Garden Railway Forum

My review on this video is mixed I am afraid Rik. Though it's not all bad, I did find at times the narration was sometimes lost with not so much the sound of the locos and the livestock, but more I feel with perhaps at times to much narration during the introduction of the loco at the beginning of the scene. The first shot is a perfect example Rik. Somehow the narration was taking into the scene and I was transported to the world of 16mm. The whole experience of listening to a voice that has such a calming effect to a video that gives it even more life gives one a different view on how videos should be made. Unfortunately most of us don't have voices that are well suited to narration, mine for instance makes me sound old. Hold on a minute I am old.... I did like seeing parts of your line that I haven't seen also. The flora for one, is something maybe you could show a bit more and tell those of us (me) that are not that well up on greenery and what their relevant names are.

There is more I could say Rik, but generally your video was excellent. I did like the way you spoke, you are a natural with the some very interesting stories about life at Peckforton.

More please if you will. I am going to give you a score of 8 1/2 out of 10....


PS. Instead of speaking at the time of recording, I presume you do. Can you not do a VoiceOver like they do on documentaries after you have made the video.
Is that possible

PPS. I hope you don't take offence of my review Rik. It's meant with good intentions....

No offence taken, Rod. I'm just watching a Scenic rail journeys episode narrated by Bill Nighy. Trying to pick up some techniques. I'll try and keep the narration to a minimum.

Rik

Keep the information as is please Rik. I thought it was brilliantly done. It was amusing in parts with the passengers having a chin wag while waiting for the trains or just watching the time go by...

Watched you latest on the "big telly" yesterday evening, I totally approve of the new narrated format.

With all the characters having names and back stories it almost had a Trumpton/Brian Cant charm that really gave a nostalgic atmosphere to one of a certain age. All you need to do now is write little songs for them to which we can learn to sing along

BorisSpencer wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:38 am All you need to do now is write little songs for them to which we can learn to sing along

Now that would be fun..

BorisSpencer wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:38 am Watched you latest on the "big telly" yesterday evening, I totally approve of the new narrated format.

With all the characters having names and back stories it almost had a Trumpton/Brian Cant charm that really gave a nostalgic atmosphere to one of a certain age. All you need to do now is write little songs for them to which we can learn to sing along

Thanks
I've just figured out how to view YouTube vids on my TV - a whole new experience for me. Somehow the colours look a lot more vibrant on the TV than on the laptop or the tablet.

You really won't want to hear my singing voice, I assure you!

Rik

Thanks for the feedback folks. It'll all feed into the next video, though with the weather as is I'm not sure when that'll be - or what it'll be, come to that.

I went to town a little bit on the characters this time. They are all based on the returns for the 1911 census. I took the residents of the locality as they were in 1911, added 21 years to their ages and then speculated on what they might have been up to in 1932. The bootmaker was easy - his dad was the bootmaker in 1911 and so I assumed he would have taken over 21 years later. Old Tom, the retired engine driver was listed as a traction engine driver in 1911, but I figured he'd have got a job on the railway had it existed - and clearly Young Tom will have followed in his father's footsteps.

Looking forward to the 1921 census being released next year. I can then find out who was still around (having survived the War) and whether there are some new names to add to the populace. My difficulty now is keeping track of who is who. I think I'm going to have to write a detailed history.

There is a local historian living in Peckforton who occasionally comments on my blog posts. He's really entered into the spirit of my imagined history and provided me with some interesting snippets of info. He did point out, though, that if the seams of copper ore had been as rich as I have imagined, the spring water would not have been as palatable and in fact would probably have been toxic..... So an interesting conundrum!!

Rik

Isn't there a place in the Midlands, In Birmingham I am thinking, could be wrong that has the canal water coloured red because of the iron seems that where mined.
Or have I completely lost it Rik...

Rod, you are probably thinking of the Bridgewater Canal, Worsley, Lancashire, where the water can be tinted red/brown due to iron ore in the ground.

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:28 am Rod, you are probably thinking of the Bridgewater Canal, Worsley, Lancashire, where the water can be tinted red/brown due to iron ore in the ground.

Peter the Bridgewater canal is in Somerset, and does not enter Lancashire!! - Or i may have misunderstood.

I Googled to establish the solution to this and came up with this.....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... egUIARC1AQ

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:18 pm I Googled to establish the solution to this and came up with this.....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... egUIARC1AQ

That is indeed the Bridgewater Canal, Lancashire, however, this
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-th ... nton-canal

is the Bridgwater ( & Taunton) Canal, Somerset.

Thanks Philip, I was simply trying to identify Rod's question (previous page) about a 'red coloured canal due to ironstone deposits, possibly in the Birmingham area'. Neither are in Birmingham, but at least mine is red!

What a difference an E makes...
I'm sure there's some youth related reference in there somewhere.....

Glad we got the issue resolved.

Rik

You are quite correct Peter.

The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. Wikipedia.


Sorry Rik, Just read on the rest of the thread.....

Rik, I do seem to speed read at times and miss the odd point often embedded in posts, so you may have already supplied the answer, in which case I apologise. My question is to do with the camera equipment you use, for you stills, off train video and on train video.
I have a Nikkon for a lot of my still, though I do use my phone's camera for ease of uploading and for any video, and I find the clarity of photo's very good (just lousy photo taking), but it is not always convenient, especially for mounting on a train, hence the question.

Hi Jim
I have a dedicated Panasonic (HC-V700) video camera for most of my video work. I bought it a few years ago primarily because I wanted a camera with a mike socket as I was planning to take videos of narrow gauge railways I was visiting and needed to be able to use a mike with a furry cover (aka deadkitten) to eliminate wind noise. In fact, I used it when shooting the last video as the wind picked up in the afternoon and I was getting wind noise. The Panasonic was the cheapest I could find with a mike socket.

For onboard video I have an action camera similar to a GoPro, though mine cost £20 rather than £120. It's an AEE 5918. 1It does the same job as a GoPro and uses the same mounts. However, when I put it on a train I usually fix it down with a blob of Blutak.

For stills, I have a couple of compact digital cameras. One is a Nikon (Coolpix P1) and the other is a Canon (Power shot A560). Again, these were cheap as I bought them secondhand for around £20-30 each. They are not top of the range but they do the job. I do have a fancy bridge camera (a Fuji Finepix S9800) which I sometimes use, but to be honest, the compacts do just as good a job for what I need and the bridge camera, which is a bit unwieldy, seldom comes out.

Rik

Looks like the action camera has gone up by a fiver since I bought mine
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/2282081651?iid=122014397061

Rik

Rik, many thanks, great advice and direction, I will follow this up and let you know what happens.

One of my latest videos (there are two more). I decided to install a test track in the workshop. Initially, it was just going to be a length of track above the workbench, but you know how these things escalate!

It now encircles the interior of the workshop, with a couple of sidings to hold stock waiting to be repaired, serviced or finished-off. At first I was going to use brass track but then thought this would be a waste and then remembered the Playmobil train set which I'd bought when my nephew came to stay (ten years ago). I knew the Playmobil railcar would run happily on my 45mm track, so ...... would my rolling stock run on the plastic Playmobil track? Surprisingly they did, though the check rails on the points needed an extra shim of aluminium to guide some of the wheels through.

It turned-out I had enough straights for 3/4 of the circuit, so I bought a few more on eBay to finish it off. They arrived this morning, so by this afternoon I was in business!

.
Of course, when the weather is too wet or cold outside, I could always run a train or two inside....!

Rik