Make your own TV

By Joe Scott

There’s a scene in “Back to the Future” where Doc Scott picks up Marty’s camcorder and is transfixed by it. “This is truly amazing, a portable television studio.” he says. He’s right, it is. Today you can have a whole TV studio right there in your hands.

How many TV programmes have you watched in your life? How many films? It’s got to be thousands, but how many were about you? How many really talked about life the way you see it? You been on many demonstrations? How many news reports told it like it was for you? Is there something going on that’s pissing you off? How often does it get on the news? There’s loads going on that never gets talked about, or only gets talked about briefly or from one perspective. Well now it’s your turn to have a voice.

A camcorder costs around five hundred quid but you can hire one for way less you can borrow one for nothing. It’s amazing how many people have old VHS cameras gathering dust on top of their wardrobes.

Today digital camcorders are recording at 500 lines, only slightly less than broadcast TV and can be copied over and over again without loss of quality. Do we care? Does that mean anything to anyone with a life? Complicated editing? Forget it, just do it with the camera. Hi8, DV? Doesn’t matter, play it back into a standard video, record it onto VHS and you’re hot to trot. Everyone and their gran’s got a video, and it plays video cassettes that can be bought for peanuts. VHS is everywhere.

If you have got something concerning you, maybe you want to get into documentary making, maybe you just want to dress up in silly vampire costumes and run around throwing loads of fake blood at each other (we’ve got a great recipe by the way), it’s all fun. And if it’s genuinely crap then you just record over it and move on. No loss… Summer’s coming, grab some mates, get an idea and make your own TV. It’s cheap and it’s easy and it gives you a voice as well as a laugh.

Nerve’s not about just seeing stuff, it’s about doing stuff, having a go. If you want to have a go at making videos let us know, we’ll put the word out in the mag. If you’ve got any questions or need any help let us know and we’ll do our best. If any of you do put a video together send us a copy and we’ll try to review it. If we get enough we’ll think about running a film night. Hey we may even try to rustle up some awards….