Thomas Hellum: The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- 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.
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One thing I think this guy missed, is that another reason for the success might be because we live in such a fast society nowadays, and having something that really forces us to slow down gives people a chance to relax. An action movie is not relaxing, but a seven hour train ride is, as well as an aquarium screensaver, a looping cut of a fire or for that matter a lava lamp (damn hypnotizing that!). So yeah, part of the success is of course that people get a chance to participate, but another is probably because of the opportunity to relax.
I love Norge so much. It's mine and my husband's 'spirit country'. We spent a lovely time touring some of it in February and did that Oslo to Bergen rail journey (and back). We also cruised the coast. Beautiful. Jeg elsker Norge!
i had a cable tv channel called _myzen_ that showed hours of natural landscapes from all over the world, it even had gps coordinates. i loved that channel.
It's like Tour de France, you watch it for the crazy fans, and the scenic shots.
I am a big fan of this. Not necessarily watching a boat trip for hours and hours but letting a viewer actually have some breathing room when watching an event. People need time to think. If you record some event and than just edit everything boring out and just leave the highlights you end up with a video that is not as exiting as the original.
I rock climb a lot and have a lot of people that do that while filming. I would really like to produce a film of climbing that lasts for days. To see all the struggle and the views and the boring parts of rock climbing.
This gives me hope that maybe it can become a reality. At least in norway. haha
I would love to watch that!
From 1986 to 1993, a local television station in Toronto, Canada broadcast nightly shows called Night Walk, Night Ride and Night Moves. They played from 1AM until dawn, showing real-time images of wandering through the city at night, at a leisurely pace, accompanied by a pretty good jazz trio. In the dead of night, in the middle of winter, this could actually be quite intriguing, with a certain "frisson" of horror. An astonishing number of people regularly watched these show, and not all of them were "stoners".
Went to a TEDx Talk recently and got to enjoy this video with a large lecture hall full of people. It was surprisngly one of the more memorable talks (due to the fact I was laughing along with hundreds of other people at the same time) and shows how people are willing to patiently put effort into making their own narratives.
Norway's capital city is "oh slow", what did you expect?
Genius m8 =)
It's called Oslo after the Viking ohslow who was known for walking slow all over Norway. My grandpa told me..he was an alcoholic from Bergen
Imagine this, combined with something like the Occulus Rift for 3D.. I think it would be amazing! Especially for elderly who may not be able to make such a trip themselves anymore!
Is there a way to suggest this to the guys producing this?
***** You can send them a message right here: (translated norwegian-website)
translate.google.com/translate?hl=sv&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrk.no%2Fkontakt%2F
LeonidasSthlm Thank you. I (think I) sent them the suggestion! I got no feedback from the message box so I hope they get it :p.
They would start to throw up after 5mins
Sorak311 Depends on the actual visual implementation, but true, it would be better with a normal 3D TV untill such issues have a more widespread solution :).
Still though, I think it's awesome.
Now I need to know where this cow went...
Where did it go?
tubego It met a chicken and they crossed the road.
Why did the cow cross the road? Oo
Because the chicken crossed the road
I think I smell a sitcom... The Life and Times of That Cow!
I remember seeing that train ride and the coastal ship journey on Finnish TV as well. I did watch them for a while when I didn't have anything else to do and found them kind of interesting but now that I know the story behind those documentaries I'm sure I'll view them from a different perspective if I ever end up seeing them again.
its great actually - i feel wonderful about it.. its innovative and deep..
people like journeys.. people like doing things.. forming things.. going from A to B..
i think its creative.. very creative..
I like the idea of Slow TV partly because it's not super-engaging. (It can be at times, but it doesn't have to be.) You can always do something else. With programs that aren't necessarily eventful, you can be watching it and doing other things. Sometimes it even makes you feel even more productive. Plus if you come in late at a lot of the time and you won't feel like you missed out on much.
15:26 "Exactly. So..."
Couldn't stop laughing haha
Hahaha....laughed at that too. Nihilism is big here in Norway lol
I have ADD, I use 2 different devices to get online while watching TV or doing anything, and I found this hypnotizing. I got goosebumps when the video of the ship was playing. I have no idea why.
Absolutely loved the talk. I would so watch the programs while knitting, which is my favorite hobby. Made me want to visit Norway.
Programing that brings calm to your mind and smile to your face is real TV in most cases if you are not genre watching. I just loved this. Brilliant.
Norway is a very pretty place. I can see why people would want to just sit back and watch the scenery for that long. It reminds me of the nature shows on PBS here in the US. When I was a kid I would watch Wild America before bedtime every night it was on.
Good story about a brilliant idea delivered by a great speaker - a model presentation.
Kudos to this great idea and its excellent execution. That's some kind of interactive TV, and foremost: it's a show for an audience which can be part of it, in real time! It's more than just a show too, it's an event, a gathering for a great countries' population and its marvellous countryside. I would not wonder if they reach 70% of the population in one day.
We rode this train about 10 years ago. It was a beautiful journey.
Hell yeah, I'm Norwegian and I watched several hours of Hurtigruten minutt for minutt. It was very moving and it made your thoughts flow as you watched the waves and mountain sides slowly drift by.
fantastic, this is exactly what we need. this is real. most of us will never see these things, but we will see our tv. I will never make it to a cruise. I will never take a cross country train. I want to, but in reality I wont, time, money, motivation, dog,cat, plants,money.lol
lol get rid of the dog, the cat, the plants, hoard your money, and take a year. you only live once.
The irony of it all: "Hurtigruten" (Hurtig-ruten) literally translates as "the fast route" - which it is REALLY not in these modern times where there is fast air travel available. The charm of Slow TV, however, is undeniable in our rushed modern times. The Norwegians have found a perfect antidote to our rushed lifestyle.
PS. If there ever was a nation just as hooked on National-flag-waving as the 'Muricans, it HAS to be Norway!
Thomas's comments are the best.... like "Waving TV for 5 1/2 days " hahahaha
love that presentation a lot!!!
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SUCH PROGRAMS HERE IN BRAZIL :)
Home, sick in bed. Just stumbled across this. Absolutely brilliant! Laughed myyself silly. 🤣
I'd say Norway is strange, but this isn't a new concept. I don't know if it's still a thing, but back when I used to have satellite TV, I'd spend sometimes hours with the NASA channel on, watching various views from various satellites of the earth as it spins bellow. And how many people watch the "fireplace TV" that various TV channels in America air around Christmas?
Its somewhat different from the NASA channel in that the NASA channel is more of a live feed webcam. take a look when you want, but most of the time its just there, with some nice shots of earth ofcourse.
But with these consepts you take a journey or event that takes a long time and show it in real time. Maybe if you made live tv from a launch to the crew was back on earth it would be more alike :)
Descorath
This is a live trip on a train, or a boat. That is a live orbit of a NASA satellite. The only difference is that there aren't any people standing on the satellite.
Drackar
The difference is that they add small films/clips when the train goes through tunnels etc. As well as music and details of music etc etc. It's not completely live webcam.
Cassandra Fín
Nasa footage has music playing behind it, usually. And yes, they had the historical videos, (which you can also get randomly watching the nasa channel, admittedly not built into the streaming sections, however).
Clearly we're not going to agree on this. You're painting the concept in a very narrow category, which amuses me.
Drackar
Nothing to agree on when it's not the same. I'm not 'painting the concept', I'm saying how it is and what is shown in this very video. The concept isn't new, but nobody said that. However, sending these types of programmes as a show on TV is unique.
As a Norwegian i can just say that some times it is ok to put on the TV and not see propaganda and lies.
So you but on bullshit like this, you dont actually look at it, you just have it as a relaxing background without all the usual propaganda and hundreds of entertaining shows and movies that all have the same recipe. ;)
This explains why I sat for hours watching Berry College's eagle cam for hours. It was just 2 bald eagles raising their young, but I was glued to the computer... nothing better to do????
It was certainly the better thing to do when you did it! :)
Wonderful!!! Don't pay any attention to our, USA, late night "enertainers". (And I use that term LOOSLY) because they mostly embarrass us . This is such an innovative idea. It's brilliant and you are amazingly hilarious.
We have ridiculous entertainment, scripted conflict driven reality shows, and overlly violent programs...so, why not?
Thank you for bringing the Unknown to life on the screens. God bless bro !
What a BEAUTIFUL country we live in!
I remember when they broadcast the Oslo-Bergen train journey (I am on that train at least every two months now) and I thought that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen on TV. Five hours later I was still watching it....
I love the Bergen to AI train ride footage :) Watched it for 6 hours lol
been living in this beautiful country for about 7 years and still discovering the eccentricities of this culture, the latest was the movie "Mot naturen" www.imdb.com/title/tt3596492/
This is amazing TV program concept. I have to admit that I don't watch TV at all, but I followed that slow TV program from Bergen railway. It was interesting because I visited Bergen mountains few years ago - Rallarvägen - with bicycle and tent. Nice two week trip up there over the mountains in the middle of July.
Now I have to find that Hurtigruten-program!
nrk.no/hurtigruten/ :)
hahaha, I love it! I wonder how well this would work here in the US. It sure would beat a lot of the crap that is on TV now.
Get a camera, fix it outside the house, watch the CCTV footage 24*7, Life is set for Norwegian!
Try watching some of the Norwegian journeys mentioned... It beats looking at your filthy country.
What a *_cool_* talk. Really put a smile on my face. My mom's ancestral family is from Sweden, so I've always had a real interest/love for all things Nordic. This is right up my alley. Though, I do wonder how this would go down in the US. We're not exactly known as a nation with a patient attention span, especially when it comes to television. But......we also crave novelty, so...I think something like this could do quite well in the US. A great idea would be....a cross-country road trip from NYC to San Francisco. What could be more American than _that?_ :)
Fantastic that this goes against the way too fast mainstream TV programs
There was a Japanese commercial for the Kyushu rail line a while ago. Now, Kyushu is an island, it's big, but not gigantic... probably similar to Norway. Before filing along the track they announced when they would do it, so people got in position in advance.
The thing was 4 minutes long before the editors couldn't bare to cut anymore... and they ran it. Watch it on youtube, and you can FEEL the energy. I don't even live there and it gets me kind of emotional.
Everyone misses the main point here. TV has always tried to foster its own artificial world. When a channel goes and ventures out into the real world, people react.
+Dgfrmxon Similar? Nope. You seriously underestimated the size of Norway (10x). Our coast line is a lot longer, longer than the US', but smaller than Canada and Australia.
I think it`s great. Imagine a worldwide network of "slow tv", or a "slow food tv " network. Pig to table kinda thing, would take 9 months, and re-examine our thoughts about eating oink. Huge scope for slow everything in my opinion.
That sounds....comically relaxing.
747 round the world is a fantastic idea....lufthansa cargo has the perfect route for this...they send one of their md-11's around the world, stopping in various cool places along the way...I would absolutely find a way to watch that
This might work for people in a similar way to how ASMR videos are so relaxing for many people without ASMR.
wow, I wouldn't say boring at all. IT IS AWESOME, thanks for showing me the most awesome show while you say its boring. Haven't watched television for like 10 years, gonna watch now :D
Instead to have turned off TV, I will have the best replacement for artistic picture with enchanting video, just have in mind not to ruin the show by making it "interesting" just like all other shows
And here I thought watching 20 minute British Narrow boat videos or Danish fishing boats powered by 50+ year old hot bulb engines (Sefel, Hundsten?) with thumping exhaust sounds was a guilty pleasure haha. Cool.
after reading the 76-year-old's post (5:10), I kind of have to wonder if this will catch on as a VR experience some day. After all, if people are immersing themselves in the experience like that, will be able to do it even better with VR! XD
You should make a slow tv show of some folks walking from one end of Norway to the other! That would seriously be slow :)
One of my favorite Ted talks.
Noen andre som som ser i kommentarfeltet for å se hva folk sier om Norge?
jada 2 år etter deg =)
Not Sure og jeg fem måneder etter deg😉😂
Beautiful!
oooh!
spoiler alert on the salmon!!
The best TV-show of the last 10 years!!!??
May I make a suggestion: people solving all kinds of rubik's cubes.
Why is this exciting? Why is this cool?
Because it is what television is supposed to be; a direct reflection of our own experience.
People in Norway seem cool.
Thomas Hellum a genuinely good guy
I'd like it if we had some stuff like this in America. I've basically given up on TV these past 6-7 years, with only a few exceptions.
This is very much like the "eaglecam" here in Decorah, Iowa. Where the camera is on a bald eagle nest as the eggs are laid, hatched, babies are fed and grow, then finally leave the nest.
Amazingly cool concept. I love that!!
That's actually pretty cool.
This is wonderful!
I was laughing until I realised I would watch it. Now I'm trying to figure out where I can go to see it.
I've been on a good stretch of the coastal run on the Hurtigruten, but had to sleep now and then. I think it might be nice to see the entire thing this way. Where's the link to do so?
tv.nrk.no/serie/hurtigruten-minutt-for-minutt/DVFJ67000111/23-12-2011
Alltho i think it's locked to Norway, but i guess you can just VPN in.
MusFuzZ
Much appreciated, thanks.
This is freaking brilliant.
just beautiful :')
Norway I love you! ... I’m in! First, I find it interesting & would be okay seeing this kind of programming. I do appreciate a variety of good quality films and various types of programs here in the USA ... yet, there are a plethora of vacuous TV shows depicting silly non-entity personalities such as the K-ian family (what a waste of ones precious life time), Be-ce (good voice, but really? ... do girls so look up to someone who presents herself so cheaply?) , then the pretty people on dating shows (no-talent) ... the list endless. These are just a few coming to mind. BTW - it’s so ubiquitous I am aware of them - unfortunately. So I canceled my satellite TV ... and do not miss it at all.
They should get into test cricket
To be neither positive or negative, I think that these programs tell something about the people in westerns countries today. We want to be part of something real that is happening in real time, but we don't want to get off our couches to experience it ourselves.
Train program is SO awesome!!!
Amazing and somehow it moved me
wow! maybe I can be on TED, i'll film myself watching utube for 24 hrs.
they must do the train in India
We have reruns of Lawrence Welk on P.B.S. over here.
They should do another Hurtigruten show. I might buy a tv just for it.
anyone know where to find full 5 day video of the trip ?
+kamil latocha
Yes.
tv.nrk.no/serie/hurtigruten-minutt-for-minutt/DVFJ67000111/23-12-2011
They also put out the raw footage for editing if you'd like that.
Most torrent sites have it, and it's legal to grab it. :)
Time to set the date on the calendar
I'd like to see this done in America but fat chance. We have thousands of miles of train tracks and coast lands to film not to mention the people living there.
It's like the Tour the France, or Giro d'Italia, without the biking race, Still good TV i think.
I would so watch this! :D
I see many ways to use this type of television to get people to learn different things just like how they showed that old movie. Why not extend it further and show entire histories of areas as you walk around the place. Suppose say that you walk by a bakery in a town that has been around for over 100 years. Why not show pictures of what it has looked like, supposing they exist, as it has been renovated over the years. This can give a very different way in how we indulge in culture than we currently do. For the sciences, for you brainy types, you could, say this was a television from build start to delivery to its final destination and then show how they have progressed since they were first introduced. Might be able to get more people to remember things like this. Better still, what about the making of particle acelerators, yes I know those are built sparsely, but imagine if we had the entire footage of one being built.
how do tv channels get those graphs of the amount of people that tuned in? can they tell how many ppl are receiving the signal somehow? eh?
I misread your family name as Helium.. sorry
This is just strange, but I find it amusing.
Brilliant.
awesome idea!
can you add Norwegian subtitles
This type of thing is part of the reason people have been watching Desert Bus for Hope for 8 years running. :-) desertbus.org/
6.5 days where something scheduled is every couple of hours, and for the rest of the time, you fill in the blanks. :-)
It feels kind of wrong to watch this on 2x speed.
Anybody else up for an American slow tv road trip?
as long as its nice scenery it owks
This video qualifies.
I'd watch it!
Nice boat
im a norwegian person watching a ted talk about something i know .... why
*Jeg vil flytte til Norge. Hjelp meg!*
Where do you live now?
@@HelenEk7 I'm an American, but live and work in Japan.
This has to be done in Britain if any of you TV executives are reading.
This is so smart...