T&T: Analysing Video, At Sea

[Mike Maurice]

There is much to learn from watching video shot at sea, especially in 
bad conditions, those which you are likely to encounter infrequently or 
maybe not at all. Some pointers for improving what you get out of the clips.

Note where the wind is coming from.
Ask yourself, why is the vessel oriented to the wind or waves in the way 
in which it is presented? If this video was produced for entertainment, 
the vessel may be deliberately positioned to maximize the effect. Don't 
assume that what you see, constitutes "good seamanship". The Discovery 
Channel appears to be doing this sort of thing, like the series 
"Dangerous Catch".

Even where what is shown was not shot deliberately to distort the effect 
or ignore good seamanship, the fact is that what you are being presented 
is not "intended" to teach what good seamanship actually would be like. 
In other words, unless the presentation is actively trying to teach you 
good practices, it may be nearly worthless in that regard.

However, if you are aware of all these side effects, then you may 
actually be able to learn something, even if it is merely what not to 
do. Just don't assume that entertainment is "instruction".

Even where the video was not shot expressly for entertainment, neither 
the visual aspects nor the narration which may have been included at the 
time or dubbed in later may be all that informative, as real 
instruction. And, of course what I mean is that you will get some 
concrete education out of it.

There is a real deterioration going on in video and to some extent even 
in books, but certainly in magazines in terms of the education value of 
the materials presented. This dumbing down is really dangerous and can 
lead any of us into making mistakes which can lead to serious accidents.

The rash of accidents which we have seen recently is no accident and I 
believe can be directly related to not paying attention to the details 
of our activities.

I will see if I can set up a forum in video format where the available 
clippings can be analyzed and critiqued.

Regards,
Mike