Most videos of model railway shows are shot by enthusiasts. Because of this, they tend to be heavy on the trains and don't really capture the essence of the event.
This promo film by Warner's video people (the same ones who make the BRM DVD) is interesting precisely because it hasn't been shot by enthusiasts. Instead it shows people enjoying themselves and to my mind, catches the feel of visiting a show if you aren't a hard core model railway nerd.
It makes visiting a show look just as much fun as it really is. And yes, I can be seen in the background towards the end, but watch it anyway.
I wonder if the show visitors were asked to sign "model release" forms?
ReplyDeleteYou are in a public place. Photography and filming is legal, fortunately as most of the visitors would also be in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI've been quite critical of the DVDs in recent months, but this was a good showcase and you're exactly right, pretty much all of the enthusiast videos from the show fails to capture the atmosphere like this has done. One thing I'd like to see on future DVDs is possibly the live talks from the shows, they alone made the entry fee worthwhile at Doncaster a couple of years back. I left everyone else to fawn over BCB, while I popped upstairs to watch you talk about Edgeworth.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't alone in thinking the talks would be good content, probably in the extras. We'll keep working on the practical aspects of that. I think the problem is cameramen. the video team usually try to cover a couple of layouts at the show and only have a day.
ReplyDeleteWould it work if a camera were set up beforehand to cover a set area of the stage, with a wide enough lens to allow for differences in height?
ReplyDeleteDo they usually film the same day of shows - always the first - always the last - that sort of thing?
I'd really like the talks to find their way onto a DVD - after all, it's often hard enough seeing everything properly in one day - and very few people would ever be able to afford to pay to visit more than one day of most shows.
Turning to the model releases, a lot of show tickets (and e-vouchers for trade shows) include disclaimers to the effect that the tickets double as model releases. Unless visitors specifically say something to the show organisers or the photographers, we're assumed to have given permission for our faces to be used for promotional purposes - mine has been, at some tradeshow, not that I'm too worried.
Obviously, if I were in the middle of a long spell of "sick leave" from a workplace, I might take a different view (and say something to the organisers) - but I've never had any reason to wish to do this.
Saying that, I suspect that, in the highly unlikely event of somebody wanting to take a show photo in which I was much more than a "face in a crowd", I'd probably be asked if this would be OK by me. Since I'd have nothing to fear from my photo being published, I'd almost certainly say it's OK, but I would wish to be asked.
I suspect that a number of other people would take a similar view to me.
The "model release" question was just as much a dodgy pun about the models sold at the show as a question about obtaining people's consent to be photographed.