Amongst all the dross on TV over Christmas there were some real gems. BBC One’s Christmas Day evening lineup was particularly good. I ended up watching it from Doctor Who at 6pm right through to the end of the Blackadder documentary at 11.30. The problem is that it isn’t always Christmas and now we’re into January TV is back to its usual mediocre self.
What can you do? Well, there’s always DVDs or video sites like Youtube, Hulu and the BBC iPlayer to watch some TV classics or to catch up on good shows you’ve missed but how about choices beyond the conventional? The huge decrease in the cost of producing video over the past few years has seen enterprising groups of people creating their own TV programmes for niche audiences that in many cases match the quality of a lot of so-called ‘professional’ attempts.
One such recent example is Techfluff TV. Created by a small team of London-based entrepreneurs, the show covers the capital’s tech scene with wit and flair. Forget the traditional ‘Elevator Pitch’, Techfluff challenges startups to pitch on an escalator, facing backwards without losing balance or tripping at the top. They only started their weekly shows in November and already they’ve managed to shove a camera in Techcrunch’s Michael Arrington’s face for an interview. Edited in a style reminiscent of Channel 4’s old videogames show Bits (which I mentioned here a few weeks ago), it’s well worth watching if you’re even slightly interested in the world of London’s internet startups. It should be available to subscribe to on iTunes soon, too.
In a similar sphere, our friends over at Mobile Industry Review used to do a weekly, 30-minute, HD-resolution show about the UK’s mobile industry. They’ve since cut it down into smaller segments to allow for easier casual viewing but it’s still very much on a par with the quality of productions you can see late at night on broadcast TV. To think Mobile Industry Review are doing it with a tiny team and (I imagine) an even lower budget than the lowest budget show on TV it’s a huge accomplishment.
These two examples aren’t groundbreaking though, made-for-web TV has been around for several years. Manchester-based social media consultancy Real Fresh TV was, in a previous incarnation, a company that created live music programmes for the web. I should know – you can see me performing as The Star Fighter Pilot in this Real Fresh TV video from almost three years ago!
There are barriers to stop just any blogger creating shows like these off their own back on a regular basis. Lack of time, manpower, equipment and necessary skills can put the brakes on many bloggers’ web TV ambitions but by pooling resources with other likeminded folk there’s nothing to stop you diving into the world of online TV production if you want to. In the meantime, why not create some video for your blog on your own? It’s not pro standard but I created this video interview using just a Nokia N82 and Apple’s iMovie software which comes with every Mac. Microsoft include the similar Movie Maker with Windows.
If you’re an adult interested in creating video content, now’s the time to act on getting your skills up to scratch. I know a 12 year old girl who’s creating her own pop videos using Sony Vegas and clips of Hollywood films downloaded from the internet. She’s entirely self taught and the videos look great. The digital-native kids are coming so get your skates on and catch up!
