Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal
-
0:05 - 0:06Thank you.
-
0:06 - 0:08I have only got 18 minutes
-
0:08 - 0:11to explain something
that lasts for hours and days, -
0:11 - 0:13so I'd better get started.
-
0:13 - 0:16Let's start with a clip
from Al Jazeera's Listening Post. -
0:19 - 0:21Richard Gizbert: Norway is a country
-
0:21 - 0:23that gets relatively little
media coverage. -
0:23 - 0:26Even the elections this past week
passed without much drama. -
0:26 - 0:28And that's the Norwegian media
in a nutshell: -
0:28 - 0:30not much drama.
-
0:30 - 0:31A few years back,
-
0:31 - 0:33Norway's public TV channel NRK
-
0:33 - 0:37decided to broadcast live coverage
of a seven-hour train ride -- -
0:37 - 0:40seven hours of simple footage,
-
0:40 - 0:42a train rolling down the tracks.
-
0:42 - 0:46Norwegians, more than a million of them
according to the ratings, loved it. -
0:46 - 0:49A new kind of reality TV show was born,
-
0:49 - 0:52and it goes against all the rules
of TV engagement. -
0:52 - 0:54There is no story line, no script,
-
0:54 - 0:56no drama, no climax,
-
0:56 - 0:59and it's called Slow TV.
-
0:59 - 1:00For the past two months,
-
1:00 - 1:04Norwegians have been watching
a cruise ship's journey up the coast, -
1:04 - 1:06and there's a lot of fog on that coast.
-
1:06 - 1:09Executives at Norway's
National Broadcasting Service -
1:09 - 1:13are now considering broadcasting
a night of knitting nationwide. -
1:13 - 1:15On the surface, it sounds boring,
-
1:15 - 1:16because it is,
-
1:16 - 1:18but something about this TV experiment
-
1:18 - 1:20has gripped Norwegians.
-
1:20 - 1:24So we sent the Listening Post's
Marcela Pizarro to Oslo -
1:24 - 1:26to find out what it is,
but first a warning: -
1:26 - 1:30Viewers may find some of the images
in the following report disappointing. -
1:31 - 1:32(Laughter)
-
1:32 - 1:36Thomas Hellum: And then follows
an eight-minute story on Al Jazeera -
1:36 - 1:39about some strangeTV programs
in little Norway. -
1:39 - 1:42Al Jazeera. CNN. How did we get there?
-
1:42 - 1:44We have to go back to 2009,
-
1:44 - 1:47when one of my colleagues
got a great idea. -
1:47 - 1:48Where do you get your ideas?
-
1:48 - 1:50In the lunchroom.
-
1:50 - 1:52So he said, why don't we make
a radio program -
1:52 - 1:57marking the day of the German invasion
of Norway in 1940. -
1:57 - 2:00We tell the story at the exact time
during the night. -
2:01 - 2:03Wow. Brilliant idea, except
-
2:03 - 2:06this was just a couple of weeks
before the invasion day. -
2:06 - 2:08So we sat in our lunchroom and discussed
-
2:08 - 2:12what other stories
can you tell as they evolve? -
2:12 - 2:16What other things take a really long time?
-
2:17 - 2:19So one of us came up with a train.
-
2:19 - 2:23The Bergen Railway had
its 100-year anniversary that year. -
2:23 - 2:26It goes from western Norway
to eastern Norway, -
2:26 - 2:29and it takes exactly the same time
as it did 40 years ago, -
2:30 - 2:33over seven hours.
(Laughter) -
2:33 - 2:36So we called our commissioning editors
in Oslo, and we said, -
2:36 - 2:39we want to make a documentary
about the Bergen Railway, -
2:39 - 2:41and we want to make it in full length,
-
2:41 - 2:43and the answer was,
-
2:43 - 2:45"Yes, but how long will the program be?"
-
2:45 - 2:46"Oh," we said, "full length."
-
2:46 - 2:48"Yes, but we mean the program."
-
2:48 - 2:50And back and forth.
-
2:50 - 2:55Luckily for us, they met us with laughter,
very, very good laughter, -
2:55 - 2:58so one bright day in September,
-
2:58 - 3:02we started a program that we thought
should be seven hours and four minutes. -
3:02 - 3:05Actually, it turned out
to be seven hours and 14 minutes -
3:05 - 3:08due to a signal failure
at the last station. -
3:10 - 3:12We had four cameras,
-
3:12 - 3:14three of them pointing out
to the beautiful nature. -
3:14 - 3:17I'm talking to the guests,
some information. -
3:19 - 3:22(Video) Train announcement:
We will arrive at Haugastøl Station. -
3:23 - 3:24TH: And that's about it,
-
3:24 - 3:26but of course, also
-
3:26 - 3:29the 160 tunnels gave us the opportunity
to do some archives. -
3:29 - 3:33Narrator [in Norwegian]: Then a bit
of flirting while the food is digested. -
3:35 - 3:39The last downhill stretch
before we reach our destination. -
3:41 - 3:44We pass Mjølfjell Station.
-
3:45 - 3:47Then a new tunnel.
-
3:47 - 3:49(Laughter)
-
3:49 - 3:51TH: And now we thought, yes,
we have a brilliant program. -
3:51 - 3:55It will fit for the 2,000
train spotters in Norway. -
3:55 - 3:58We brought it on air in November 2009.
-
3:58 - 4:01But no, this was far more attractive.
-
4:01 - 4:04This is the five biggest TV channels
in Norway on a normal Friday, -
4:04 - 4:07and if you look at NRK2 over here,
-
4:07 - 4:10look what happened when they put on
the Bergen Railway show: -
4:11 - 4:151.2 million Norwegians
watched part of this program. -
4:15 - 4:18(Applause)
-
4:20 - 4:22And another funny thing:
-
4:22 - 4:23when the host on our main channel,
-
4:23 - 4:26after they have good news for you,
-
4:26 - 4:28she said, "And on our second channel,
-
4:28 - 4:31the train has now
nearly reached Myrdal station." -
4:31 - 4:33Thousands of people
just jumped on the train -
4:33 - 4:37on our second channel like this.
(Laughter) -
4:38 - 4:41This was also a huge success
in terms of social media. -
4:41 - 4:45Actually, for me, it was the first
big social media experience. -
4:45 - 4:49It was so nice to see all the thousands
of Facebook and Twitter users -
4:50 - 4:52discussing the same view,
-
4:52 - 4:56talking to each other as if they were
on the same train together. -
4:57 - 5:00And especially, I like this one.
It's a 76-year-old man. -
5:00 - 5:02He's watched all the program,
-
5:02 - 5:06and at the end station, he rises up
to pick up what he thinks is his luggage, -
5:06 - 5:08and his head hit the curtain rod,
-
5:10 - 5:12and he realized he is
in his own living room. -
5:12 - 5:14(Applause)
-
5:18 - 5:20So that's strong and living TV.
-
5:22 - 5:25Four hundred and thirty-six
minute by minute on a Friday night, -
5:25 - 5:27and during that first night,
-
5:27 - 5:30the first Twitter message came:
Why be a chicken? -
5:30 - 5:34Why stop at 436
when you can expand that -
5:35 - 5:38to 8,040, minute by minute,
-
5:39 - 5:41and do the iconic journey in Norway,
-
5:41 - 5:45the coastal ship journey Hurtigruten
from Bergen to Kirkenes, -
5:45 - 5:48almost 3,000 kilometers,
covering most of our coast. -
5:49 - 5:53It has 120-year-old,
very interesting history, -
5:53 - 5:57and literally takes part in life
and death along the coast. -
5:58 - 6:00So just a week after the Bergen Railway,
-
6:00 - 6:04we called the Hurtigruten company
and we started planning for our next show. -
6:06 - 6:08We wanted to do something different.
-
6:08 - 6:11The Bergen Railway was a recorded program.
-
6:11 - 6:13So when we sat in our editing room,
-
6:13 - 6:16we watched this picture
-- it's all Ål Station -- -
6:16 - 6:17we saw this journalist.
-
6:17 - 6:19We had called him, we had spoken to him,
-
6:19 - 6:21and when we left the station,
-
6:21 - 6:25he took this picture of us
and he waved to the camera, -
6:25 - 6:26and we thought,
-
6:26 - 6:29what if more people knew
that we were on board that train? -
6:29 - 6:31Would more people show up?
-
6:31 - 6:33What would it look like?
-
6:33 - 6:37So we decided our next project,
it should be live. -
6:37 - 6:41We wanted this picture of us on the fjord
and on the screen at the same time. -
6:43 - 6:47So this is not the first time
NRK had been on board a ship. -
6:47 - 6:48This is back in 1964,
-
6:48 - 6:51when the technical managers
have suits and ties -
6:51 - 6:54and NRK rolled all its equipment
on board a ship, -
6:54 - 6:59and 200 meters out of the shore,
transmitting the signal back, -
6:59 - 7:03and in the machine room,
they talked to the machine guy, -
7:03 - 7:06and on the deck, they have
splendid entertainment. -
7:07 - 7:10So being on a ship,
it's not the first time. -
7:13 - 7:18But five and a half days in a row,
and live, we wanted some help. -
7:18 - 7:22And we asked our viewers out there,
what do you want to see? -
7:22 - 7:26What do you want us to film?
How do you want this to look? -
7:27 - 7:30Do you want us to make a website?
What do you want on it? -
7:30 - 7:32And we got some answers
from you out there, -
7:32 - 7:36and it helped us a very lot
to build the program. -
7:36 - 7:38So in June 2011,
-
7:38 - 7:4223 of us went on board
the Hurtigruten coastal ship -
7:42 - 7:44and we set off.
-
7:44 - 7:47(Music)
-
8:43 - 8:47I have some really strong memories
from that week, and it's all about people. -
8:47 - 8:49This guy, for instance,
-
8:49 - 8:52he's head of research
at the University in Tromsø. -
8:52 - 8:54(Laughter)
-
8:56 - 8:58And I will show you a piece of cloth,
-
8:58 - 8:59this one.
-
9:03 - 9:04It's the other strong memory.
-
9:04 - 9:07It belongs to a guy called Erik Hansen.
-
9:10 - 9:15And it's people like those two
who took a firm grip of our program, -
9:18 - 9:21and together with thousands
of others along the route, -
9:21 - 9:25they made the program what it became.
-
9:25 - 9:27They made all the stories.
-
9:27 - 9:30This is Karl. He's in the ninth grade.
-
9:30 - 9:33It says, "I will be a little late
for school tomorrow." -
9:34 - 9:37He was supposed to be in the school
at 8 a.m. -
9:37 - 9:40He came at 9 a.m., and he didn't get
a note from his teacher, -
9:40 - 9:42because the teacher
had watched the program. -
9:42 - 9:44(Laughter)
-
9:44 - 9:45How did we do this?
-
9:45 - 9:48Yes, we took a conference room
on board the Hurtigruten. -
9:48 - 9:51We turned it into
a complete TV control room. -
9:51 - 9:54We made it all work, of course,
-
9:54 - 9:56and then we took along 11 cameras.
-
9:56 - 9:58This is one of them.
-
9:58 - 9:59This is my sketch from February,
-
9:59 - 10:02and when you give this sketch
to professional people -
10:02 - 10:04in the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK,
-
10:04 - 10:07you get some cool stuff back.
-
10:07 - 10:10And with some very creative solutions.
-
10:11 - 10:13(Video) Narrator [in Norwegian]:
Run it up and down. -
10:15 - 10:18This is Norway's most important
drill right now. -
10:19 - 10:23It regulates the height of a bow camera
in NRK's live production, -
10:24 - 10:28one of 11 that capture great shots
from the MS Nord-Norge. -
10:29 - 10:31Eight wires keep the camera stable.
-
10:31 - 10:34Cameraman: I work
on different camera solutions. -
10:35 - 10:38They're just tools
used in a different context. -
10:38 - 10:43TH: Another camera is this one.
It's normally used for sports. -
10:43 - 10:46It made it possible for us to take
close-up pictures of people -
10:46 - 10:48100 kilomteres away,
-
10:48 - 10:50like this one. (Laughter)
-
10:52 - 10:55People called us and asked,
how is this man doing? -
10:55 - 10:57He's doing fine. Everything went well.
-
10:58 - 11:02We also could take pictures
of people waving at us, -
11:02 - 11:04people along the route,
thousands of them, -
11:04 - 11:06and they all had a phone in their hand.
-
11:06 - 11:09And when you take a picture of them,
and they get the message, -
11:09 - 11:12"Now we are on TV, dad,"
they start waving back. -
11:12 - 11:14This was waving TV
for five and a half days, -
11:14 - 11:16and people get so extremely happy
-
11:16 - 11:20when they can send a warm message
to their loved ones. -
11:22 - 11:24It was also a great success
on social media. -
11:24 - 11:28On the last day, we met
Her Majesty the Queen of Norway, -
11:28 - 11:30and Twitter couldn't quite handle it.
-
11:31 - 11:34And we also, on the web,
-
11:35 - 11:39during this week we streamed
more than 100 years of video -
11:39 - 11:41to 148 nations,
-
11:41 - 11:45and the websites are still there
and they will be forever, actually, -
11:45 - 11:48because Hurtigruten was selected
-
11:48 - 11:52to be part of the Norwegian
UNESCO list of documents, -
11:53 - 11:56and it's also
in the Guinness Book of Records -
11:56 - 11:59as the longest documentary ever.
-
11:59 - 12:01(Applause)
-
12:03 - 12:05Thank you.
-
12:06 - 12:09But it's a long program,
-
12:09 - 12:12so some watched part of it,
like the Prime Minister. -
12:13 - 12:14Some watched a little bit more.
-
12:14 - 12:19It says, "I haven't used
my bed for five days." -
12:19 - 12:22And he's 82 years old,
and he hardly slept. -
12:23 - 12:27He kept watching because
something might happen, -
12:27 - 12:29though it probably won't. (Laughter)
-
12:29 - 12:32This is the number
of viewers along the route. -
12:32 - 12:34You can see the famous Trollfjord
-
12:34 - 12:37and a day after, all-time high for NRK2.
-
12:39 - 12:43If you see the four biggest channels
in Norway during June 2011, -
12:43 - 12:46they will look like this,
-
12:47 - 12:50and as a TV producer, it's a pleasure
to put Hurtigruten on top of it. -
12:50 - 12:52It looks like this:
-
12:52 - 12:553.2 million Norwegians
watched part of this program, -
12:55 - 12:57and we are only five million here.
-
12:57 - 13:01Even the passengers on board
the Hurtigruten coastal ship -- -
13:01 - 13:02(Laughter) --
-
13:02 - 13:06they chose to watch the telly
instead of turning 90 degrees -
13:06 - 13:08and watching out the window.
-
13:09 - 13:12So we were allowed to be part
of people's living room -
13:12 - 13:15with this strange TV program,
-
13:15 - 13:17with music, nature, people.
-
13:18 - 13:21And Slow TV was now a buzzword,
-
13:21 - 13:25and we started looking for other things
we could make Slow TV about. -
13:25 - 13:28So we could either take something long
and make it a topic, -
13:28 - 13:30like with the railway and the Hurtigruten,
-
13:30 - 13:33or we could take a topic and make it long.
-
13:33 - 13:35This is the last project.
It's the peep show. -
13:35 - 13:39It's 14 hours of birdwatching
on a TV screen, -
13:39 - 13:41actually 87 days on the web.
-
13:41 - 13:45We have made 18 hours
of live salmon fishing. -
13:45 - 13:49It actually took three hours
before we got the first fish, -
13:49 - 13:50and that's quite slow.
-
13:50 - 13:55We have made 12 hours of boat ride
into the beautiful Telemark Canal, -
13:55 - 13:58and we have made another train ride
with the northern railway, -
13:58 - 14:03and because this we couldn't do live,
we did it in four seasons -
14:03 - 14:06just to give the viewer
another experience on the way. -
14:07 - 14:12So our next project got us
some attention outside Norway. -
14:13 - 14:15This is from the Colbert Report
on Comedy Central. -
14:15 - 14:19(Video) Stephen Colbert: I've got my eye
on a wildly popular program from Norway -
14:19 - 14:21called "National Firewood Night,"
-
14:21 - 14:26which consisted of mostly people in park
as chatting and chopping in the woods, -
14:26 - 14:30and then eight hours of a fire
burning in a fireplace. (Laughter) -
14:30 - 14:32It destroyed the other
top Norwegian shows, -
14:32 - 14:35like "So You Think
You Can Watch Paint Dry" -
14:35 - 14:38and "The Amazing Glacier Race."
-
14:39 - 14:43And get this, almost 20 percent
of the Norwegian population tuned in, -
14:43 - 14:4520 percent.
-
14:46 - 14:49TH: So, when wood fire and wood chopping
can be that interesting, -
14:49 - 14:51why not knitting?
-
14:51 - 14:53So on our next project,
-
14:53 - 14:57we used more than eight hours
to go live from a sheep to a sweater, -
14:58 - 15:00and Jimmy Kimmel in the ABC show,
-
15:00 - 15:02he liked that.
-
15:02 - 15:04(Music)
-
15:09 - 15:12(Video) Jimmy Kimmel: Even the people
on the show are falling asleep, -
15:12 - 15:15and after all that,
the knitters actually failed -
15:15 - 15:16to break the world record.
-
15:16 - 15:18They did not succeed,
-
15:18 - 15:20but remember the old Norwegian saying,
-
15:20 - 15:22it's not whether you win
or lose that counts. -
15:22 - 15:25In fact, nothing counts,
and death is coming for us all. -
15:25 - 15:27(Laughter)
-
15:27 - 15:29TH: Exactly. So why does this stand out?
-
15:29 - 15:33This is so completely different
to other TV programming. -
15:33 - 15:37We take the viewer on a journey
that happens right now in real time, -
15:37 - 15:41and the viewer gets the feeling
of actually being there, -
15:41 - 15:43actually being on the train, on the boat,
-
15:43 - 15:45and knitting together with others,
-
15:45 - 15:47and the reason I think
why they're doing that -
15:47 - 15:49is because we don't edit the timeline.
-
15:50 - 15:52It's important
that we don't edit the timeline, -
15:52 - 15:56and it's also important
that what we make Slow TV about -
15:56 - 16:00is something that we all can relate to,
that the viewer can relate to, -
16:00 - 16:03and that somehow
has a root in our culture. -
16:03 - 16:05This is a picture from last summer
-
16:05 - 16:08when we traveled the coast
again for seven weeks. -
16:08 - 16:12And of course this is a lot of planning,
this is a lot of logistics. -
16:12 - 16:16So this is the working plan
for 150 people last summer, -
16:16 - 16:19but more important is what you don't plan.
-
16:19 - 16:21You don't plan what's going to happen.
-
16:21 - 16:24You have to just
take your cameras with you. -
16:24 - 16:26It's like a sports event.
-
16:26 - 16:28You rig them and you see what's happening.
-
16:28 - 16:31So this is actually
the whole running order -
16:31 - 16:34for Hurtigruten, 134 hours,
just written on one page. -
16:37 - 16:40We didn't know anything more
when we left Bergen. -
16:40 - 16:44So you have to let the viewers
make the stories themselves, -
16:44 - 16:45and I'll give you an example of that.
-
16:45 - 16:47This is from last summer,
-
16:47 - 16:49and as a TV producer,
-
16:49 - 16:53it's a nice picture, but now
you can cut to the next one. -
16:53 - 16:55But this is Slow TV,
-
16:55 - 16:58so you have to keep this picture until
it really starts hurting your stomach, -
16:58 - 17:00and then you keep it a little bit longer,
-
17:00 - 17:02and when you keep it that long,
-
17:02 - 17:05I'm sure some of you now
have noticed the cow. -
17:05 - 17:07Some of you have seen the flag.
-
17:07 - 17:09Some of you start wondering,
is the farmer at home? -
17:09 - 17:12Has he left? Are you watching the cow?
-
17:12 - 17:14And where is that cow going?
-
17:15 - 17:18So my point is, the longer you keep
a picture like this, -
17:18 - 17:20and we kept it for 10 minutes,
-
17:21 - 17:24you start making
the stories in your own head. -
17:24 - 17:26That's Slow TV.
-
17:30 - 17:34So we think that Slow TV
is one nice way of telling a TV story, -
17:34 - 17:36and we think that we can
continue doing it, -
17:36 - 17:40not too often, once or twice a year,
so we keep the feeling of an event, -
17:41 - 17:44and we also think
that the good Slow TV idea, -
17:44 - 17:46that's the idea when people say,
-
17:46 - 17:48"Oh no, you can't put that on TV."
-
17:49 - 17:52When people smile, it might be
a very good slow idea, -
17:52 - 17:56so after all, life is best
when it's a bit strange. -
17:57 - 17:58Thank you.
-
17:58 - 18:01(Applause)
- Title:
- Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
You've heard about slow food. Now here's slow... TV? In this funny talk, Norwegian television producer Thomas Hellum shares how he and his team began to broadcast long, boring events, often live — and found a rapt audience. Shows include a 7 hour train journey, an 18 hour fishing expedition and a 5.5 day ferry voyage along the coast of Norway. The results are both beautiful and fascinating. Really. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 18:04
TED Translators admin approved English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
Ivana Korom accepted English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Slow TV | Thomas Hellum | TEDxArendal |