Escape Covid talk. I'll take you on a journey.

borolad259

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Staff member
I was lucky enough to make a series for National Geographic last year, following the old silk and spice routes across Turkey It was stunning and a real eye opener (some of the ancient history/archaeology was incredible).
So each day I'll post up a small section of the journey (5 to 10 mins), which I hope you will enjoy. Some fantastic scenery.

We're starting right on Turkey's closed border with Armenia, in the ruins of one what was once one of the most impressive cities on Earth: Ani.
Best watched full screen. Make sure to select 1080p in the settings (not auto).
 
Thoroughly enjoyed that and went into the Guidepost to find lots of things I will watch, I rarely watch tv in its old form terrestrial or Sky etc but tend to watch You Tube or Vimeo for all this archaeological historical interest.
BBC 4 has some good presenters like Joann Fletcher, Mary Beard, Dan Cruickshank, Dan Snow Jago Cooper and I like this fella on your post too.

Some of the stuff by Alice Roberts is ok but the cameraman never has her out of shot it's more about her than the subject, Lucy Worsley must have some mucky pictures of the DG at the BBC, she's never off there... Boring stuff too.
Anyway thanks for that, be interesting to hear how it's all produced from commissioning to editing and why ?
 
Thoroughly enjoyed that and went into the Guidepost to find lots of things I will watch, I rarely watch tv in its old form terrestrial or Sky etc but tend to watch You Tube or Vimeo for all this archaeological historical interest.
BBC 4 has some good presenters like Joann Fletcher, Mary Beard, Dan Cruickshank, Dan Snow Jago Cooper and I like this fella on your post too.

Some of the stuff by Alice Roberts is ok but the cameraman never has her out of shot it's more about her than the subject, Lucy Worsley must have some mucky pictures of the DG at the BBC, she's never off there... Boring stuff too.
Anyway thanks for that, be interesting to hear how it's all produced from commissioning to editing and why ?
If you watch anything with Lucy Worsley in, you can guarantee that within 5 minutes she'll be in a costume of some description. Still like her though

Good OP, interesting watch (y)
 
I'll be putting up one a day. There are some really incredible scenes to come. Ticker Tape, I might, on an idle evening at the end of this journey, do a Q&A about TV and commissioning etc (a subject that vexes me no end). I too scarcely switch the TV on these days. Unless it's to watch cycling.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed that and went into the Guidepost to find lots of things I will watch, I rarely watch tv in its old form terrestrial or Sky etc but tend to watch You Tube or Vimeo for all this archaeological historical interest.
BBC 4 has some good presenters like Joann Fletcher, Mary Beard, Dan Cruickshank, Dan Snow Jago Cooper and I like this fella on your post too.

Some of the stuff by Alice Roberts is ok but the cameraman never has her out of shot it's more about her than the subject, Lucy Worsley must have some mucky pictures of the DG at the BBC, she's never off there... Boring stuff too.
Anyway thanks for that, be interesting to hear how it's all produced from commissioning to editing and why ?

Alice Roberts :love:
 
OK, Sunday night. Here's part 2. This is the city of Van, close to the Iranian border. Strangely, in a country that committed genocide against the Armenian people, there's an appreciation of Armenian heritage. A couple of days after we filmed this, the island of Akdamar was packed with Armenians who make a pilgrimage there annually for the divine Liturgy. No easy matter. Something that you don't see in this film, but what I recall vividly, is the large number of pale skinned Iranian women in full make up and western clothing. Van is close to the Iranian border and is a popular holiday spot. The girls/women come over and revel in the freedom to put on heels and a skirt. The city has the vibe of a mediterranean holiday resort. I loved it actually. Remember, 1080p in settings and full screen.
 
I'll be putting up one a day. There are some really incredible scenes to come. Ticker Tape, I might, on an idle evening at the end of this journey, do a Q&A about TV and commissioning etc (a subject that vexes me no end). I too scarcely switch the TV on these days. Unless it's to watch cycling.
Id like that,be interesting. Your work will come from a budget, and without wanting to know any costs, all the production staff have to draw something from it. You must work with a director,and technical too?. Lot of drone work, is that yours too. Anyway Ilook forward to this if you get chance.
 
Id like that,be interesting. Your work will come from a budget, and without wanting to know any costs, all the production staff have to draw something from it. You must work with a director,and technical too?. Lot of drone work, is that yours too. Anyway Ilook forward to this if you get chance.

I'll do a Q&A on this series in particular at the end, then maybe something more general. I was Series Producer and Director on this project. It was a fairly huge undertaking. I flew to Turkey alone (hired by a UK production company) and worked with a Turkish crew (hired by the Turkish production company). The Turks were looking after the filming side (production) and the UK team were pre - production and post-production (editing, grading, writing commentary ... pretty much all me plus technicians). The drone op was the Turkish assistant camera op. He only crashed once :). Obviously the presenter was American (he's a Nat Geo regular). He was a little wooden at first but really grew into the way I wanted us to work. He is now one of my favourite people. Insanely clever and well read.
 
Colour is stunning, the shot of the city across its distance shows its beauty. The 2nd city looking away from it you can see for miles. Happened here last week like the 70s ,it must be traffic as weve lost the industry.
 
I'll be putting up one a day. There are some really incredible scenes to come. Ticker Tape, I might, on an idle evening at the end of this journey, do a Q&A about TV and commissioning etc (a subject that vexes me no end). I too scarcely switch the TV on these days. Unless it's to watch cycling.
So you have a large screen other than TV?
 
Some of those arial shots are fabulous - am assuming from a drone?

Mavic Pro 2. We had to fight hard to use it. Nat Geo were insisting on a larger Inspire. In the end they were happy with the image quality from the Mavic, which has a Hasselblad camera. @hopesobor, weird question but I have a 27 inch HD monitor on my home PC/edit system.
 
Wonderful that
Loved the quote
'you don't only travel to see, you travel to feel'

He does come out with some lovely stuff. All his pieces to camera are off the top of his head too. I really enjoyed when he would just go off on one.
 
Part 3. Mardin. An ancient settlement just north of the Syrian border ... an area that is quite militarised. Probably the most edgy I felt the whole trip. When we arrived in Mardin's modern town, things were tense because the PKK had just taken out the local head of the Turkish special forces in a gunfight that morning. That all melted away though as we headed up to the old town to film the sunset, get some drone shots and have a wander. It's lovely. A bit touristy .... the main street in the old town is just full of jewelry shops (prices are very low) and, weirdly, shops selling hand made soaps. I'd definitely go back. Watch full screen and select 1080p in settings for best quality.
 
These are excellent borolad259. I love stuff like this.

I really enjoyed the recent BBC series with Venice architect Francesco da Mosto called Francesco’s Mediterranean Voyage. He followed the old Venetian trading route from Venice to Istanbul, stopping of at many interesting places en route I found it fascinating, if you haven’t seen it its well worth a watch, imho anyway
 
Land of Ancients Part 4.
Antakya. This is a real foodie part of Turkey. Squashed between Syria and the Med, it's another cultural melting pot. It's also the place where Cristianity was born ... in fairly inauspicious surroundings.
 
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