I hope the answer to that question is yes because I have to admit to being rather smitten with it! My son started playing & in order for us to be able to spend some ‘quality time’ together I decided to take it up too. But, very quickly, this became like a guilty pleasure - as though I was betraying the outdoors by fraternising with the enemy. Surely, as someone committed to the enjoyment of the great outdoors, let alone running a channel dedicated to outdoors programming, I couldn’t side with the 'pink roll neck & chequered trouser' brigade? Surely I must be on side with Mark Twain, not wishing to spoil any walk with the disruption of hitting (let alone trying to find) a small white ball!
So why then, do I find myself with similar feelings & thoughts when setting out on the course, as I do when heading out into the New Forest for a good hike? The other day we came across a Green Woodpecker on the fairway, gloriously oblivious to our presence & closer than I have ever managed to get in the wild. So does this encounter not constitute an ‘outdoors moment’ simply because the environment is man made & there purely for the enactment of a rather silly, if incredibly engrossing game?
Let's consider this a little. When venturing out into the wilderness, we often think we are experiencing an environment devoid of human intervention – it’s wild, untouched, beautiful in its purity. But in reality even our wildest spots are as they are because of man’s activity, from the Scottish Highlands, shaped by the great clearances to deforested mountain ranges. There really is very little in the world, let alone in this country that represents the planet left untouched. So maybe we should worry less about the nature of the landscape & just celebrate any activity that takes you outside & into a beautiful environment, whether that be a golf course or the Isle of Skye.
In defence of golf (albeit with a remaining air of detachment from the golfing community itself) it is a gentle sport where taking pleasure in your surroundings is all part of the game & that surely is no bad thing? OK there are arguments against the building of courses & water usage which are fully justified but that’s a different discussion.
It could be argued that golf is just ahead of the curve in that it requires a landscaped facility. Mountain Biking is burgeoning again partly as a result of the construction of trail centres, which are hugely popular. White water kayaking now almost exclusively uses man made courses for major international competitions & one of the oldest outdoor pursuits – skiing - has used pistes for 150 years or so. So the argument about golf using a man made course just doesn’t stack up.
It is more likely then that the qualification for inclusion in the outdoors enthusiast’s acceptable pursuit list is more about a certain lifestyle image than the activity itself. In that respect golf just doesn’t cut it! But I don’t care. I like to dress in sharp suits & stroll round Westminster & the Embankment whenever I’m in town but equally, I love crashing in the back of my van on filming trips, cooking up pasta on my Trangia & layering up in fleeces & a softshell! The suits don’t cancel out the softshell & golf doesn’t cancel out mountaineering. Nor should it. An ‘outdoors lifestyle’ shouldn’t be an exclusive set up, an ‘either, or’ option.
So, my guilty pleasure is not golf, it is not caring! All I have to do now is worry about my handicap which is, at the moment, being really rather bad at golf!
Roger Burlinson
Creative Director - Outdoors TV
Monday, 16 March 2009
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Building up to DW
In April, we're filming the Devizes to Westminster canoe race. Now, I confess this is an event that, until recently, I had no idea existed. I did all my canoeing in the Scouts & that was longer ago than I care to divulge here, so this fixture just wasn't on my radar. That was until a climber we interviewed for the Tremadog Revival Festival programme revealed that he was attempting the race for the first time this year.
After that, we made the decision to film it & last weekend I went along to one of the warm up events with Matt - our presenter to take a look & do a little filming practice. Now, I ought to point out that we don't normally need to practice filming - it's what we do & it comes fairly naturally. But this was mobile camera work, on a bike, along a narrow bumpy towpath, chasing canoeists who really ought to be going a bit slower, if only out of consideration for the poor bloke on a bike trying to film them!! I soon realised why Matt had suggested we go & "practice"!
We certainly revealed some weak points in the production plan (namely me..... on a bike.... with a camera) but this meant that we could go away & figure out some better options before the big one on the Easter weekend. I certainly wouldn't want to detract from the amazing feat these paddlers are taking on (125 miles non-stop, over night), nor their support crews who probably endure more stress, if not physical exhaustion, but it occurred to me that filming this event was going to be something of a marathon endeavour in its own right!
It's not the mileage or the 24 hours non-stop. It's the logistics of ensuring we're in the right place to catch the hot favourites in action at each major point along the whole length of the course. Then there's the mobile shots from a bike on the tow path & capturing the essence of the checkpoints & portages, while being at the finish when the leaders come in. And all this with just two people & one main camera!
Military precision will be essential for us, but looking seriously at our ever evolving plan, I think we should just be OK & that will be fantastic, as this year's event is looking like being one of the best ever, which could give us a great programme &, hopefully, a really good portrait of the amazing challenge that is: The DW.
Oh, and we're going to be filming ourselves during the 24 hour production, to tell the story of this great adventure, so if we don't manage to be in all the right places at all the right times, there's bound to be something to keep Ann Robinson happy from the 'making of' footage!
Roger Burlinson
Creative Director - Outdoors TV
After that, we made the decision to film it & last weekend I went along to one of the warm up events with Matt - our presenter to take a look & do a little filming practice. Now, I ought to point out that we don't normally need to practice filming - it's what we do & it comes fairly naturally. But this was mobile camera work, on a bike, along a narrow bumpy towpath, chasing canoeists who really ought to be going a bit slower, if only out of consideration for the poor bloke on a bike trying to film them!! I soon realised why Matt had suggested we go & "practice"!
We certainly revealed some weak points in the production plan (namely me..... on a bike.... with a camera) but this meant that we could go away & figure out some better options before the big one on the Easter weekend. I certainly wouldn't want to detract from the amazing feat these paddlers are taking on (125 miles non-stop, over night), nor their support crews who probably endure more stress, if not physical exhaustion, but it occurred to me that filming this event was going to be something of a marathon endeavour in its own right!
It's not the mileage or the 24 hours non-stop. It's the logistics of ensuring we're in the right place to catch the hot favourites in action at each major point along the whole length of the course. Then there's the mobile shots from a bike on the tow path & capturing the essence of the checkpoints & portages, while being at the finish when the leaders come in. And all this with just two people & one main camera!
Military precision will be essential for us, but looking seriously at our ever evolving plan, I think we should just be OK & that will be fantastic, as this year's event is looking like being one of the best ever, which could give us a great programme &, hopefully, a really good portrait of the amazing challenge that is: The DW.
Oh, and we're going to be filming ourselves during the 24 hour production, to tell the story of this great adventure, so if we don't manage to be in all the right places at all the right times, there's bound to be something to keep Ann Robinson happy from the 'making of' footage!
Roger Burlinson
Creative Director - Outdoors TV
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