Sunday 29 June 2008

London to Brighton in 4 Minutes


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7GXWuTwkF8

This short film was made in 1953 to act as an interlude, a quick TV spot that could be used to fill in when there was nothing else to broadcast, in case of lapses in the schedule, cancellations, technical problems etc. It has a hypnotic quality and might be able to produce an altered state of consciousness if watched enough times. It's really cool if you turn down the sound and listen to this song as the soundtrack!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MzShg7yXik , something I've wanted to do since I first saw the film and listened to the song when I was a kid, years before the advent of YouTube. It's also fun to follow the train's journey on Google Earth or Get-a-Map: http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/ . The London to Brighton railway and its surrounding landmarks have not changed much in the last 55 years, as you can see from the more recent remakes.

Of course when someone made the first 4-minute film somebody no doubt already had plans to break its record with a faster one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fRgP-xgrdk&feature=related and a yet faster one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pn4LjnZ-fs

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