The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive
-
0:01 - 0:02Thank you.
-
0:02 - 0:04I have only got 18 minutes
-
0:04 - 0:07to explain something
that lasts for hours and days, -
0:07 - 0:09so I'd better get started.
-
0:09 - 0:14Let's start with a clip
from Al Jazeera's Listening Post. -
0:15 - 0:18Richard Gizbert: Norway is a country that
gets relatively little media coverage. -
0:18 - 0:21Even the elections this past week
passed without much drama. -
0:21 - 0:24And that's the Norwegian
media in a nutshell: -
0:24 - 0:26not much drama.
-
0:26 - 0:27A few years back,
-
0:27 - 0:29Norway's public TV channel NRK
-
0:29 - 0:34decided to broadcast live coverage
of a seven-hour train ride -- -
0:34 - 0:36seven hours of simple footage,
-
0:36 - 0:38a train rolling down the tracks.
-
0:38 - 0:42Norwegians, more than a million of them
according to the ratings, loved it. -
0:42 - 0:45A new kind of reality TV show was born,
-
0:45 - 0:48and it goes against all the rules
of TV engagement. -
0:48 - 0:50There is no story line, no script,
-
0:50 - 0:53no drama, no climax,
-
0:53 - 0:54and it's called Slow TV.
-
0:54 - 0:56For the past two months,
-
0:56 - 1:00Norwegians have been watching
a cruise ship's journey up the coast, -
1:00 - 1:02and there's a lot of fog on that coast.
-
1:02 - 1:05Executives at Norway's
National Broadcasting Service -
1:05 - 1:09are now considering broadcasting
a night of knitting nationwide. -
1:09 - 1:11On the surface, it sounds boring,
-
1:11 - 1:13because it is,
-
1:13 - 1:15but something about this TV experiment
-
1:15 - 1:16has gripped Norwegians.
-
1:16 - 1:20So we sent the Listening Post's
Marcela Pizarro to Oslo -
1:20 - 1:22to find out what it is,
but first a warning: -
1:22 - 1:27Viewers may find some of the images
in the following report disappointing. -
1:27 - 1:28(Laughter)
-
1:28 - 1:32Thomas Hellum: And then follows
an eight-minute story on Al Jazeera -
1:32 - 1:35about some strange
TV programs in little Norway. -
1:35 - 1:38Al Jazeera. CNN. How did we get there?
-
1:38 - 1:40We have to go back to 2009,
-
1:40 - 1:42when one of my colleagues
got a great idea. -
1:42 - 1:44Where do you get your ideas?
-
1:44 - 1:45In the lunchroom.
-
1:46 - 1:49So he said, why don't we make
a radio program -
1:49 - 1:52marking the day of the German invasion
of Norway in 1940. -
1:52 - 1:56We tell the story at the exact time
during the night. -
1:56 - 1:59Wow. Brilliant idea, except
-
1:59 - 2:01this was just a couple of weeks
before the invasion day. -
2:01 - 2:04So we sat in our lunchroom and discussed
-
2:04 - 2:08what other stories
can you tell as they evolve? -
2:08 - 2:12What other things take a really long time?
-
2:12 - 2:15So one of us came up with a train.
-
2:15 - 2:19The Bergen Railway had its
100-year anniversary that year -
2:19 - 2:21It goes from western Norway
to eastern Norway, -
2:21 - 2:26and it takes exactly the same time
as it did 40 years ago, -
2:26 - 2:29over seven hours. (Laughter)
-
2:29 - 2:32So we caught our commissioning editors
in Oslo, and we said, -
2:32 - 2:35we want to make a documentary
about the Bergen Railway, -
2:35 - 2:37and we want to make it in full length,
-
2:37 - 2:38and the answer was,
-
2:38 - 2:40"Yes, but how long will the program be?"
-
2:40 - 2:42"Oh," we said, "full length."
-
2:42 - 2:43"Yes, but we mean the program."
-
2:43 - 2:45And back and forth.
-
2:45 - 2:51Luckily for us, they met us with laughter,
very, very good laughter, -
2:51 - 2:54so one bright day in September,
-
2:54 - 2:58we started a program that we thought
should be seven hours and four minutes. -
2:58 - 3:00Actually, it turned out
to be seven hours and 14 minutes -
3:00 - 3:05due to a signal failure
at the last station. -
3:05 - 3:07We had four cameras,
-
3:07 - 3:10three of them pointing out
to the beautiful nature. -
3:10 - 3:14Some talking to the guests,
some information. -
3:14 - 3:18(Video) Train announcement:
We will arrive at Haugastøl Station. -
3:18 - 3:20TH: And that's about it,
-
3:20 - 3:21but of course, also
-
3:21 - 3:25the 160 tunnels gave us the opportunity
to do some archives. -
3:25 - 3:29Narrator [in Norwegian]: Then a bit of
flirting while the food is digested. -
3:30 - 3:35The last downhill stretch
before we reach our destination. -
3:36 - 3:39We pass Mjølfjell Station.
-
3:40 - 3:43Then a new tunnel.
-
3:43 - 3:44(Laughter)
-
3:44 - 3:47TH: And now we thought, yes,
we have a brilliant program. -
3:47 - 3:52It will fit for the 2,000
train spotters in Norway. -
3:52 - 3:54We brought it on air in November 2009.
-
3:54 - 3:57But no, this was far more attractive.
-
3:57 - 4:00This is the five biggest TV channels
in Norway on a normal Friday, -
4:00 - 4:03and if you look at NRK2 over here,
-
4:03 - 4:06look what happened when they put on
the Bergen Railway show: -
4:07 - 4:111.2 million Norwegians
watched part of this program. -
4:11 - 4:13(Applause)
-
4:15 - 4:17And another funny thing:
-
4:17 - 4:19When the host on our main channel,
-
4:19 - 4:21after they have got news for you,
-
4:21 - 4:24she said, "And on our second channel,
-
4:24 - 4:27the train has now
nearly reached Myrdal station." -
4:27 - 4:29Thousands of people
just jumped on the train -
4:29 - 4:33on our second channel like this.
(Laughter) -
4:33 - 4:37This was also a huge success
in terms of social media. -
4:37 - 4:41It was so nice to see all the thousands
of Facebook and Twitter users -
4:41 - 4:44discussing the same view,
-
4:44 - 4:48talking to each other as if they were
on the same train together. -
4:48 - 4:52And especially, I like this one.
It's a 76-year-old man. -
4:52 - 4:53He's watched all the program,
-
4:53 - 4:57and at the end station, he rises up
to pick up what he thinks is his luggage, -
4:57 - 5:01and his head hit the curtain rod,
-
5:01 - 5:04and he realized he is
in his own living room. -
5:04 - 5:08(Applause)
-
5:09 - 5:14So that's strong and living TV.
-
5:14 - 5:17Four hundred and thirty-six
minute by minute on a Friday night, -
5:17 - 5:19and during that first night,
-
5:19 - 5:22the first Twitter message came:
Why be a chicken? -
5:22 - 5:27Why stop at 436
when you can expand that -
5:27 - 5:31to 8,040, minute by minute,
-
5:31 - 5:33and do the iconic journey in Norway,
-
5:33 - 5:37the coastal ship journey Hurtigruten
from Bergen to Kirkenes, -
5:37 - 5:40almost 3,000 kilometers,
covering most of our coast. -
5:40 - 5:45It has 120-year-old,
very interesting history, -
5:45 - 5:50and literally takes part in life
and death along the coast. -
5:50 - 5:52So just a week after the Bergen Railway,
-
5:52 - 5:57we called the Hurtigruten company
and we started planning for our next show. -
5:58 - 6:00We wanted to do something different.
-
6:00 - 6:04The Bergen Railway was a recorded program.
-
6:04 - 6:06So when we sat in our editing room,
-
6:06 - 6:08we watched this picture --
it's all Ål Station -- -
6:08 - 6:10we saw this journalist.
-
6:10 - 6:12We had called him, we had spoken to him,
-
6:12 - 6:14and when we left the station,
-
6:14 - 6:17he took this picture of us
and he waved to the camera, -
6:17 - 6:18and we thought,
-
6:18 - 6:21what if more people knew
that we were on board that train? -
6:21 - 6:23Would more people show up?
-
6:23 - 6:25What would it look like?
-
6:25 - 6:29So we decided our next project,
it should be live. -
6:29 - 6:34We wanted this picture of us on the fjord
and on the screen at the same time. -
6:35 - 6:38So this is not the first time
NRK had been on board a ship. -
6:38 - 6:40This is back in 1964,
-
6:40 - 6:43when the technical managers
have suits and ties -
6:43 - 6:47and NRK rolled all its equipment
on board a ship, -
6:47 - 6:51and 200 meters out of the shore,
transmitting the signal back, -
6:51 - 6:55and in the machine room,
they talked to the machine guy, -
6:55 - 6:59and on the deck, they have
splendid entertainment. -
6:59 - 7:04So being on a ship,
it's not the first time. -
7:05 - 7:10But five and a half days in a row,
and live, we wanted some help. -
7:10 - 7:14And we asked our viewers out there,
what do you want to see? -
7:14 - 7:19What do you want us to film?
How do you want this to look? -
7:19 - 7:21Do you want us to make a website?
What do you want on it? -
7:21 - 7:24And we got some answers
from you out there, -
7:24 - 7:28and it helped us a very lot
to build the program. -
7:28 - 7:31So in June 2011,
-
7:31 - 7:3423 of us went on board
the Hurtigruten coastal ship -
7:34 - 7:36and we set off.
-
7:36 - 7:40(Music)
-
8:35 - 8:39I have some really strong memories
from that week, and it's all about people. -
8:39 - 8:41This guy, for instance,
-
8:41 - 8:43he's head of research
at the University in Tromsø -
8:43 - 8:45(Laughter)
-
8:45 - 8:50And I will show you a piece of cloth,
-
8:50 - 8:53this one.
-
8:54 - 8:56It's the other strong memory.
-
8:56 - 9:00It belongs to a guy called Erik Hansen.
-
9:01 - 9:09And it's people like those two
who took a firm grip of our program, -
9:09 - 9:13and together with thousands
of others along the route, -
9:13 - 9:16they made the program what it became.
-
9:16 - 9:18They made all the stories.
-
9:18 - 9:21This is Karl. He's in the ninth grade.
-
9:21 - 9:25It says, "I will be a little
late for school tomorrow." -
9:25 - 9:27He was supposed to be
in the school at 8 a.m. -
9:27 - 9:30He came at 9 a.m., and he didn't
get a note from his teacher, -
9:30 - 9:33because the teacher
had watched the program. -
9:33 - 9:34(Laughter)
-
9:34 - 9:36How did we do this?
-
9:36 - 9:39Yes, we took a conference room
on board the Hurtigruten. -
9:39 - 9:42We turned it into
a complete TV control room. -
9:42 - 9:45We made it all work, of course,
-
9:45 - 9:47and then we took along 11 cameras.
-
9:47 - 9:48This is one of them.
-
9:48 - 9:50This is my sketch from February,
-
9:50 - 9:53and when you give this sketch
to professional people -
9:53 - 9:55in the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK,
-
9:55 - 9:58you get some cool stuff back.
-
9:58 - 10:02And with some very creative solutions.
-
10:02 - 10:05(Video) Narrator [in Norwegian]:
Run it up and down. -
10:05 - 10:08This is Norway's most
important drill right now. -
10:08 - 10:14It regulates the height of a bow
camera in NRK's live production, -
10:14 - 10:19one of 11 that capture
great shots from the MS Nord-Norge. -
10:19 - 10:21Eight wires keep the camera stable.
-
10:21 - 10:25Cameraman: I work
on different camera solutions. -
10:25 - 10:29They're just tools
used in a different context. -
10:29 - 10:32TH: Another camera is this one.
It's normally used for sports. -
10:32 - 10:36It made it possible for us to take
close-up pictures of people -
10:36 - 10:38100 kilomteres away,
-
10:38 - 10:42like this one. (Laughter)
-
10:42 - 10:45People called us and asked,
how is this man doing? -
10:45 - 10:48He's doing fine. Everything went well.
-
10:48 - 10:51We also could take pictures of
people waving at us, -
10:51 - 10:54people along the route,
thousands of them, -
10:54 - 10:56and they all had a phone in their hand.
-
10:56 - 10:59And when you take a picture of them,
and they get the message, -
10:59 - 11:02"Now we are on TV, dad,"
they start waving back. -
11:02 - 11:04This was waving TV
for five and a half days, -
11:04 - 11:06and people get so extremely happy
-
11:06 - 11:11when they can send a warm message
to their loved ones. -
11:11 - 11:15It was also a great success
on social media. -
11:15 - 11:17On the last day, we met
Her Majesty the Queen of Norway, -
11:17 - 11:21and Twitter couldn't quite handle it.
-
11:21 - 11:23And we also, on the web,
-
11:23 - 11:28during this week we streamed
more than 100 years of video -
11:28 - 11:32to 148 nations,
-
11:32 - 11:36and the websites are still there
and they will be forever, actually, -
11:36 - 11:38because Hurtigruten was selected
-
11:38 - 11:42to be part of the Norwegian
UNESCO list of documents, -
11:42 - 11:45and it's also in
the Guinness Book of Records -
11:45 - 11:49as the longest documentary ever.
-
11:49 - 11:52(Applause)
-
11:52 - 11:56Thank you.
-
11:56 - 11:59But it's a long program,
-
11:59 - 12:02so some watched part of it,
like the Prime Minister. -
12:02 - 12:04Some watched a little bit more.
-
12:04 - 12:09It says, "I haven't used
my bed for five days." -
12:09 - 12:13And he's 82 years old,
and he hardly slept. -
12:13 - 12:16He kept watching because
something might happen, -
12:16 - 12:19though it probably won't. (Laughter)
-
12:19 - 12:22This is the number
of viewers along the route. -
12:22 - 12:23You can see the famous Trollfjord
-
12:23 - 12:28and a day after, all-time high for NRK2.
-
12:28 - 12:34If you see the four biggest
channels in Norway during June 2011, -
12:34 - 12:36they will look like this,
-
12:36 - 12:40and as a TV producer, it's a pleasure
to put Hurtigruten on top of it. -
12:40 - 12:42It looks like this:
-
12:42 - 12:453.2 million Norwegians
watched part of this program, -
12:45 - 12:47and we are only five million here.
-
12:47 - 12:50Even the passengers on board
the Hurtigruten coastal ship -- -
12:50 - 12:51(Laughter) --
-
12:51 - 12:56they chose to watched the telly
instead of turning 90 degrees -
12:56 - 12:58and watching out the window.
-
12:58 - 13:01So we were allowed to be
part of people's living room -
13:01 - 13:04with this strange TV program,
-
13:04 - 13:08with music, nature, people.
-
13:08 - 13:10And Slow TV was now a buzzword,
-
13:10 - 13:14and we started looking for other things
we could make Slow TV about. -
13:14 - 13:18So we could either take something long
and make it a topic, -
13:18 - 13:20like with the railway and the Hurtigruten,
-
13:20 - 13:22or we could take a topic and make it long.
-
13:22 - 13:25This is the last project.
It's the peep show. -
13:25 - 13:28It's 14 hours of birdwatching
on a TV screen, -
13:28 - 13:31actually 87 days on the web.
-
13:31 - 13:34We have made 18 hours
of live salmon fishing. -
13:34 - 13:37It actually took three hours
before we got the first fish, -
13:37 - 13:39and that's quite slow.
-
13:39 - 13:44We have made 12 hours of boat ride
into the beautiful Telemark Canal, -
13:44 - 13:48and we have made another train ride
with the northern railway, -
13:48 - 13:52and because this we couldn't do live,
we did it in four seasons -
13:52 - 13:56just to give the viewer
another experience on the way. -
13:57 - 14:02So our next project got us
some attention outside Norway. -
14:02 - 14:04This is from the Colbert Report
on Comedy Central. -
14:04 - 14:08(Video) Stephen Colbert: I've got my eye
on a wildly popular program from Norway -
14:08 - 14:11called "National Firewood Night,"
-
14:11 - 14:15which consisted of mostly people in parkas
chatting and chopping in the woods, -
14:15 - 14:19and then eight hours of a fire
burning in a fireplace. (Laughter) -
14:19 - 14:22It destroyed the other
top Norwegian shows, -
14:22 - 14:24like "So You Think
You Can Watch Paint Dry" -
14:24 - 14:28and "The Amazing Glacier Race."
-
14:28 - 14:33And get this, almost 20 percent
of the Norwegian population tuned in, -
14:33 - 14:3520 percent.
-
14:35 - 14:39TH: So, when wood fire and wood chopping
can be that interesting, -
14:39 - 14:40why not knitting?
-
14:40 - 14:42So on our next project,
-
14:42 - 14:47we used more than eight hours
to go live from a sheep to a sweater, -
14:47 - 14:49and Jimmy Kimmel in the ABC show,
-
14:49 - 14:51he liked that.
-
14:51 - 14:58(Music)
-
14:58 - 15:02(Video) Jimmy Kimmel: Even the people
on the show are falling asleep, -
15:02 - 15:04and after all that,
the knitters actually failed -
15:04 - 15:06to break the world record.
-
15:06 - 15:07They did not succeed,
-
15:07 - 15:10but remember the old Norwegian saying,
-
15:10 - 15:12it's not whether you win
or lose that counts. -
15:12 - 15:14In fact, nothing counts,
and death is coming for us all. -
15:14 - 15:16(Laughter)
-
15:16 - 15:19TH: Exactly. So why does this stand out?
-
15:19 - 15:22This is so completely different
to other TV programming. -
15:22 - 15:27We take the viewer on a journey
that happens right now in real time, -
15:27 - 15:30and the viewer gets the feeling
of actually being there, -
15:30 - 15:33actually being on the train, on the boat,
-
15:33 - 15:34and knitting together with others,
-
15:34 - 15:37and the reason I think
why they're doing that -
15:37 - 15:39is because we don't edit the timeline.
-
15:39 - 15:42It's important that
we don't edit the timeline, -
15:42 - 15:45and it's also important
that what we make Slow TV about -
15:45 - 15:50is something that we all can relate to,
that the viewer can relate to, -
15:50 - 15:53and that somehow has
a root in our culture. -
15:53 - 15:54This is a picture from last summer
-
15:54 - 15:57when we traveled the coast
again for seven weeks. -
15:57 - 16:01And of course this is a lot of planning,
this is a lot of logistics. -
16:01 - 16:06So this is the working plan
for 150 people last summer, -
16:06 - 16:08but more important is what you don't plan.
-
16:08 - 16:11You don't plan what's going to happen.
-
16:11 - 16:14You have to just
take your cameras with you. -
16:14 - 16:15It's like a sports event.
-
16:15 - 16:18You rig them and you see what's happening.
-
16:18 - 16:20So this is actually
the whole running order -
16:20 - 16:25for Hurtigruten, 134 hours,
just written on one page. -
16:25 - 16:29We didn't know anything more
when we left Bergen. -
16:29 - 16:32So you have to let the viewers
make the stories themselves, -
16:32 - 16:34and I'll give you an example of that.
-
16:34 - 16:36This is from last summer,
-
16:36 - 16:38and as a TV producer,
-
16:38 - 16:41it's a nice picture, but now
you can cut to the next one. -
16:41 - 16:43But this is Slow TV,
-
16:43 - 16:47so you have to keep this picture until
it really starts hurting your stomach, -
16:47 - 16:49and then you keep it a little bit longer,
-
16:49 - 16:51and when you keep it that long,
-
16:51 - 16:53I'm sure some of you now
have noticed the cow. -
16:53 - 16:55Some of you have seen the flag.
-
16:55 - 16:58Some of you start wondering,
is the farmer at home? -
16:58 - 17:00Has he left? Is he watching the cow?
-
17:00 - 17:04And where is that cow going?
-
17:04 - 17:07So my point is, the longer
you keep a picture like this, -
17:07 - 17:09and we kept it for 10 minutes,
-
17:09 - 17:13you start making
the stories in your own head. -
17:13 - 17:17That's Slow TV.
-
17:17 - 17:23So we think that Slow TV is
one nice way of telling a TV story, -
17:23 - 17:25and we think that we
can continue doing it, -
17:25 - 17:30not too often, once or twice a year,
so we keep the feeling of an event, -
17:30 - 17:33and we also think that
the good Slow TV idea, -
17:33 - 17:34that's the idea when people say,
-
17:34 - 17:38"Oh no, you can't put that on TV."
-
17:38 - 17:41When people smile, it might be
a very good slow idea, -
17:41 - 17:45so after all, life is best
when it's a bit strange. -
17:45 - 17:46Thank you.
-
17:46 - 17:53(Applause)
- Title:
- The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive
- Speaker:
- Thomas Hellum
- Description:
-
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:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 18:06
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive |