Thomas Hellum: The world's most boring television ... and why it's hilariously addictive
Thomas Hellum: Världens tråkigaste TV-program... och varför de är galet beroendeframkallande
Thomas Hellum is an award-winning television producer who works at NRK Hordaland in Norway. Full bio
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that lasts for hours and days,
i timmar och dagar,
from Al Jazeera's Listening Post.
Al Jazeeras Listening Post.
gets relatively little media coverage.
som inte får så mycket plats i media.
passed without much drama.
passerade helt odramatiskt.
media in a nutshell:
sju timmar lång tågresa -
of a seven-hour train ride --
fler än en miljon av dem, älskade det.
according to the ratings, loved it.
of TV engagement.
för TV-engagemang.
a cruise ship's journey up the coast,
ett kryssningsfartygs resa längs kusten,
National Broadcasting Service
a night of knitting nationwide.
en kväll med stickning över hela landet.
från Listening Post, till Oslo
Marcela Pizarro to Oslo
men först en varning:
but first a warning:
i reportaget som en besvikelse.
in the following report disappointing.
åtta minuter långt reportage i Al Jazeera
an eight-minute story on Al Jazeera
TV programs in little Norway.
got a great idea.
ett radioprogram
a radio program
of Norway in 1940.
då Tyskland invaderade Norge 1940.
during the night.
vid samma tid under kvällen.
before the invasion day.
innan invasionsdagen.
medan de utvecklas?
can you tell as they evolve?
100-årsjubileum det året.
100-year anniversary that year
to eastern Norway,
som den gjorde för 40 år sedan,
as it did 40 years ago,
våra redaktörer i Oslo, och sa
in Oslo, and we said,
about the Bergen Railway,
om Bergenbanan,
av skratt, många goda skratt,
very, very good laughter,
skulle bli sju timmar och fyra minuter.
should be seven hours and four minutes.
to be seven hours and 14 minutes
och fjorton minuter
vid den sista stationen.
at the last station.
to the beautiful nature.
den vackra naturen.
some information.
We will arrive at Haugastøl Station.
Vi ankommer snart Haugastøl station.
tillfälle att titta i arkiven.
to do some archives.
medan maten smälts.
flirting while the food is digested.
before we reach our destination.
we have a brilliant program.
ett strålande program.
2 000 trainspotters.
train spotters in Norway.
in Norway on a normal Friday,
i Norge en vanlig fredag,
the Bergen Railway show:
såg delar av programmet.
watched part of this program.
nearly reached Myrdal station."
just jumped on the train
(Laughter)
in terms of social media.
i sociala medier.
Facebook- och Twitteranvändare
of Facebook and Twitter users
de vore på tåget tillsammans.
on the same train together.
It's a 76-year-old man.
det är en 76 år gammal man.
för att plocka upp sitt bagage,
to pick up what he thinks is his luggage,
in his own living room.
på en fredagkväll,
minute by minute on a Friday night,
Varför vara en fegis?
Why be a chicken?
when you can expand that
från Bergen till Kirkenes,
from Bergen to Kirkenes,
större delen av kustlinjen.
covering most of our coast.
very interesting history,
och väldigt intressant historia,
and death along the coast.
liv och död längs kusten.
och började planera för nästa program.
and we started planning for our next show.
det är vid Ål station -
it's all Ål Station --
vinkade till kameran,
and he waved to the camera,
var ombord på det där tåget?
that we were on board that train?
skulle vara direktsänt.
it should be live.
och på skärmen samtidigt.
and on the screen at the same time.
NRK had been on board a ship.
NRK varit ombord på ett fartyg.
have suits and ties
on board a ship,
transmitting the signal back,
skickade de tillbaka signalen,
they talked to the machine guy,
splendid entertainment.
på ett fartyg.
it's not the first time.
and live, we wanted some help.
då ville vi ha lite hjälp.
what do you want to see?
Hur vill ni att det ska se ut?
How do you want this to look?
What do you want on it?
Vad ska det finnas på den?
from you out there,
to build the program.
the Hurtigruten coastal ship
from that week, and it's all about people.
från den veckan, och alla är av människor.
på Tromsö universitet.
at the University in Tromsø
som heter Erik Hansen.
who took a firm grip of our program,
tusentals andra längs rutten,
of others along the route,
till skolan i morgon."
late for school tomorrow."
in the school at 8 a.m.
fick inget skäll av sin lärare,
get a note from his teacher,
had watched the program.
ombord på Hurtigruten.
on board the Hurtigruten.
komplett TV-kontrollrum.
a complete TV control room.
to professional people
Kör den upp och ner.
Run it up and down.
important drill right now.
camera in NRK's live production,
i NRKs direktsända produktion,
fantastiska bilder från MS Nordnorge.
great shots from the MS Nord-Norge.
on different camera solutions.
med olika kameralösningar.
i olika sammanhang.
used in a different context.
It's normally used for sports.
den används normalt för sport.
att ta närbilder på människor
close-up pictures of people
hur mår den där mannen?
how is this man doing?
som vinkade åt oss,
people waving at us,
thousands of them,
and they get the message,
så vinkar de tillbaka.
they start waving back.
for five and a half days,
to their loved ones.
till sina nära och kära.
on social media.
Hennes Majestät Drottningen av Norge,
Her Majesty the Queen of Norway,
more than 100 years of video
and they will be forever, actually,
och kommer faktiskt finnas för alltid,
UNESCO list of documents,
UNESCO-dokumentarv,
the Guinness Book of Records
i Guinness rekordbok
som statsministern.
like the Prime Minister.
min säng på fem dagar."
my bed for five days."
and he hardly slept.
something might happen,
för något kunde ju hända,
of viewers along the route.
i Norge under juni 2011,
channels in Norway during June 2011,
ett nöje att sätta Hurtigruten högst upp.
to put Hurtigruten on top of it.
såg delar av programmet,
watched part of this program,
the Hurtigruten coastal ship --
istället för att vända sig 90 grader
instead of turning 90 degrees
part of people's living room
av människors vardagsrum
att göra Slow TV av.
we could make Slow TV about.
and make it a topic,
och göra ett ämne av det,
och göra något långt av det.
projektet, Piip-show.
It's the peep show.
på en TV-skärm,
on a TV screen,
of live salmon fishing.
vi fick den första fisken,
before we got the first fish,
längs Telemarkskanalen,
into the beautiful Telemark Canal,
längs den nordliga järnvägen,
with the northern railway,
så gjorde vi den under fyra årstider,
we did it in four seasons
another experience on the way.
olika upplevelser av vägen.
some attention outside Norway.
uppmärksamhet utanför Norge.
on Comedy Central.
på Comedy Central.
on a wildly popular program from Norway
ett galet populärt program från Norge
i parkas som pratar och hugger i skogen,
chatting and chopping in the woods,
som brinner i en eldstad. (Skratt)
burning in a fireplace. (Laughter)
topprogrammen i Norge,
top Norwegian shows,
You Can Watch Paint Dry"
av den norska befolkningen tittade,
of the Norwegian population tuned in,
can be that interesting,
kan vara så intressant,
att direktsända vägen från får till tröja,
to go live from a sheep to a sweater,
deltagarna i programmet somnar,
on the show are falling asleep,
faktiskt stickarna
the knitters actually failed
eller förlust som räknas.
or lose that counts.
och döden tar oss alla.
and death is coming for us all.
to other TV programming.
än andra TV-program.
that happens right now in real time,
of actually being there,
att de känner så,
why they're doing that
redigerar tidslinjen,
we don't edit the timeline,
that what we make Slow TV about
that the viewer can relate to,
som tittaren kan relatera till,
har rötterna i vår kultur.
a root in our culture.
igen under sju veckor.
again for seven weeks.
this is a lot of logistics.
for 150 people last summer,
150 personer förra sommaren,
vad som kommer att hända.
take your cameras with you.
the whole running order
just written on one page.
skrivet på en enda sida.
when we left Bergen.
när vi lämnade Bergen.
make the stories themselves,
skapa historierna själva,
you can cut to the next one.
men man vill byta till nästa.
it really starts hurting your stomach,
tills det verkligen gör ont i magen,
have noticed the cow.
nu har upptäckt kon.
is the farmer at home?
du visar en sån här bild,
you keep a picture like this,
i ditt eget huvud.
the stories in your own head.
one nice way of telling a TV story,
att berätta en historia,
can continue doing it,
så att vi behåller evenemangskänslan,
so we keep the feeling of an event,
the good Slow TV idea,
en väldigt bra slow-idé,
a very good slow idea,
när det är lite konstigt.
when it's a bit strange.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas Hellum - Slow television advocateThomas Hellum is an award-winning television producer who works at NRK Hordaland in Norway.
Why you should listen
Thomas Hellum has worked at NRK Hordaland since 1992. The former lighting designer moved into photography and then began work as a producer, specializing in documentaries. In 2009, he became one of the driving forces behind the "Slow TV" movement, filming and broadcasting apparently boring events as they happen and turning them into genuinely thrilling television drama.
In 2008, Hellum won the Grand Prix Golden Prague at the International Television Festival in Prague for the documentary Ballad for Edvard Grieg, which tracked the composer's travels through Europe. He also won the Rose d'Or Award for The Sound of Ole Bull at the Rose d'Or Festival in Lucerne in 2012. His personal motto: "Life is best when it's a bit strange."
Thomas Hellum | Speaker | TED.com