Monday 31 March 2014

Lazy media. What happened to editing

How lazy can the TV and Radio get.   The number of times I see the same edited shot repeated again and again in a programme.  Any one would think we still shot documentaries on film and the cost prohibited the camera man taking enough shots to satisfy the editor.  One example is Tony Robinsons programme on Channel 4 "Walking though Britain." If I saw the man walking down  a road once I saw him walk the same road again and again.  Exactly the same tree and scenery all representing different parts of the programme.  Do editors and directors think the public are blind and will not notice.  It's sloppy TV.  Michael Buerk "Inside the National Trust" was another example.  If we saw the same shot of him in a Victorian kitchen baking something we saw him again and again with the same dialogue.  Let's recap on everything after a commercial break.  Yes it uses up another minute of programming but it doesn't half make the programme less interesting.
It's like editing on the radio.  Or do I mean lack of editing on the radio.  With a bit of care the flow of a package can be improved by some de-uming. I mean edit out all the "ums"  and "ers" And we could get 30 seconds more interview in without changing the story.  The cry goes out that you are affecting the way a person communicates and this is not truthful. The fact that the person can't communicate properly in the first place because they can't string two words together says a lot for the choice of interviewee.  Lets be kind and help them get their story across to us in an understandable way so we don't loose interest.  Isn't the role of the media to help people tell their story in an interesting way not to make them sound like morons.  And as for Robert Peston (Business Editor at the BBC) How that man got himself a job on BBC in front of the camera I will never know.  Must have friends in high places.  Give him a script and he's fine and in fact interesting but ask him a question he hasn't prepared an answer for and you might as well go and make a cup of tea since he'll still be trying to get an answer out when you have finished pouring it.  Get him back behind a desk instructing other more capable presenter on what to say. Wow! Quite a few issues there.  I'm sure I'll return to them again and again in the future.

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