To Simply Be
January 15, 2014 9:22 AM   Subscribe

Reddit's Slow TV channel offers long videos of continuous coverage by fixed cameras on a subject or event from start to finish. Take train rides, go the beach, watch fireworks, ride the Autobahn, visit the aquarium, check out a hot spring at Yellowstone, fry up some bacon or, tour the islands of Cat Ba near Ha Long Bay in North Vietnam

Background
"Slow TV is a term used for a genre of live "marathon" television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. The concept was adapted to local TV broadcast in 1966 by WPIX, to VHS video tape in 1984 by the British company Video125, to satellite TV in 2003 by Bahn TV, and to live TV in 2011 by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation."

More
* The YouTube user who created the North Vietnam video linked above has uploaded additional Slow TV videos.
* A playlist of 194 Slow TV videos. (lasts 8 days, 11 hours)
posted by zarq (18 comments total) 113 users marked this as a favorite
 
Very nice, but I can't relax and enjoy them because they keep reminding me that my tripod is crap...
posted by samworm at 9:41 AM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


I had an ask way back when trying to find more videos like the Norwegian train rides. Glad to know that kind of video has it's own genre now.
posted by thecjm at 9:42 AM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


My favorite thing like this is the Koningsplein webcam in central Amsterdam. HQ video and audio makes this one of the primary uses of my second monitor.
posted by jmccw at 9:55 AM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]




I have to find a way to make this show up on my Plex.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:03 AM on January 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


May pair well with Yooouuutuuube.
posted by codacorolla at 11:04 AM on January 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


May pair well with Yooouuutuuube.

Which may pair well with legalized marijuana...
posted by randomkeystrike at 11:44 AM on January 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've thought about making a "Cab Ride" FPP and maybe I still will. There's nothing more hypnotic than sitting in a dark room with the view from the train cab providing the only light.

Here's one of my favorites of the aircraft variety: Airbus A380 Approach and Landing in San Francisco.
posted by honestcoyote at 11:56 AM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


I did a quick scroll through the offerings and was shocked there were no sloths. For a Reddit offering that seems impossible to believe.
posted by tommasz at 12:01 PM on January 15, 2014


The Koningsplein Webcam is on my computer almost non-stop. I love to hear the tram bell and I was lucky enough to be living in Amsterdam while the 1,2 & 5 were rerouted from the Leidsestraat. I can't imaging that cam without the bells.

;-)
posted by humboldt32 at 12:05 PM on January 15, 2014


Also see Kiss (1963), Eat (1963), Sleep (1963), and Blow Job (1964) by Andy Warhol and The Yule Log broadcast on Christmas on WPIX NY (1966).
posted by Captain Chesapeake at 12:53 PM on January 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've thought about making a "Cab Ride" FPP and maybe I still will

Do it! I had a very enjoyable day or two putting the links together for this one.
posted by jontyjago at 12:59 PM on January 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


Aux commandes du TGV RESEAU : De Bruxelles - Midi à Paris - Nord (L'intégral)

(High-speed train from Brussels - Midi -> Paris - Nord)
posted by the painkiller at 1:05 PM on January 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


This is just what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!
posted by math at 1:57 PM on January 15, 2014


The David Hockney Yorkshire Landscape videos are enjoyable.
There is a taste here, starting at about 0:25.
But it's much more effective in person at his exhibits.
posted by artdrectr at 2:32 PM on January 15, 2014


What I find interesting is that these seem almost chosen to make compressed, digital video "lose it". In the aquarium footage the schools of smaller fish breaking apart and re-forming give the codec conniptions. The steam rising from the hot spring, the fireworks: worst-case scenarios. But my favorite video is the time-lapse drive across the country which seems practically orthogonal to what the system was designed for. There's almost no connection between the pixels of one frame and the next. Parts of the picture appear like they're looking at a Minecraft (or Lego blocks) world. Unintentional glitchcraft has me enchanted.
posted by cleroy at 5:18 PM on January 15, 2014 [4 favorites]


Or just spend an hour cruising down a micro cyber retro tunnel.

this is my cyberpunk yule log
posted by phooky at 5:34 PM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


I just saw this thanks to the podcast. I really find the beach thing calming.

Would there be a good say to stream this to my big TV above my fireplace for background purposes? Like a living piece of art/window to the beach kind of thing.
posted by dios at 1:47 PM on February 7, 2014


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