Why 'Sports Personality of the Year 2014' is One of the Worst Live Shows I've Seen...

One of the BBC broadcast highlights of the annual calendar, 'Sports Personality of the Year' - and it had no personality at all.

bbc.co.uk

Sports personality is about the sportsmen and women, the PEOPLE who have achieved great things within their relevant sport. The live show was more about the glitz, the showbiz, than it was about the athletes. The vision mixing was poor, particularly throughout the sequence paying tribute to those we've lost. We could see great archive footage of these greats in action on the screen behind, but the audience at home instead got footage of the violinist. This show is about sport, about those who have made names for themselves through sport and showed us greatness in the process. I wanted to share their moments of greatness, not watch wide-shot pans of the auditorium and the violinist on stage.

freeview.co.uk

Then there were the badly scripted (I almost hope it was unscripted) words of a half-hearted Gary Lineker and Gabby Logan. It is the presenters job to lead those who come onstage and make them feel at ease with where they need to be... Not call after them telling them to stay on stage for the final shot... where was the preparation, the rehearsal... where was the presenters professionalism? Thank god for Clare Balding, who offered us some genuineness and energy. Ok, so Gary couldn't help being ill, but it all seemed like a push to fill an unnecessary lengthy piece of television, only to overrun. HOW DID YOU EVEN DO THAT - IT WAS TWO AND A HALF HOURS LONG.

The show needs to be shorter, it needs to cut the crap. It needs to show us the sportsmen and women who have earned our respect above whatever the hell is happening onstage. It is after all SPORTS personality of the year. When the contenders are left standing onstage feeling stupid, the wait on stage is too long. We should already be on the next award, on the next VT (all of which were brilliant by the way) or on the next link. I hope all of this can be blamed on a budget cut... but it would have to be a pretty big one to make it as an excuse in my eyes.

I'm happy for all of the winners tonight, particularly Lewis being an avid fan but in my opinion, the standard of live broadcasting was appalling and definitely needs a rethink. Maybe next year eh?!

World Press Exhibition

Peter Holgersson, Sweden

The female form has always been the subject of many photographers, artists and film-makers. Yet this exhibition, truly showed how it's no longer just about the bodily form, but about what women represent. In this exhibition, they shone through as representations of anything and everything.

Markus Schreiber, Germany

We had women as objects of sexual desire in the Legends Football League which shows women playing football in lingerie (which has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of). We had women as the victims of abuse in a series of photographs of a young girl, her child and her partner. We also had women as symbols of remarkable strength and willpower, particularly in the heptathlon photos of Nadja Casadei who was diagnosed with cancer yet still kept up her vigorous training programme whilst undergoing chemotherapy. And there was one image of a woman with such sadness in her eyes it brought tears to mine, as she'd waited and waited whilst access to see Nelson Mandela's casket was closed.

Fred Ramos, El Salvador

It wasn't just women though, it was great representation of humanity as a whole, bad and good. The photos leaked creativity and insight into stories from across the world, which obviously got my documentary blood pumping. There were some images that really stood out to me as I walked around the Royal Festival Hall.

One was this one, the clothes of victims of homicide showing us just how futile attempts to discover who those who once wore these clothes might be. It showed also just how unremarkable we are as humans as we disappear into the ground and leave nothing behind.

Taslima Akhter, Bangladesh

Another, was the image of the collapsed Rana Plaza building with two people, a male and a female, embracing one another as they are photographed dead amongst the rubble. No-one knows what the relationship between the two people was, but I think it shows a lot about human strength and hope, amidst a disaster that shows humanity's flaws simultaneously.

Danila Tkachenko, Russia

The next group of images really spoke to me as someone who enjoys her own company perhaps a little too much. There was a group of photos showing three men who have secluded themselves from the world and where they live. I'd be interested to know what people's reactions were to the images as to me, I felt a real sense of envy and appreciation for their freedom but I know others might have walked past and coined them 'weirdos' and that's that.

Robin Hammond, New Zealand

 The next image that stood out to me, were the images of men chained to posts and walls, forced to live outside or in the darkness of shacks with locks on, in various African countries. When I wandered nearer to read the description of why they were chained up, was met with the explanation that they were suffering from mental illness or disability and were treated this way in order to heal them. I was appalled and at the same time intrigued as to how very different cultures and understanding can be across the globe.

Peter Van Agtmael, USA

The final images that stuck out were those of Bobby Henline. As he walked down the street our photographer captured the very moment that those around him realized his disfigurement. I feel as though in this picture, each face tells a story. You can almost hear the thoughts in their heads. A frizzy haired mother looking on at him confused, a distracted father and daughter, an older brother oblivious to Bobby's presence who looks ahead to his next antic, a younger brother looking both in wonder and in fear at this bold man walking down the street. Bobby, knowing people will stare and trying to continue to walk boldly with his head held high. It really captures a story in just one second.

Carla Kogelman, The Netherlands

Goran Tomasevic, Serbia

There are so many more that really spoke to me. There were pictures of two blonde girls who had complete freedom and made me wanted to run faster than ever back to my home-town and back to my childhood. There was an image of a swimmer doing backstroke where I couldn't quite decide which part of the body was which and that strangely made it more beautiful. There were the blind albino boys in the school in West Benghal and the diver surrounded by a dark sea abyss of nothingness that was both beautiful and disconcerting simultaneously. There were pictures of the Boston marathon bombs, of wrestlers and their mothers, of organized murders in Mexico, of families taking cover on the ground of Nairobi's Westgate Mall during the massacre and incredible shots of Syrian rebel fighters taking cover from Syrian army amid debris. The images really were incredible and showed the full range of human experience. I could spend hours staring into the eyes of these timeless pictured moments.

The exhibition could really do with some video coverage, asking the viewers which photos stood out, which told a story, what they thought of certain photos. It could make a great video by engaging audience members with the photography and really making them think, just as the photographers intended.


There are so many images I couldn't include in this blog that completely broaden your perspective on life so explore them all for yourself. If you missed the exhibition at the Royal festival Hall, then visit: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2014

Young, Fit & Dying: The Truth about Running

With my boss just completing a 5 day cycle from Edinburgh to Chelmsford, I thought I'd watch something that kept with the theme of sporting feats.

With this, I stumbled across 'Young, Fit & Dying: The Truth about Running' and I'm glad I did. The 59min film follows Michael Dorgan's '8 marathons in 8 days' from london to Brussels in an attempt to discover the truth behind sudden deaths in young and healthy runners.

He truly pushed his body to its limits and the film was a more compelling watch than I had expected. He backs up the main plot with research at various sports/science centres, straps himself to heart monitors, speaks to experts and most importantly has a reason for doing so. He is raising money for the QPR Tiger Cubs.
I was pleasantly surprised by this and feel the film could sit well among programming surrounding the next big sporting event. Michael's no Davina McCall but his interest in the research means he doesn't have to be.

If I were to pull out any kind of criticism it would be that although talented producer and girlfriend, Felicity Mungovan runs alongside him at one point to keep him going, it almost took a little away from the film, mainly as this was a programme following one man on a mission. It doesn't completely ruin it, but I think the achievement of reaching the end would seem bigger if he did it completely 'alone'.

The ending brought back that little bit of jeopardy the film needed in wondering whether the crew would beat him to the finish line or not as Brussels is completely shut off from traffic.

Producer Felicity - with sale for yesDocu, Israel

It's a really good investigative film from Go-Forth and I would certainly like to see it on mainstream UK TV. Israel, the Netherlands, Finaland, denmark and Norway have already acquired the film to broadcast - all Michael needs to do is go for Sport Relief and make the film again :D But seriously, a nice surprise when sifting through the VT at Sheffield and one I'd recommend to any sports fan or fitness fanatic, particularly if you're worried about the rise in sudden deaths among young and fit sportsmen and women.

View the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1575398425/

Director: Michael Dorgan, Daniel Smith
Producer: Felicity Mungovan - http://www.goforth-films.com/
Check out more on the London Film School Blog: http://news.lfs.org.uk/2014/05/michael-dorgans-documentary-young-fit.html