A View From A Bridge

0:05 [applause] Hi everybody. So I've got 10 minutes. I'll try and make this sound like I've not written it. I've got 10 minutes to talk about a view from a bridge. So I've been uming and about how to use this time. Wondering what people would be interested in. Is it interview techniques? How we go about editing? the power of music, the technicalities of production, finding guests, lessons learned, all of that kind of stuff. But really what I've decided to focus on is this like idea of chasing feelings and how that can lead to new ideas and then new feelings and then background again.

0:44 So I've made this which with that thing that's probably going to take the majority of you lot's jobs. Uh chat GPT just helped me make this. There are a few typos, but the point is, you know, if you go round and round and round and round enough, then maybe you'll, you know, explode with feelings and ideas, uh, in a good way. Um, I hope that helps explain it. Anyway, so I think it's safe to say that a view from a bridge, although I have to say I'm really sorry, but I've not got any videos to show what this thing is. So, I'm kind of hoping that some people know at least what the project is. Uh if not

1:23 I do apologize. Uh it so I I think it's safe to say that a view from a bridge started because I was feeling dejected that social media had seemed to kind of forgotten the art of actually interesting human storytelling. Um, there's a million and one interview channels across social media, uh, of which some do share some quite beautiful stories, but they always seem to either carry a lot of noisy cutaways, graphics, or even worse, have a really present presenter on screen. And when the presenter wasn't on screen, I could somehow still feel their presence sort of lurking behind the camera, sweating

2:00 away and kind of yeah, all of that nasty stuff. And anyway, we lose our focus on the individual who's telling the story and opening up and it becomes about something it was never really meant to be. And I wasn't happy about that. I'm telling you. [laughter] Um, I think really that since a project called Humans of New York, which I'm sure most of you guys uh are aware of, the classic internet storytelling project from a while back, um, I hadn't really seen anything that resonated with me as much in the genre of human storytelling. Uh, and obviously, you know, it's important to say here that I'm really only talking about social

2:39 media storytelling. There's plenty of films and genius projects occurring out of the confines of our phone, which it's important to remember sometimes. But I just found it weird that Instagram and that other horrible app that rhymes with flip-flops um currently had this hole for like what I thought was kind of good human storytelling.

3:01 I wanted to feel like this, but human storytelling on social media made me feel like this. Uh, one thing was for sure, and as defeist as it sounds, I was never going to stop scrolling on my phone. So, there was only one solution, and that was really just to try and make something that might not make me want to scream in the into the void anymore, uh, but in fact make me happy to have found it on my on my scroll. Uh, so I began to come up with some ideas of how I might try and present a new human storytelling show for the masses.

3:38 Um anyway, so yeah, half of the work kind of already done in that I knew I knew exactly what I didn't like and exactly what I didn't want my project to feel like or look like or to whatever. Uh I think really that inspiration is just as useful when it comes in the form of something which is totally uninspiring.

4:01 Uh in fact I think the most inspired I get in life is really from should look up is really from uh where was I? Uh in fact I think the most inspired I get in life is from seeing stuff which makes me wretch. Uh of course I love to be inspired by great work as well but that comes with way too much jealousy. So I think it's best to be avoided at all times. Um, obviously that's a joke kind of, but uh um anyway, aside from the garbage and of course uh and of course amazing artworks, films, podcast, and whatever else, I often find myself more inspired just by a feeling. Uh, and that feeling isn't really like resulted from something that

4:49 someone else has created to be looked at or admired, but more so something that's the result of a set of circumstances or an environment which allow the brain to simply let go of the noise and get into a kind of unfamiliar flow. Airport terminals, planes, the front of a car, long train rides and parks, that kind of thing. Oh, um, that kind of thing.

5:18 I'm just going to read back because otherwise I'm not going to find created to be looked at or admired but rather the result of a set of circumstances or an environment which allow the brain to simply let go. Oh yeah. Then airport terminals, rides in the parks, fertile ground to think back on life and put these ideas and memories under the microscope which thus lead to more ideas and the desire to make more memories.

5:37 Sort of what I was getting at with the the idea of the nonspace. Uh oh no, not the with this thing. Sorry. Uh anyway, by thinking about these environments in which I found myself inspired, it became clear that for this new show that I wanted to come up with, the idea should be to really try my best to put a person under those similar circumstances so they too can have that the most fertile ground to think and recall their thoughts and stories. Uh the challenge then became to seek out a place where someone is able to feel how I feel when I'm alone in an airport or I'm on a long drive sitting in the front row with one

6:13 other person staring at the road ahead and yeah just staying at the road ahead and chatting away. Um, I needed to avoid a setting where eye contact, smiling, nodding your head, and making any kind of face or movement which is supposed to prove that yes, I am engaged in this interaction we are having was completely off the cards.

6:35 I had to find a I had to find or create a space and set up circumstances which made a guest feel the power of that nonspace. um the power which a nonspace can have on our mind while at the same time figuring out a way to record them in a way which didn't get all up in their face and thus dismantle the whole reason of putting them in one of these supposed non-spaces.

6:58 Um, so yeah, a great example of something close to what I was searching for was a film I watched about 10 years ago. And it was called The Runners, and it was a simple and really brilliant short documentary where the filmmakers interviewed people while they were running in Victoria Park and sort of challenging them with uh intimate questions while on their run and liberated from their responsibilities that their guards had dropped dramatically. Excuse me. which uh shout out to uh Mangal for that little burp.

7:30 Uh liberated from responsibilities their their guard dropped dramatically which lead to these beautiful and beautifully frank conversations. It's probably one of the most overused references ever also but thanks Alfred for Rear Window. uh that film and its university relatable curiosity is something I definitely thought about a lot when trying to come up with an idea for my show. Uh also then remembered a project I did at art school based off a similar way of catching someone off guard. Uh this was when I was up in Glasgow School of Art somehow 10 years ago now. And the idea was to interview people the moment

8:08 they'd woken up. So, I asked people in my student halls for their room key and told them I'd be there at 6:00 a.m. to interview them. Uh, so I wake up at half 5 in the morning and creep into their room with two tripod mounted DSLRs on my shoulders and set one up at the foot of the bed on a wide lens and one close up uh by their pillow. I roll cameras and turn the lights on and just start pelting them with questions about their life. Um, this slide is in honor of the 5 hours I just spent looking for the sleep uh interviews. Uh, I'd like to actually now observe a if you if you don't mind, I'd like to observe a 10-second silence for

8:52 for everyone that's ever lost any work on a hard drive, spilled coffee in their computer, uh, burnt a tape, or just corrupted anything that meant anything to them. So, if you don't mind, I'm just going to take 10 seconds. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Very respectful. Very respectful. Um so anyway, the results of the sleep film idea were they were great really. And uh it produced some really emotive interviews. Um, I ended up with doing about 15 of these in total, but before I knew it, I was distracted with the next idea and made a film about a bus driver, which was really fun. Uh, anyway, I never got around to editing

9:42 the the the bed stuff, but I was more interested in the experiment of it and seeing how it would play out. Um, it's one of these ideas I always think about. So, I wondered how I might try and revive it and remold it for this new show. But uh it's not that funny joke really. But since but since I didn't live with in halls filled with avantgard creatives anymore, it would probably be a bit harder to pull off logistical blah blah blah. You know, you're going to call your friends.

10:12 Oh, can I have your keys for your house and drive and cameras? It's just too much to do this if you're not living in student halls is basically the what I'm trying to say here. Um okay. So, I'm going to maybe speedrun the next process bit because really process is only so interesting really. I I think uh but I'm going to kind of Yeah, I'll speedrun it. Okay, so uh I eventually decided that the storyteller should not be able to see me. This is for the new show I'm coming up with, hence why the bed wouldn't no longer work. So, the person So, they shouldn't be able to see me, which would be the person that they'd be conversing

10:51 with. Um, so I would need to figure out a way that I could see and film them. And to cut a long story short, the process of elimination began and left me with bridges and a zoom camera. In their own way, bridges are nonspaces. They're not destinations, yet in their design and form, we kind of treat them like one.

11:13 They're a place that I think we become immediately more introspective on as they tend to quite literally have the effect of broadening our horizons which naturally has a knock-on effect on our thought patterns and general sense of vulnerability and being. Sounds made up but I think it's I think it I think I think it's true. Uh the bridge the bridge brain wave led to uh to weeks of technical research, camera, sound equipment research, loads of test shoots with different kit, which finally led to the to the brain wave of the zoom out.

11:45 Uh and at first the zoom lens was really just for the obvious reason of being able to see the guest from afar, but I then figured that the zoom actually offered quite a lot more and solved the question of b-roll and cutaways and how to sort of make something that can fight up against like Mr. beast doing a million cutaways per second and I didn't you know I wanted to do some kind of cutaways but to make it relevant to the story it was it was really hard. Uh so essentially the the zooming out zooming out there are essentially thousands of cutaways happening in any one video in that new information is

12:22 being added to the picture. Um with each second the camera zooms further and further. A new building coming into shot. A different person coming into frame. Something being revealed in the foreground, in the background. Oh, wait. They're take talking from a service station bridge over a motorway. Wow, that's a cool boat. Check out the bird's nest floating on the water. And how about that old couple just sitting on the bench. Ah, look at those guys taking a selfie. That kind of thing, you know, we you get the idea. Um, but but with each Yeah, with each frame, more life reveals itself. All the while our guest

12:57 story is also unfolding and revealing itself uh in front of them and the viewer at home. This is when I really started getting excited and the fun was about to start. So next um so next came the next came video tests and edit test and sound test and more questions about how to communicate with uh the person on the other side on the bridge. Um and then the idea of the phone came out and there's a oh lots of stories about that which again who who cares but no well another day another day but this is late it's late. Um, anyway, all the kit was in place, the editing method locked in, the concept was tight. Uh, the only thing missing

13:46 was knowing if it would actually work with real life people that we'd street cast. Um, and if any of this nonsense I've been talking about in terms of nonspaces uh would actually work uh and allow people to really let their guard downs and crucially let their ideas flow. Um, luckily the my calculations were in fact correct and it worked a dream. On the first day of real world tests, my friend Hannah joined me to Millennium Bridge. Um, I set up my camera on the banks of the tempames and she went and pitched the idea to strangers who were crossing the bridge. A few after a few hours, we were totally astonished by the

14:27 stories and perspectives that were shared with us by strangers. The bridge, the anonymity, the nostalgia of the phone proved successful in cultivating open, frank conversations. And it was really just the most amazing day where you can sort of just feel that something something's in the air really. It was great. Uh it was a shame that I'd plugged the wrong the cable into the wrong hole on the microphone and that the entire day's recording was lost. again.

14:57 RIP in peace. Uh but you know, it happens and I didn't cry at all. Um it didn't matter. The stage was set and the project was born. Um I I actually I do wish there was time to be able to share my insights into how I conduct the conversations and what I've learned about myself and others uh during this process. Actually quite mad to see all of these faces on the big screen. All every I've some of these conversations are 10 minutes. Some of them are and two hours some are an hour and a half. But from London and all across the UK, Paris, New York, Mexico City, I've been on the other end of that red phone just listening to people's

15:50 stories and sort of coaxing things out of them and just I don't know, having these great conversations which I uh I've had just the best the best time ever doing really. Uh anyway, yeah. So, I guess for now all I really have to say is to for thank you to anyone who's ever picked up the phone and trusted me with your story. Um, because it it means every completely everything and for trusting us with editing your truths and whatever it is that you've you've shared. It's Yeah, it's great. Um, thanks to all my friends, old and new, who help on this project. It's been the greatest pleasure I've ever had. Anyway, if you would like

16:37 to scan this QR code for our new podcast, please. It will you can all subscribe. It's rather good. I have to say it's we don't have any corporate sponsors. I've just gone just freestyle. Don't know why it's honestly stressed me out. So, just give it a follow, please. And uh I regret it completely, but it is good. One. Anyway, final thing. I've got some other notes here that I was going to say. You know, I don't really know if any of what I said about my inspiration is true at all. All the stuff about thinking back to past projects and inspirations, there's really no way of knowing if I did think about any of that

17:14 stuff or not. Um, I didn't have any spider diagrams or mood boards for view from a bridge. But if I were to give it my best bet, that's what I would have been thinking about, even if I wasn't conscious of it at the time. Uh and truthfully, it's only in creating this presentation that I've realized how I have in fact been affected by the things I've obsessively watched and listened to over the years. Which is why I wanted to explore this concept of the feeling and the idea. Because however big or small or seemingly good or bad that idea we have is, I think it really is the result of every single thing we've ever done

17:48 and experienced leading up to that moment. So, it's always worth investigating it and investigating it and putting it under the microscope. And finally, if any of you agency people, I've got good lawyers now. I see the I see the uh I see the copies out there. I see the brand deals going behind my back. I'm looking at you, Dixon. So, you know, let's just let's all play nice. If you want to work with us, just give us a call. Uh if not, I got some real good lawyers now.

18:20 Uh no, it's all love kind of. Um but but yeah, thank you. And I hope maybe some of you if you have an amazing story, give us an email. We'll put you on the bridge and we'll share it with the world and create wonderful stuff for the internet, which we need. Yeah. Woo. [applause and cheering]