Exciting development!

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Exciting development indeed – I shall be glued to the screen!

**LINK**

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you for the link, Colin

Haven't seen the linked website before

Got involved with a survey and they wanted to know how I found it, so I mentioned the ModelBoats forum and associated thread

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Congratulations Bob and well done! I think that all that effort and time spent filming condensed into three minutes or so of air time is pretty typical so I'm really glad we had the opportunity to tell the full story in Model Boats.

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Well!…. There yer go boys!

Frankly, I was rather disappointed. Knowing what went on during the day, the editing was most severe!

No departure or arrival shots…..Not even the final Morse Code message……"Coast"! ……Shame on you, BBC!

Not even a mention of the Irish connection at Telegraph Field!

No mention of the catastrophic cable breakages in mid Atlantic

As a model boat based venture, it was very poor.

No long shots of the voyage or waterline shots etc……In fact the ModelBoats magazine portrayal did a much better job!

One of the highlights of the film was a very good close up of the model and Bob doing his Fred Dibnah act……"You're doing a great job"…….He said to Mark as he sailed about the pond.

It was nice to see myself and my brother Geoff on the opening scenes

Having said all that, I wouldn't have missed it for all the world!

Capt Bobrunel

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Colin

Thank you for your kind comments and I do agree with you, the ModelBoats Magazine, did a much more informative job!

My comment sums it up quite nicely!

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Don't worry about it Bob. That degree of editing is par for the course I'm afraid. Nearly all the footage ends up on the cutting room floor – I've seen it before. The people who put these programmes together live on a different planet to the rest of us and have different priorities, not least to squeeze as much as they can into the one hour slot available. You had a good time which is important and we got to tell the real story in Model Boats to the people who would be most interested. So it was all really worthwhile in the end.

Certainly something to tell the Grandchildren anyway!

Colin

[Mark Beard 1Participant @markbeard1]

Bob,

I understand the disappointment of not having as much footage aired, but I thought the slot did a good job of illustrating the historic cable laying and many of the technical issues involved, and included a reasonable show of you and the GE. I think you and her ladyship equipped yourselves rather finely actually, even if there was more shot than shown. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it. Well done to you and all who contributed to such an exciting adventure and an opportunity to show what fine scale model engineering can achieve.

All the best,

Mark

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Bob

I enjoyed the show especially the Fred Dibnah impression, TV people always throw away 90% of the footage but given all of the subjects covered during the show I thought they devoted a lot of time to your model.

Have you asked the BBC for a copy of the days filming?

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Paul and Mark

I'm quite surprised, the number of people who thought the programme was Ok? Which makes me feel better and relieved, after all the hype over the last few months.

They could have, at least shown the Morse signal being sent?

Don't fancy asking for a copy of the prog now…….The BBC read this thread!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Bob

I would think that the BBC will understand a request for a copy after all that part of the show was built around your model and if they do read this thread then they won't want to put off any other model makers from participation in any future programmes.

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Paul

There's no need for modellers to shy away from TV filming, as it is all very exciting and novel!

Just don't be disappointed with the end result and financial reward!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

What financial reward???

By the way where did you film as I don't recognise the pool.

Paul

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

Congratulations Bob on a great showing, I know you would have liked to see more of your participation, but what we did see was great, the GE was shown to great effect and as Mark said shows that model boat building is still alive and doing well.

You did get 8 of your 15 mnutes of fame that everyone is supposed to get so that can't be bad, just don't tell the BBC I've finished my Narra Boat! couldn't stand the stress! or cost!!

Duckie

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Paul

We had trial runs at Etherow Country Park, twice at New Brighton and the filming was done at Hoylake, which was an excellent venue

It's all documented in this thread, but you'll have a right job wading through it all!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Thanks for that Bob

But what about the money that you mentioned did you get a fee?

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Well! Look what the cat's brought in!…..lol

It's my old pal Duckie!……Hello my M8, your very welcome here!

Thanks for your kind words

Did you spot my brother Geoff , standing in for you, on the beach?

All the best, Peter……Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Paul

To spare the BBC's blushes…..I can't divulge the the amount paid!

Bob

[David WooleyParticipant @davidwooley82563]

Hi Bob You are a natural on TV and I certainly enjoyed the piece that was presented . I got the impression rightly or wrongly that the GE segment was actually a seed for a separate program centred on transatlantic communications. I say this because the Coast episode seemed rather disjointed in the presentation of material. I know the team spent some considerable time at both Rock Ferry the final resting place of the GE and of course Hoylake but I failed to see how such a subject as the laying of the transatlantic cable could be given such a brief coverage. Thankfully the real story of the GE was covered in MB no problem there. Having said all that the footage in this episode of Coast might have been short but will no doubt be seen world wide and repeated on various digital channels for months if not years to come, my congratulations to you and Geoff for a job well done.>>

Dave Wooley >>

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thanks Dave

The programme was far too short, when you consider all the effort that went into it, throughout the day

They could have made the prog twice as long and showed the sailing sequences and the terminal connections etc. Plenty of model shots would have been nice to watch, waterline close ups of the ship approaching would have been nice too. Graphic reference to the grappling hook duties would have raised a few eyebrows!

Some general long shots of the pond showing the seaside area would have been interesting

By making the prog twice as long, they could have saved all the expense of a further programme

Anyway, it's too late now…….Enough of my whinging?

We had a nice day, didn't we? And the magazine articles saved the day for Modelboat enthusiasts!

Bob

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Well done Bob, we know what you put in to the making of GE.

Len.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I think the original intention was indeed to give GE more exposure Bob, but somewhere along the line the powers that be decided to take the programme in a different direction and your footage, maybe together with other items, suffered as a result.Even in feature films, a lot of good stuff ends up on the cutting room floor because the director had second thoughts or there was simply too much material available. In this case the programme would have benefitted from a bit less Scilly Isles and a bit more Great Eastern.

The experience will however be enshrined in the Model Boats archives though!

Colin

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

Quite right Colin, A bit less walking in the sea between the Silly Isles,sorry Scilly Isles would have made the program more interesting for everyone, not much interest watching someone walking in the sea, see that everyday at the seaside!.

What a shame I missed the event with Bob though, having personal problems at home at the time, would have had it on video for YouTube then.

We are thinking of a night at the next club meeting to talk about the boat for those without PC's and the chance to see your great online threads on all subjects of boats

Duckie

Edited By Ducky on 22/05/2012 09:14:48

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Duckie

Having a talk at your club meeting is a great idea is there any chance of videoing it for youtube.

I really enjoyed the GEs little moment in the spotlight (shame some old duffer in a baseball cap kept getting in the way)

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Paul

We'll try a video at the club talk, but it may not be suitable, due to being in a smallish room?

But we've got a club regatta coming up shortly and we can do the buz then and if I get sorted out and plan it properly, we can probably outdo the BBC!

Then there is the Colwyn Bay regatta too

Bob the Duffer in the baseball cap

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Bob

After your experience with the BBC you must know all about filming these kind of things so it should be quite a good video.

Perhaps you should wear a greasy flat cap and a waistcoat with a watch chain for the best effect.

Paul

 

 

 

Edited By The Fat Controller on 23/05/2012 07:00:24

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