For a long time now we have been able to select subtitles, or signing, to accompany television programmes, so when will the BBC, and others, give us the option to choose commentary, or to turn it off (along with those annoying little logos)?

Today's splendid service from St Paul's Cathedral would have been so much better without James Naughtie telling us what was happening when we could see for ourselves, and greatly improved if we could have opted out of the drivel he insisted on spouting as the procession left the Cathedral, having just told us how magnificent the organ music was!

On a positive note, it was a real treat to see three children I know singing in the Diamond Choir, and all of them in the two front rows.

Not having a television. my wife and I chose to watch the Royal Wedding, a year ago, on the Royal YouTube Channel. There we enjoyed the whole event without the innane comments of so-called 'journalists' uttering trivial rubbish, as happened on Sunday. The quality of the commentary, both for the Royal Pageant and at St Paul's was utterly appalling. I have never held these so-called 'journalists' in any regard, but this was the worst ever.

Barry Williams

In my humble opinion, it is about time that 'journalists' were reminded of their duty to report the news in an honest and unbiased way; and not to create the news, as so often seems to be the case these days.

I was also disappointed to see several BBC reporters not wearing ties this morning; whilst it seems that good diction is no longer prerequisite for those working in radio and television.

On a positive note, the music from St Paul's was wonderful; especially the last verse of Cwm Rhondda. It is just a shame that many of those privileged enough to be invited chose not to sing.

SB

SB - the last verse arrangement was by Simon Johnson - who for those who aren't aware, is Organist and ADoM at St Paul's. A particular quirk at St Paul's at the moment is the fact that the DoM is a non-organist.

The service was excellent, apart from the oops with the prayers (which in my opinion all seemed unrehearsed and sloppy), and for me the musical highlight was the new anthem composed for the service. It seems to have been met with a positive reception.

Tosher

I agree with much of what has been written here. My mum was staying with me over the weekend and we sat to watch the river pageant on Sunday. The quality of commentary on the BBC was very poor. The only thing in its favour is that it wasn't Eamon Holmes on Sky who was even worse. More than once key events were missed (e.g. HMS Belfast firing its guns) because of a cut to a "vox pop" complete with microphoen thrust to some unsuspecting person who is asked an inane question.

Why did we keep cutting back to the 'studio' for meaningless drivel from a pair of clueless non-entities? (I have no idea who they were, no doubt they are 'popular' ). They had Tom Cunliffe (well known writer on matters nautical) as the tame expert who was rarely allowed to say much and when asked questions, was asked something inane or stupid, e.g. the semaphor signals near the RFH (very few people read semaphore).

I nearly threw something at the TV over the Tower Bridge incident - good on the Bridge Master for ignoring the stupid questions.

I want news to be reported, possibly expounded by intelligent comment. I do not want opinion or invented polemic being passed off as news.

St. Pauls was definitely better than Sunday, but later on sadly reverted to type.

UPDATE: I decided to put my money where my mouth is and I have written to the BBC...

Hopefully Simon Johnson will make the last verse arrangement of Cwm Rhondda available to all at some point. I also note that Guide Me oh Thou Great Redeemer has been used twice at major royal events in the past year, so perhaps it is a favourite of theirs.

Regarding the intercessions; I felt very sorry for the young girl who lost her page, although I thought she held her nerve exceptionally well under the circumstances. I am sure we have all done it at some point, and will know how the seconds feel like hours.

But with so many bods around, wouldn't you think there would be someone waiting in the wings with the correct page open just in case of such an eventuality?

SB

SB - I think Cwm Rhondda is a favourite of the Prince of Wales! He likes his church music, I believe.

Oh yes I felt sorry for her - it felt like an eternity. Her muttering "oh God" under her breath is probably what drew media attention to the slip. If it were me I'd have (hopefully) tried to round off what I was saying and make it a 'prayerful silence' whilst I found the correct page! However, she was only 16. I have to say that the other prayer readers seemed to be going far too fast, almost getting tongue tied, and really relying on the booklet. They should have known these short prayers by heart, the book not being required less for a prompt. To me, this didn't appear to be the case.

But don't get me wrong, I thought it was an excellent service. I was particularly taken with the sermon, I thought Rowan spoke well on the subject of dedication.

I wonder why the nave organ console isn't used for such an event? It only seems to be used for recitals? Then again, it isn't as though the 'main' console is particularly remote or away from the conductors' eyeline. It seems an expensive piece of kit to purchase just for a handful of annual recitals compared with a projector and screen, I must say.

Tosher

I have already ranted about this in the Cafe.

Good for you in writing to the Beeb, Tenor Viol. Have you seen the pages of irate comments on the BBC message boards?? I don't think we're alone...

I missed the service (but will hopefully see it on iPlayer) but watched the afternoon's proceedings on Sky. I thought Eamonn Holmes might be ghastly but he was nowhere near as bad as his counterparts on the BBC. Whenever there was a commercial break I switched back to the Beeb where, EVERY SINGLE TIME, it was some idiot interviewer interviewing idiotically... . Not once in those breaks did I see a single shot of the procession itself.

Very, VERY poor show, BBC.

We were just discussing it (yet again) here.

My son has just pointed out that immediately after the final beat of Cwm Rhondda, in those golden moments whilst the 32' reeds were still reverberating around St Paul's, the announcer cut over the glorious soundtrack sound to tell us that "that was Guide me o Thou Great Redeemer", as if we didn't know.

SB

Another very irritating trend on the part of the BBC is to put the credits over the end of events. At the glorious climax of the fireworks after the concert on Monday evening it was impossible to see properly for the credits. Again yesterday after the Rolf Harris art programme, Rolf's finished painting with the Coronation coach was overlaid by the credits.

No-one is denying that credits should be put up, but quite honestly, no-one is going to look at them if they are on top of something they want to watch! Why can't they allow a decent finish to new programme stuff, and then show the credits over repeats of something shown earlier? You'd think they'd be pleased to have more programme time taken up, but apparently they can't wait to broadcast that wretched Euro2012 advert for the 10.000th time.

Despite all the moans, I think we are so lucky to have TV coverage of these wonderful events. BerkshireDaughter went up to London on Sunday (got soaked on Westminster Bridge) and Tuesday (a great viewpoint on the Trafalgar Square side of Admiralty Arch) and loved the atmosphere of actually being there. But the truth is, you get an unbelievably wonderful ringside seat in your own living room - even the Queen can't get so much detail at the event. As you say, if only the commentary had been more to the point as in the days of Richard Dimbleby, it would have been fantastic. How long until we are given a choice of commentaries using our red button, do you think?

I am. Why does the film and television industry feel that it needs to tell us which overpaid individuals were involved in making the programme I have just watched? I might like to know who the main characters were, or who wrote the script, but I don't want or need to know who switched the lights on, who did the rigging or who made the tea.

I any case, most of the credits roll past far too quickly to be read anyway, so why bother? Perhaps in these days of digital television we should be able to press the red button to find out?

(By the way, can anybody tell me who the "Best Boy" is in film production, as I have a very fertile mind?)

SB

Here is a definition of 'Best Boy':-


Best boys are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the lighting or grip department. Their many responsibilities include the hiring, scheduling, and management of crew; the ordering, inventory, and returning of equipment; overseeing workplace safety and maintaining discipline within their department; completing timecards and other paperwork; stocking of expendables; loading and unloading production trucks; planning and implementing the lighting or rigging of locations and/or sound stages; coordinating with rigging crews and additional photography units (if applicable); handling relations with the other production departments; overseeing the application of union rules (where relevant); and serving as the day-to-day representative of the department with the unit production manager and coordinator of the film.

The best boy also commonly accompanies or stands in for the Key Grip or Gaffer during technical scouts. During shooting, the best boy may also cover for the key grip or gaffer when he/she is on break or otherwise away from set.

On films with very small crews, the electric (lighting) department often consists of only a gaffer, a best boy, and a few electricians. The grip department may include only a key grip, a best boy, and a few grips. Large-scale productions such as major motion pictures commonly include full-time rigging and second unit crews, and in total may hire many dozens of grips or electricians at one time.

Word origin


Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/best-boy#ixzz1x1dld4jL

The BBC are answering complaints of this nature today (Wed 6th) at 4:30pm on Radio 4 in The Media Show.

I'm sure that you'll be able to find it on Listen Again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jhdh3

Ref. the use of the main console, rather than that in the nave at St Paul's. Those of us lucky enough to have, or perhaps formerly to have had the use of, a relatively spacious loft or pulpitum will readily appreciate the opportunity to relax in an armchair or sofa, and to sip some beverage or other*, whilst the longueurs of the spoken parts of the service proceed.

There is a great advantage to being 'out of vision'.

* even, in some places, to have a fry-up.

Thank you for clarifying that Barry.

I stand corrected.

I used to have an elderly Uncle and Aunt who lived in a picturesque hamlet near to Henley on Thames, which was favoured by film producers as a quintessentially English location.

Every once in a while these people would descend on their hamlet in their hundreds, spending a whole week filming a handful of 30 second sequences. As you might imagine the disruption was not always welcome.

My relatives could never quite understand who was doing what or why, and as my Aunt remarked, "they all call each other 'Darling'," so it remained a mystery to them, as it does to me.


SB

BBC web site (se here) is saying about 2,500 complaints received. Very complacent tones though - 2,500 is a lot of complaints to have received in a little over a day!

They seem to be trying to take the "it was an informal event" tack. Sorry - won't wash. They missed the start, They missed the full raising of tower Bridge, they missed the Royal barge going through Tower Bridge, they missed the salute from HMS Belfast, to name but a few. There were no feeds from the music barges. There was very little footage of the other boats and ships in the flotilla. Rather than some of the inane drivel it would have been nice to have had an interview with the Venetian Gondola crews or the Maori war boat crew.

There was almost no explanation of the route or where people, or events, were. I don't live in London - I have a vague sense of the geography of London so some comments about that would have been useful to a non-Londoner. Mind you I'm used to broadcasters assuming we all live in or near London.

This is very interesting...

http://any2words.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/co...y.html?spref=fb


and on the same subject...

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/201...lla-barges.html

What else can you expect from someone whose name clearly ought to be pronounced "Naughty" but vainly insists on it being "Nockerty"

I suspect that's next door to where I play, and, vaguely interestingly, it has an early electronic[1] organ.

[1] I'm fairly sure its a pre-digital machine.

Thanks Cyrilla for posting those blogs. I had no idea that music had been specially commissioned for the Pageant, and it makes me very angry when I consider how much inane drivel we had to endure during the course of the broadcast when we could have been listening to live music.

I had an email from a proud parent yesterday whose son sang in the Diamond Choir at St Paul's. Said parent was tucked away at the back of the transept and saw practically nothing of the service, not even his own son. But it seems that the congregation were given over an hour of brass and organ music while they sat waiting for the service to start.

And what did we get? None of it.

It is no good writing to the BBC. At best you will get a standard letter saying how much they value your input, and that your comments will be passed on for further consideration. What's the betting that Raymond Snoddy brings up the topic on Saturday morning, and that a BBC representative will sit there all po faced trying to defend the indefensible?

It is indefinsible but they're not going to lose face and admit it.

I didn't watch any of the televised festivities, but I have watched a rugby match where the red button option allowed you to have no commentary and just the microphones round the pitch and the ref's and it was much better.

No, I had no idea either, which is why I posted those blogs. Absolutely outrageous that music was specially commissioned, interviews were recorded...and then we heard none of it.

Bah.

This is

I haven't been back there for years, but the local hostelry had a fine selection of ales, and some excellent food. (I believe they had a Chilean Chef for many years.) It was one of those places I would like to stay in for a week just to make my way through the menu.

However, there was certainly a working pipe organ when I last visited (around 2001), and according to the NPOR Register there is no word of an electronic replacement.

Mind you; there are quite a few private residences in the area with their own house organs.

SB

OK, not the one I was thinking, I was thinking of Rotherfield Peppard for which the NPOR is a little out of date.

The more I read about this, the more convinced I am that the right thing to do was to hold a Choral Evensong.

P4

I note that the few bars of music from the River Pageant that were relayed by the BBC were all well known favourites, such as Rule Britannia.

I wonder whether the BBC has caught a dose of Classic-FM-itis?

SB

I see that today's Times has joined in commenting on the coverage - so it's not just "the usual suspects".

Further to the above, this link will take you to a recording of Handel on the Thames from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee day.

SB

Thankyou. They were nuts not to show this!

Well, this was rather superior to anything the BBC showed...

*still fuming about the coverage*

I'm glad to see that the commentary on Trooping the Colour was back to their usual standard.

I just saw the highlights tonight and I totally agree...I just sat there and thought, 'Now THAT'S more like it!'