Talking Head for Hire

Technical Challenges and a case of Imposter Syndrome?

Cold War Berlin: An Island City volumes 1 & 2

A couple of years ago I was asked to contribute to a TV documentary on Cold War Berlin. I presume that I’d been plucked off the internet by their researcher because of my books on the subject as I’d never had anything to do with the production company before. They were prepared to pay for my trip up to London and for a hotel, so I thought why not – it could be an interesting experience, and I could combine the filming with a research trip. I duly turned up at a tiny office opposite a Job Centre in a not particularly salubrious part of London and was told to report round the corner to a door in the side of a non-descript building. With a degree of trepidation, I rang the bell and was ushered into a courtyard and then into what looked like someone’s conservatory, with all the furniture shoved up against the wall. There was a solitary dining chair up against a green screen, with cameras, tripods, lights, and cables everywhere. Rather than hire an expensive set to do the filming in, they’d ‘borrowed’ someone’s conservatory and were filming their ‘talking head’ subjects against a ‘green screen’.* I gingerly picked my way through all the equipment, and, without any preamble, the director swanned in and plonked himself down on another dining chair just behind the cameraman.

I’d been warned to not wear tight-check pattern clothes (to avoid the moiré effect, don’t you know**), but the cameraman identified another problem – the side arms of my shiny black plastic spectacle frames were picking up reflections of the green backdrop in the studio lighting. To the camera, this would mean that the sides of my glasses would appear green, and subsequently disappear in the edit, leaving the frame and lenses hanging unsupported off my nose, like a modern pince-nez! The director asked if I could do the recording without my glasses (I am very short sighted!), which I declined, telling them I wouldn’t be able to see the person asking me the questions! He disappeared, muttering to himself.

Thankfully, the many hours I’d spent in photographic studios on shoots came to our rescue. I asked the cameraman whether he had any photographic gaffer tape – this is a version of the legendary black self-adhesive tape which ‘gaffers’ on film sets use to secure pretty much anything to anything. Rather than the shiny cloth-backed tape used in the film business and by builders the world over, photographic gaffer tape has a matt surface and is light-proof. He reached into his bag and produced a roll, and I proceeded to wrap the arms of the spectacles in matt-black tape. He checked the shot, and my glasses appeared as they should do. The director was summoned, appeared satisfied with my improvised (and genius) solution, and without much preamble the interview began.

Having watched hundreds of documentaries where ‘talking heads’ – alleged experts – spout forth on their specialist subjects, I was rather expecting to be interviewed in a swanky ‘Dragons Den’ style set, with assistants scurrying around attending to my every whim, so was rather discombobulated by the director’s lukewarm welcome, this makeshift setup, and the fuss about my glasses, but I put on a brave (and non-reflective) face and got on with answering the questions. I was then ushered out, while the next ‘talking head’ on the list (the fellow historian and author, Giles Milton) was ushered in. A quick signature on an artist’s release and expenses form, and I was sent on my way.

Somewhat bemused, I sat on a wall outside the Job Centre (!), picking the gaffer tape off my glasses while waiting for an Uber to pick me up to take me to the station, and reflected on the experience. The director did little to put me at my ease, although I enjoyed chatting with the cameraman (he was much more on my wavelength, and we spoke a common creative and technical language), and it all felt rushed, like the production line it was. In a major case of ‘imposter-syndrome’, I felt that my ‘performance’ was poor, especially compared to the other ‘proper’ historians being interviewed (Giles Milton, Iain MacGregor, Barney White-Spunner (Lieutenant General Sir Barnabas William Benjamin White-Spunner KCB CBE, former Commander of the Field Army …), Sinclair McKay, whose books all grace my office bookshelves, and  Professor Mary Fulbrook. Anyway, I headed back to Cornwall grateful for the ‘free’ trip up to London, which allowed me to spend some valuable time in the archives researching my book, BRIXMIS and the Secret Cold War, but feeling pretty neutral about the filming. I didn’t hear any more from the production company, so I assumed my footage had hit the cutting room floor. My promising career as a TV history pundit never materialised, although I’ve done lots of interviews and podcasting since (… a ‘face for radio’, perhaps?).

Roll on 2025 and I get a similar call out of the blue from a production company producing a documentary on Special Operations & Special Forces for Al Jazeera, the Qatari news channel. This was a similarly surreal experience, but much more entertaining and rewarding – a story for another day. As I was preparing my invoice for them, I thought back to my previous experience, and wondered what happened with the Berlin episode. Did it ever get made? Did I make the final edit? After a bit of Googling, I ended up on PBS America only to find the episode, entitled Berlin, Stories of a City, Episode 2 The Cold War was being aired on Sky this week! Further Googling, and I also found it on Amazon Prime available to stream and buy. Would have been nice if they had actually told the contributors it was being shown, perhaps it’s been available for months …

Berlin, Stories of the City opening title

With some trepidation, I started watching the episode and was soon greeted by my ugly mug waxing lyrical on screen. And throughout the episode, I kept reappearing, just as much as the ‘proper’ historians.

The author's 'talking head'

Despite the less than inviting surroundings, I think I looked as though I knew what I was talking about, came across reasonably well on screen (as well as the other ‘experts'), and what I was saying seemed to make sense. Looks like I got away with it! And if you look closely, you can see the gaffer tape on the side of my glasses!

The infamous spectacles, and closing credits

It only goes to show that you should have confidence in your own ability, however alien or intimidating the environment you find yourself in. With my modest contribution to the canon, I had as much to contribute as the other luminaries appearing in the episode, and perhaps they have my books on their bookshelves! It also shows how important it is to put your collaborators at their ease – I’m not talking champagne and caviar, but a glass of water would have been nice – making them feel welcome and valued, as opposed to just a component on a production line, would boost their performance and make a better end product.

The author's small contribution to Cold War history

So, perhaps with my contribution to Berlin, Stories of the City, and my forthcoming Al Jazeera appearance, my promising TV career is back on track … perhaps I should get an agent? Or perhaps I should stick to what I’m good at, stay down in Cornwall, write the occasional book, and take lots of pictures, and let the other ‘heads’ do the ‘talking’. I think I know which one it’s going to be …

* ‘Talking heads’ are a staple of documentary makers, where an ‘expert’ on the programme’s subject gives the benefit of their wisdom for the viewers, normally with just their head and shoulders on screen. They are normally filmed in a nice room set, or at a location relevant to the programme. A ‘green screen’ is a video production technique using a concept called ‘chroma keying’. The subject is filmed in front of a slightly luminous, bright green backdrop, which is carefully lit to avoid any shadows or reflections. In post-production, special software identifies the exact green colour (chroma) within the footage and removes it, leaving the subject without any background. The director then has the creative freedom to add any background or visual effects he or she chooses – in this case, photographs or archive footage.

** The ‘moiré effect’ is the mechanical interference of light caused by overlapping patterns of lines, creating a new pattern. In practice, it’s that slightly psychedelic effect you sometimes see when the camera can’t process dense patterns in clothes, such as dogtooth or Prince of Wales check. It makes the subject being photographed or filmed shimmer or look blurry, which obviously is not desirable.