travel writer turned TV presenter

0The scene is a canal in Venice. A barge nudges the pavement; an artichoke salesman deftly trims his wares. Houses and tourists shimmer upside-down in the water.02br
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00Or they would if I were being a travel writer. As a travel presenter, all I can see is the muzzle of a camera, the crate of tomatoes where I am shortly to start my first piece to camera, and the plastic bottle marking where I must stop. And about 50 grinning schoolchildren who have paused to watch the fun.02br
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00'In your own time,' calls John, the director, and for a second I think about legging out of shot and down the nearest alley. Instead, I head for the tomatoes and start to speak02br
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00I have a question here, 'What did John mean by saying 'In your own time,'?02br
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00I fluff my lines immediately and walk back to the beginning. 'Replay,' says a teenager slyly, leaning against the wall.02br
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00A teenager from the crowd of 50 schoolchildren?02br
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00 I start again. This time some elderly shoppers turn to stare; I am wearing a radio mike, and if you are short-sighted enough not to spot the camera it looks as though I am talking to myself.02br
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00The assistant producer dives into a bar and I assume that he is phoning Manchester ('She is appalling. For God's sake get someone out here who can speak.'), but in fact a video game is interferring with our sound. The player agrees to stop for five minutes.02br
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00So this is what it's like being a TV personality.02br
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00Andrew and Nigel (cameraman and sound recordist: 01font00it's all first names in TV land02font00) are reassuring.02br
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00Does the red part mean they are important positions?02br
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00'There are so many things that can go wrong,' they say cheefully. Whenever I mess up, 00they assure me that it was the sound00 or the focus, for which 01font00I am pitifully grateful02font00. But I have read 01i00The Moons a Balloon02i00, and I remember that incident DavidNiven describes; when as a nervous young actor he did the first take and the extras and crew burst into spontaneous, and totally insincere, applause ... just to make him relax. So I never entirely believe them.02br
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01font00pitifully grateful02font00 means what? Does it mean the way you relieve then arouse sympathy and pitty in people?02br
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00Standing about in Venice in various attitudes, gazing into Andrew's lens as Nigel fiddles with my shirt, fixing the radio mike, I have plenty of time to mull over the differences between travel writing and travel presenting. The only thing they have in common is the subject. As a writer, you can afford to let things happen, to let a destination unfold around you. Sometimes nothing happens. At others, things happen so perfectly they seem orchestrated. You can move about unseen. You can walk, talk, smell , watch, and listen. You can conduct rambling interviews with people who may tell you nothing of value to your article, but who are good company. Or go for pointless walks just to get the feel of the place.02br
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00Television can afford no such luxury. Translating the feeling of a place into visual images requires a strange combination of creativity and clockwork organization. For a start there are quantities of people involved, both on the 01font00shoot02font00 and in the production office. Buildings must be 'filmable' at the right time of the day. Interviewees, however charming, must be able to perform. Complicated permissions must be sought. Pitfalls like noise or traffic problems must be anticipated. Above all, something must happen in front of the camera. There is no time to waste. Writing for television requires speed, economy and the realization that the pictures do a lot of the work for you. 01font00You soon find that a paragraph of writing does not necessarily make a fine piece of speaking.02font02br
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01font00shoot?02font02br
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01font00'You soon find....' means what? (I know the literal meaning)02font02br
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00My input on the Venice film, my first, was limited by experience and the fact that I was too worried about my lines to think straight, but even so, I could sense the excitement when 01font01u00it02u00 starts to work02font00; the feeling of teamwork that simply doesn't exist in my other life. There is even something about performing that appeals to me at some level. When you get it right, of course.02br
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00What is the referent of 01font01u00it.02u00 IMO, the first film, but then, why present tense: starts to work?02font02br
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00I find myself looking at my new job with a combination of horror and delight. There are so many new things to learn, for instance, in this busy and confusing world of GVs (general views, otherwise known as 'pretties'), APs(assistant producers) and PTCs (pieces to camera9, I am known as the 'talent'. I find this wildly flattering -- a sure sign of ignorance -- and am rather looking forward to my next film.02br
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00thanks0-