60 hours of a choir singing hymns, 12 hours of knitting, a seven-hour train ride- these are the types of TV programs captivating Norway these days. No, they are not spending 24-hours binging the latest season of House of Cards, but 3.2 million viewers (the population of Norway is approximately 5 million) tuned in to watch the 134 hour, 42 minutes and 45 second broadcast of a sea voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes. Why the dichotomy? Why has our TV viewing become more urgent, while there's has become more leisure?
Over the last 5 years, Norway has been plugging away at creating what they are calling "Slow TV." The idea developed on train when TV producers were discussing what to do with all of the archived B-roll footage left over from their films. And from there, Slow TV was born into a national phenomenon, airing unedited journeys or events and the phrase even was named "new word of the year" in 2013 by The Language Council of Norway.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2qXpNVTjw&t=274[/embed]
So will Slow TV catch on here? I can't say. While it is intriguing, could Americans really sit around and watch a "story" knowing there is no dramatic ending? Is it satisfying enough to watch the boat reach its port? Does that create any water cooler talk? Is it too much like our fishing shows or golf? I find myself wanting to like this though. But if I'm honest, I think it would just end up being background noise. The BBC in England is even launching a patience-testing program to try and introduce the concept this spring of a boat ride through an English country side canal. And LMNO Productions is in the midst of signing contracts with U.S. networks for our own trial run.
While a very simple concept, the idea feels fresh- innovative even or watching a train travel throughout gorgeous scenery for hours. A camera is positioned on the front of the train- basically you're getting a conductors view- as the train follows the tracks through a snowy Norwegian landscape, through tunnels and under bridges as your watch the scenery change. You can hear the conductor call out the next stop. Its repetitive concept is relaxing- maybe that's exactly the kind of TV Americans need to be watching more of.
Well maybe some Americans have taken notice already, Stephen Colbert mocked Norway's National Firewood Night, where people chopped wood and arranged it in a fire place before starting a fire for 8 hours and 20% of Norway's population tuned in. Riveting TV at Christmas time. But let's remember, this concept isn't entirely new. Andy Warhol made an "anti-film" in 1963 showing a man sleeping for five hours. And one of the earliest films on record was an 1895 (very) short film of a train arriving into a station, "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat."
I could see this working in the U.S. as a "special event." Kind of like how the Carrie Underwood version of "Sound of Music" or NBC's "Peter Pan" were sold as TV events. Something that you could invite friends over, play some games, drink some wine, keep it on the TV and look up every now and then- and maybe form some kind of game of how much you can watch. I can already think of how people could make this a drinking game of sorts- but maybe that puts our own American spin on it.
What would you like to watch for hours on end as our version of Slow TV? Share in the comments below!
60 hours of a choir singing hymns, 12 hours of knitting, a seven-hour train ride- these are the types of TV programs captivating Norway these days. No, they are not spending 24-hours binging the latest season of House of Cards, but 3.2 million viewers (the population of Norway is approximately 5 million) tuned in to watch the 134 hour, 42 minutes and 45 second broadcast of a sea voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes. Why the dichotomy? Why has our TV viewing become more urgent, while there's has become more leisure?
Over the last 5 years, Norway has been plugging away at creating what they are calling "Slow TV." The idea developed on train when TV producers were discussing what to do with all of the archived B-roll footage left over from their films. And from there, Slow TV was born into a national phenomenon, airing unedited journeys or events and the phrase even was named "new word of the year" in 2013 by The Language Council of Norway.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2qXpNVTjw&t=274[/embed]
So will Slow TV catch on here? I can't say. While it is intriguing, could Americans really sit around and watch a "story" knowing there is no dramatic ending? Is it satisfying enough to watch the boat reach its port? Does that create any water cooler talk? Is it too much like our fishing shows or golf? I find myself wanting to like this though. But if I'm honest, I think it would just end up being background noise. The BBC in England is even launching a patience-testing program to try and introduce the concept this spring of a boat ride through an English country side canal. And LMNO Productions is in the midst of signing contracts with U.S. networks for our own trial run.
While a very simple concept, the idea feels fresh- innovative even or watching a train travel throughout gorgeous scenery for hours. A camera is positioned on the front of the train- basically you're getting a conductors view- as the train follows the tracks through a snowy Norwegian landscape, through tunnels and under bridges as your watch the scenery change. You can hear the conductor call out the next stop. Its repetitive concept is relaxing- maybe that's exactly the kind of TV Americans need to be watching more of.
Well maybe some Americans have taken notice already, Stephen Colbert mocked Norway's National Firewood Night, where people chopped wood and arranged it in a fire place before starting a fire for 8 hours and 20% of Norway's population tuned in. Riveting TV at Christmas time. But let's remember, this concept isn't entirely new. Andy Warhol made an "anti-film" in 1963 showing a man sleeping for five hours. And one of the earliest films on record was an 1895 (very) short film of a train arriving into a station, "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat."
I could see this working in the U.S. as a "special event." Kind of like how the Carrie Underwood version of "Sound of Music" or NBC's "Peter Pan" were sold as TV events. Something that you could invite friends over, play some games, drink some wine, keep it on the TV and look up every now and then- and maybe form some kind of game of how much you can watch. I can already think of how people could make this a drinking game of sorts- but maybe that puts our own American spin on it.
What would you like to watch for hours on end as our version of Slow TV? Share in the comments below!
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