Friday, June 30, 2006

The Video Diary

Well, the video diary has finally made its appearance – albeit I heard about it when Owen mailed me to say he’d seen it, rather than when the BBC sent me a proof copy as they say they will in their documentation.

To be honest, even after getting over the initial embarrassment of seeing and hearing myself on screen, I am not much taken with it. The editing looks like a very hurried job. I would have used the music the other way around; starting on the opening of Teddy Bear’s Picnic and finishing with the end of Something Inside So Strong, which is shorter, sharper and less camp. I could also have done a better job with the voice-over; it all looks very serious, as I’m not smiling, and I’d followed the advice they give on their ‘tips for filming’ which says not to prepare a script but to talk naturally to camera – which means lots of umming and ahhing, as I wing my way through the list of notes on my cue card. (In retrospect, I think they probably meant don’t stand in front of the camera with your head buried in a piece of paper, reciting the words written there.)

So anyway, I have a DVD copy of most of the original footage I gave them, so when I get the time (I think we’re talking August now) I’ll try editing it together the way I would have done it and see if I like that any better…

See here for the BBC’s version in the meantime.

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