Category: Video

Videos of London and videos filmed in London.

Blackfriars Solar PV Bridge – From Waterloo & City Line Walk

Blackfriars Solar PV Bridge

While I don’t think this is a particularly good photo of Blackfriars Railway Bridge, it does show something very interesting going on. The bridge is going to be covered in solar PV panels, which will generate around 900,000 kWh of electricity per year. To put that in perspective a typical large home solar system produces about 3,500kWh per year. Once completed the Blackfriars solar PV system will generate about 50% of the station’s entire power needs.

This combined with the fact that you can already enter Blackfriars station from either side of the Thames – makes it the most interesting railway station in London – in my opinion.

Taken on my Waterloo & City Line walk – part of my Randomly London v. The Tube Challenge.

TUBE TUBE 9 – Escorted – London Underground Short Film Series

The most recent film in the TUBE TUBE series and another great one not shot in English. Things do not seem to be going Eva’s way. A warning to any more sensitive viewers, there are some strong subtitles and implications of adult situations. If you like this one give the rest of the TUBE TUBE series a watch.

Oyster Gives Up Pearls – Mapping Tube Journeys

An interesting short video about how UCL Engineering School is using the data from the Oyster Card system to map out how Londoners use the network. The obvious benefit is that TFL could better invest in problem locations to relieve congestion. The main takeaway is that London is a network of polycentres – meaning there is no one central hub – but a collection of them.

To be honest I’m not sure why the data hasn’t been looked at before. About 3 months ago, I got letter from TFL asking me to record my complete journey history using a pen and paper form. It seemed insanely inefficient and I didn’t bother to complete it. At the time I thought why don’t they just use the information from Oyster Card system, glad to see they now are.

You can learn more about the project from Oyster Give Up It’s Pearls page from the UCL Engineering School.

100 Years Underground (1963) – London Underground Documentary

This is a great 40 minute film about the Tube at 100. Made in 1963 it provides a brief history of the Underground network up to that point. It’s interesting to see that while many things have changed in the last 50 years, many haven’t. For example, the Tube in 1963 looks about as crowded as it is today. Moreover, they were still trying to explain to people to stand right and not crowd the doors. If people haven’t learned these lessons in the past 50, I don’t think there’s a lot of hope in the next.

Some highlights include footage of the yet to be opened Victoria line (next up in my Tube Challenge) being built and the building of what become known as Millbank Tower (originally named Vickers Tower), the Shard of it’s day. There is even mention of driverless trains, something that’s still being talked about 50 years on.

If you have 40 minutes I highly recommend giving it a watch, a great slice of history.

Transport for London – Friday Timelapse Video 4

My final timelapse of the day is titled Transport for London. This one is actually a bit older than the rest of the videos from today. It was shot by Alex Forey. It is A collection of timelapses shot in and around Central London, to showcase the bustling transport systems in London.

I think it has some of the best shots of any of the videos featured today – however I don’t think the whole things holds together as well as it could. Still I’m interested to see future videos from Alex.

You can read more about: filmandstuff.co.uk/tfl

London 2012: A day’s view from Lund Point – Friday Timelapse Video 3

The second timelapse from Duncan McLean, this one shows A day in the life of Lund Point during the London 2012 Olympic games. A nice way to remember the games. Really nice work. Shot on a Sony PMW-500 and Canon 5D MkII.

WhiteCliffs – Dover TimeLapse – Friday Timelapse Video 2

Another wonderful timelapse video. This is the only one today not of London but of Dover. It was shot by Mattia Bicchi whose work I really like. He used the following euqipment: Equipment: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 40D, Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 L, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG.

You can learn more about Mattia from his website, follow him on twitter @Matt_hi (protected account) and visit his Facebook page.