it started off with a red head and a few Scots… After 3 minutes I was hooked…
3 minute wonder is a series of minute (as in really small) programmes that are lovingly crafted like a tiny china cat. The program currently features immediately after the Channel 4 news in the UK as part of Channel 4 ‘s commitment to new talent (4talent funnily enough). And that’s the beauty of the programme. Each episode is created by a small sometimes inexperienced but always passionate production team. The purpose of the initative is to give much sought after exposure to relatively unknown talent. The fact that the production team also gets a teneur producing several “episodes” lends another helping hand in promoting the awareness of the team…
The last 3 minute wonder I saw was about red heads. “Requiem for a Redhead” was a fantastically poetic short documentary on the red hair persona and it’s mythos. Written by the Darwin Originals you can tell the project is born out of interest and fascination of the subject. It was reminiscent of another staple of channel 4 tv – the short film animation.
3 minutes is a perfect format – it doesn’t ever leave enough time to become boring, yet the time format is not solely responsible for keeping attention. As with most things, it’s the quality that makes it worth watching.
A noteworthy… point to make is that each project is given a budget of £4000 – whilst this isn’t a huge sum it certainly helps in the actual production. Afterall, this is an artistic project that aims to promote.
So what am I getting at? Basically 4talent extra doesn’t have any submission restrictions other than to submit interesting and compelling stories that are the basis for your 3 minute documentary. There must be hundreds of ideas out there; this is the opportunity to get those ideas out into the public eye! All small time directors should be using 3 minutes as a platform. Or atleast use the format as inspiration to produce those documentaries you are passionate about. It would be fantastic to see YouTube/Vimeo/Metacafe filled with anything half as compelling rather than ninja cats and treadmill walking shrimps…
[edit]: incase you were wondering…