used here by Time Magazine in July 2013 - but not the first time it has been likened to a drug.
Valium TV: By sociologist Trond Blindheim - here at Dagbladet in June 2011, in response the Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt becoming a national event. It's not the first time TV has been referred to as a drug - The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy had a track in 1992 called "Television - The Drug of the Nation". Video worth watching.
Telescargot: A contraction of the French words 'Tele' and 'escargot' - meaning TV and snail, respectively. Would translate as "Snail TV" - which works as a phrase to apply to Slow TV.
Ambient TV: The best fit phrase for Slow TV, one could argue. Like ambient music, it could be watched actively, enjoying the nuances of the images which come your way, or kept on in the background continually, returned to when interest dictates. An augmentation to whatever mood or aesthetic the viewer chooses. It could be immersive or superficial, by choice or by the underlying frame of mind in which a viewer encounters it.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Wallpaper TV: Something which is always 'there' while you're in the same place as it (obviously). The same kind of effect as a good screensaver which can be a pleasing distraction for a short while. I don't like this alternative so much as it links up with ideas of hanging wallpaper, or something to look at while you're bored. Which of course it can be, but it can be (and largely is) something to watch because you want to, not just happen to be looking at because you're not passively staring at something else.
Temazepam TV: Referring to the drug-like hypnotic and calming effects which some have encountered while watching it. Positive in linking to good effects, not so positive in associating with a drug which makes you sleep. While Slow TV can be calming, it is more about staying in a relaxed, aware and awake state. Seems to have been first used here by Time Magazine in July 2013 - but not the first time it has been likened to a drug.
Valium TV: By sociologist Trond Blindheim - here at Dagbladet in June 2011, in response the Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt becoming a national event. It's not the first time TV has been referred to as a drug - The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy had a track in 1992 called "Television - The Drug of the Nation". Video worth watching.
Telescargot: A contraction of the French words 'Tele' and 'escargot' - meaning TV and snail, respectively. Would translate as "Snail TV" - which works as a phrase to apply to Slow TV.
Ambient TV: The best fit phrase for Slow TV, one could argue. Like ambient music, it could be watched actively, enjoying the nuances of the images which come your way, or kept on in the background continually, returned to when interest dictates. An augmentation to whatever mood or aesthetic the viewer chooses. It could be immersive or superficial, by choice or by the underlying frame of mind in which a viewer encounters it.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
What Slow TV is not
A revised version of this is now HERE.
It may seem existentially odd to define something by what it is not, however, it is a necessary exercise sometimes to make things much clearer. Especially when it is as new a format as Slow TV linked by similar characteristics to material which is not completely the same. I appreciate it may come down to being pedantic, perhaps, though it helps to give definition. I would like to offer the below observations.
Slow TV:
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
It may seem existentially odd to define something by what it is not, however, it is a necessary exercise sometimes to make things much clearer. Especially when it is as new a format as Slow TV linked by similar characteristics to material which is not completely the same. I appreciate it may come down to being pedantic, perhaps, though it helps to give definition. I would like to offer the below observations.
Slow TV:
- is not looped material played repeatedly. The material in the loop may have qualities of Slow TV.
- does not consist of timelapses, hyperlapses and slow motions. Slow TV does reveal something to the viewer which 'regular' TV does not, but does not use methods which relate a different time frame than which was used in filming.
- does not use jump cuts; productions with a large budget, several cameras and reasonable crew will select the image which best suits the moment, but there will be no jump in the time of the event being portrayed.
- is not sports events, long themed broadcasts, charity fund raising marathon broadcasts, royal or state events (weddings, funerals, anniversaries etc), rolling news channels. All of these happen, but do not use long held sequences from the same perspective. There will be near continuous commentary on such broadcasts.
- does not rely on the need for continuous commentary when there is 'nothing' happening. In Slow TV, the view, the sound and the music (if selected) are enough. There may be times when there is a commentary but when it is said, it is said - no awkwardness of silence as you can get when a rolling news channel realises it has nothing to say mid-flow.
- is not Slow Cinema. Slow TV is for, well, television - or in these days, other small screen devices. If you want to know more about Slow Cinema do visit this excellent blog, The Art(s) of Slow Cinema.
- is not art for art's sake. Maybe. It may draw on artistic ambience but is not arty or abstract for the sake of it. Maybe. The Tokyo Reverse could be an exception.
- This type of Slow TV is not to be confused with the Australian SlowTV channel which posts "interviews, debates, conversations and public lectures about Australia's key political, social and cultural issues" - in full length - not reduced to 8 second soundbites as news media tends to. Hence the 'Slow' label.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Slow TV Recordings and Broadcasts
Recordings and broadcasts which could be described as Slow TV
Andy Warhol's "Sleep" in 1963 is cited as the first Slow TV recording. I am reluctant to describe it as Slow TV as it was not made for TV and as far as I know at this time, has not been screened on TV. The question of motive for making the film comes into play. Warhol is cited by wikipedia (yes, I know and am verifying the quote by other avenues!) as having made the piece as "anti-film"; it has neither been made to play out in a TV schedule nor made for a TV audience. For that reason while it has key aspects of Slow TV, I feel it does not fully qualify for the addition of "TV".
The next entry into the Slow TV ancestry is in 1966 the burning log at Christmas - a looped segment of a wood fire burning with Christmas songs, broadcast continuous for two to four hours. Contemporary Slow TV does not loop footage.
Recordings of train journeys have been widely carried out for TV, and fall easily into the Slow TV format. 1984 in Britain saw a film being made featuring the Settle and Carlisle Railway (but was it ever broadcast - or video only)? I am currently researching earlier possibilities and will update here as and when I have been able to check. Between 2003 - 2008, Bahn TV in Germany was broadcast, indeed, matches the criteria for Slow TV.
More details and links on the Wikipedia page here.
It is since 2009 that Norwegian state broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) has innovated Slow TV in a way which has energised and redefined the format, if there ever was a format for Slow TV before. These broadcasts are either of a journey or a themed event. NRK will continue to make Slow TV a couple times a year for the foreseeable future. These projects are numerous to date; to find out more click this link for more on the Norwegian projects NRK Sakte TV.
Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (YLE) has incorporated elements of Slow TV into two themed long broadcasts since NRK began theirs. On the 21st June 2012 a thirteen hour live marathon broadcast of the overnight train journey of almost 1,000 km from Oslo to Rovaniemi. On the summer solstice with the midnight sun, YLE incorporated events on and off track into their transmission. Called "JuhannusJuna" - meaning Midsummer Train, you can read their extensive blog here (Google Chrome will give a rough translation into whatever language you require) and here on the relevant Facebook page.
More NRK projects follow in the meantime, then on March 31st 2014 France 4 broadcasts the "Tokyo Reverse" - a 9 hour prerecorded show of Simon Bouisson walking in Tokyo - with a twist. He has perfected walking backwards, which he does during recording; however, when edited, the film is reversed so Simon appears to walk forwards and everyone and everything else happens backwards. Unlike journey or theme based Slow TV, this is much more about the concept. The Tokyo Reverse was transmitted on Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) TVLab on the 23rd into the 24th August 2014. The trailer and highlights are available on Vimeo here.
In May 2014 a commercial channel carried a Slow TV broadcast - the first time it had been done. TV2 - the principal commercial channel in Norway broadcast several hours a day of helicopter flights over the entire country, with a publicised route and timetable allowing real life engagement. Fly Med Oss (Fly with Us) lasted for three weeks, non-continuous broadcast and has more via the dedicated website here. English speaking media seemed not to pick up on this broadcast at the time.
Meanwhile, back in Finland YLE did another themed marathon broadcast on 18th June 2014 with aspects of Slow TV, themed around aspects of sauna culture, sauna building and a sausage competition. This was live from 6pm to midnight; some content remains here on the YLE website.
NRK, having developed a global reputation for engaging features with high production values, will be making Slow TV for many years yet. There was another broadcast in November 2014 (Salmeboka) - 60 hours of the Norwegian Hymn Book live. Severin is a different approach to Slow TV, not a marathon broadcast, but very calm, mellow and moments of stillness given by the occasional long held shot.
Coming up in 2015 is "Slow Road Live" in the USA - which comes in a good year for Slow TV. Having been largely confined to Norway to date, Easter sees German Channel ARD-Alpha with a Slow TV project, in June the BBC will have a week of "BBC Four Goes Slow". The developers and masters of the format, NRK will likely have another Slow TV transmission - probably in June - and then the first proper development of the Norwegian format outside of Norway, in the USA in November.
The future's bright. The future is Slow.
Updated 1st April 2015.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Andy Warhol's "Sleep" in 1963 is cited as the first Slow TV recording. I am reluctant to describe it as Slow TV as it was not made for TV and as far as I know at this time, has not been screened on TV. The question of motive for making the film comes into play. Warhol is cited by wikipedia (yes, I know and am verifying the quote by other avenues!) as having made the piece as "anti-film"; it has neither been made to play out in a TV schedule nor made for a TV audience. For that reason while it has key aspects of Slow TV, I feel it does not fully qualify for the addition of "TV".
The next entry into the Slow TV ancestry is in 1966 the burning log at Christmas - a looped segment of a wood fire burning with Christmas songs, broadcast continuous for two to four hours. Contemporary Slow TV does not loop footage.
Recordings of train journeys have been widely carried out for TV, and fall easily into the Slow TV format. 1984 in Britain saw a film being made featuring the Settle and Carlisle Railway (but was it ever broadcast - or video only)? I am currently researching earlier possibilities and will update here as and when I have been able to check. Between 2003 - 2008, Bahn TV in Germany was broadcast, indeed, matches the criteria for Slow TV.
More details and links on the Wikipedia page here.
It is since 2009 that Norwegian state broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) has innovated Slow TV in a way which has energised and redefined the format, if there ever was a format for Slow TV before. These broadcasts are either of a journey or a themed event. NRK will continue to make Slow TV a couple times a year for the foreseeable future. These projects are numerous to date; to find out more click this link for more on the Norwegian projects NRK Sakte TV.
Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (YLE) has incorporated elements of Slow TV into two themed long broadcasts since NRK began theirs. On the 21st June 2012 a thirteen hour live marathon broadcast of the overnight train journey of almost 1,000 km from Oslo to Rovaniemi. On the summer solstice with the midnight sun, YLE incorporated events on and off track into their transmission. Called "JuhannusJuna" - meaning Midsummer Train, you can read their extensive blog here (Google Chrome will give a rough translation into whatever language you require) and here on the relevant Facebook page.
More NRK projects follow in the meantime, then on March 31st 2014 France 4 broadcasts the "Tokyo Reverse" - a 9 hour prerecorded show of Simon Bouisson walking in Tokyo - with a twist. He has perfected walking backwards, which he does during recording; however, when edited, the film is reversed so Simon appears to walk forwards and everyone and everything else happens backwards. Unlike journey or theme based Slow TV, this is much more about the concept. The Tokyo Reverse was transmitted on Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) TVLab on the 23rd into the 24th August 2014. The trailer and highlights are available on Vimeo here.
In May 2014 a commercial channel carried a Slow TV broadcast - the first time it had been done. TV2 - the principal commercial channel in Norway broadcast several hours a day of helicopter flights over the entire country, with a publicised route and timetable allowing real life engagement. Fly Med Oss (Fly with Us) lasted for three weeks, non-continuous broadcast and has more via the dedicated website here. English speaking media seemed not to pick up on this broadcast at the time.
Meanwhile, back in Finland YLE did another themed marathon broadcast on 18th June 2014 with aspects of Slow TV, themed around aspects of sauna culture, sauna building and a sausage competition. This was live from 6pm to midnight; some content remains here on the YLE website.
NRK, having developed a global reputation for engaging features with high production values, will be making Slow TV for many years yet. There was another broadcast in November 2014 (Salmeboka) - 60 hours of the Norwegian Hymn Book live. Severin is a different approach to Slow TV, not a marathon broadcast, but very calm, mellow and moments of stillness given by the occasional long held shot.
Coming up in 2015 is "Slow Road Live" in the USA - which comes in a good year for Slow TV. Having been largely confined to Norway to date, Easter sees German Channel ARD-Alpha with a Slow TV project, in June the BBC will have a week of "BBC Four Goes Slow". The developers and masters of the format, NRK will likely have another Slow TV transmission - probably in June - and then the first proper development of the Norwegian format outside of Norway, in the USA in November.
The future's bright. The future is Slow.
Updated 1st April 2015.
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
The Purpose of this Slow TV Blog
This independent blog about Slow TV is here to bring together content related to Slow TV:
Press articles, broadcasts, podcasts, tribute videos or TV broadcasters as well as anyone interested in viewing or making their own Slow TV, Ambient TV or whatever one may like to call this genre. I want this blog to be the number one global resource for Slow TV news, reviews and pondering about Slow TV.
This blog will reflect on what it is that makes Slow TV, the different formats, alternative ways of framing our understanding of this format. Slow TV will become much better known so, understanding what Slow TV is and what it is not will enrich viewers' experience and expectations of Slow Television and inform popular perceptions of it.
Originally functioning as a hub for my Masters Degree documentary about Slow TV, "That damned Cow... Just what is Norwegian Slow TV?", The Slow TV Blog advocates Slow Television in all its forms and media about Slow TV.
Revised 29th April 2016
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
Press articles, broadcasts, podcasts, tribute videos or TV broadcasters as well as anyone interested in viewing or making their own Slow TV, Ambient TV or whatever one may like to call this genre. I want this blog to be the number one global resource for Slow TV news, reviews and pondering about Slow TV.
This blog will reflect on what it is that makes Slow TV, the different formats, alternative ways of framing our understanding of this format. Slow TV will become much better known so, understanding what Slow TV is and what it is not will enrich viewers' experience and expectations of Slow Television and inform popular perceptions of it.
Originally functioning as a hub for my Masters Degree documentary about Slow TV, "That damned Cow... Just what is Norwegian Slow TV?", The Slow TV Blog advocates Slow Television in all its forms and media about Slow TV.
Revised 29th April 2016
Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog
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