Summary
In 2002, filmmaker Ken Burns received an intriguing proposition from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. He wanted Burns’ signature filming style to be inserted into the video editing software of every Macintosh computer. He would call it, ‘the Ken Burns effect.’
Burns first shot to fame in 1981, when his documentary, Brooklyn Bridge, was nominated for an Academy Award.
He is perhaps best known for his 1990 documentary series, The Civil War, which was watched by more than 40 million Americans when it debuted on PBS, becoming one of the most watched documentaries of all time.
In the time since, Burns has covered a whole array of subjects about American history, including baseball, country music and the Vietnam war.
He tells Matt Pintus about his future plans, including a series about the life of Martin Luther King.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ken Burns. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm Siddhartha Cesset, an assistant commissioner of Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:11.0 | I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects, |
| 0:16.6 | identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life. |
| 0:22.1 | So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next |
| 0:26.0 | fact checking, a feature and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its |
| 0:31.5 | audience and maybe that's you. So if you like |
| 0:34.4 | this podcast check out some others on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.4 | Hello you're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me |
| 0:48.3 | Matt Pintus. It's 2002 in the sleepy Nort northeastern US town of Walpole. |
| 0:55.0 | I got a call in November of 2002 from a person claiming to be Steve Jobs, my secretary |
| 1:01.2 | said, and I of course didn't believe it I picked it up and it was |
| 1:03.9 | Steve jobs that's documentary filmmaker Ken Burns he's remembering his first |
| 1:08.5 | conversation with one of the most famous people on the planet and And he said, look, I really love your work. |
| 1:14.0 | Will you come and see me? |
| 1:15.0 | I want to show you something. |
| 1:16.0 | So I flew out to California, and he brings me in his office. |
| 1:19.0 | We talked for a long time. |
| 1:20.0 | And then he led me in another room where there were two technical folks who had been working on this thing that allowed you to take your photographs and put them into the computer and pan and zoom on them. |
| 1:31.0 | And I'm a bit of a luddite. I said oh great you know it was like this is interesting. |
| 1:36.5 | Ken is being shown Apple's new video editing software which brings photographs to life. |
| 1:43.0 | He said so every Macintosh computer starting next January 1st, meaning 2003, |
... |
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