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"do not stop me from filming trains or I will call Geoff Marshall and you will be reprimanded for interrupting indirect marketing for TfL services by me talking about London and transport to an audience of many thousands"
I did once have a weird moment with a friend at Victoria station, where I ended up with houmous spilled in my backpack due to a package breaking... I was very tired and sort of panicked a bit, and in that panicked, overtired state (I'd travelled from birmingham to london to meet my friend, then to brighton with her and back again all in that one day, and was about to get on another train back to birmingham) my brain decided the best way to solve this without tissues immediately to hand was to lick some of the excess houmous off of my notebook. ... after a few seconds of which I giggled, turned to my friend and said something like "oh god, what if I end up in Jago B-roll or something?". I think a joke was then made along the lines of "you are the panicky lesbian disaster to my houmous-y notepad", because it was just that kind of day :P (for the record, we came to the conclusion that Jago doesn't really seem like the sort of person who'd put something embarassing like that in his B-roll; it sounds like we've been partially vindicated, even if only on practical grounds 💜)
I didn't realize you had gone full-time RU-vidr. Congrats! I am incapable of getting up early in the morning so I miss the best times to film with nobody around, but I find that even at mid-day times the flow of people has ups and downs, so sometimes it's just a matter of waiting for the inevitable lul in the crowd. I'm also generally more interested in filming people walking away from the camera, rather than towards it, so sometimes just standing in the right spot does the trick, too. Sometimes that's preferable as it shows people using the system, but seen from behind, everyone is anonymous. That story about filming the woman's car is very familiar. I always find the people who object the most to filming aren't even in the shot. I had one guy tap me on the shoulder and tell me not to film him ... but he was behind me the whole time? Why even bother?
As a railway infrastructure geek, I prefer the shots relatively devoid of people- equipment and platforms are what peak my interests. I also appreciate a betting understanding of your planning and effort….you are the blueprint to my London transport imagination!
How to avoid people, aka "28 Jagos Later". Some places like Roding Valley are just naturally devoid, but otherwise it's nice that you still try to be respectful of others who are there.
you downplay the artistry of your work at the start of this, but you shouldn't - you've clearly got an interesting and developed aesthetic sense which you bring to the creation and editing of these videos. it might feel like you're just putting them together, but there's clearly intentionality to the shots, which comes through when watching them. :) i always find it fun to put together something like this and examine your own choices a little! i've always been drawn to empty shots of busy places anyway - they have a haunting, slightly uncanny quality that i find really appealing (i write a horror podcast about london called Subterraneans and am obsessed with this sort of thing) - and the way you put it all together really complements the sort of knotty historical non-fiction storytelling you're doing here. anyway - nice work, pal!
I go back up to Shoreditch quite a bit. I love that, despite the fact there can be 10s of 1000s of people around I can still find totally deserted back streets. There are quite a few oasis of calm in London if you know where to look.
I avoid the London crowds by living in Edinburgh. Although I was born and grew up in London, moved away to other places, and moved back. My visits to London now can be a bit stressy at times.. And you are not weird, sir. Civil, I would say.Informative. Funny.
@@Sylvander1911 By keeping well away from the Royal Mile. It all gets a bit fraught during the festival time, but mostly it is good around the Newtown where I live. I just get a bit freaked getting off the train at Kings Cross to go on the Northern for Sarf of the river. Then it becomes calmer. Camberwell, Balham, Clapham.
But absolutely, concrete hellscapes are absolutely fitting if there's no one in sight. It gives an appropriate Clockwork Orange* vibe. * I nearly called it Chocolate Orange
One of the things I've always loved about your videos is exactly the thing you're stating here: It's as if I myself am experiencing what you are filming and as I love visiting London and travelling by Underground (well, most of the time I do), I can't help but love your videos as well. So thank you so much for the way you're filming.
One trick I've learned for avoiding the crowds on major thoroughfares: Just use the side streets going in the same direction. They're almost always dead because tourists stick to the main streets to avoid getting lost.
You also get to see all kinds of oddities too, not just the debris and litter, but strange gates, monuments, plaques to people that you think you should have heard of and so on.
As a German I was able to travel to London in September 2020 for a week, when most of the world could not. I'm in London a couple of times every year and I always have a great time, but that week was special.
That would have been something. Did nature start to re-encroach? I was a keyworker too during the pandemic with letters confirming it to show to anyone if necessary. Though not in central London it was fascinatiung to see everywhere so deserted at times when it would normally be busy. I never felt locked down.
I have to admit that after practicising social distancing in crowded public places for so long these past 3-and-a-half years I'm still in the habit of doing it automatically away. Should help keep the winter bugs away.
It was kind of spooky, though. I was there July 2020 shortly after one of the first lockdowns ended. Way too empty. But no queue for visiting the Tower of London was a plus.
Interesting point about being a key worker. My normal crowded commute went from 40 minutes to 15. As folks started returning to work the number started climbing again. All though its higher, it's never reached 40 minutes again. The cityscape during COVID had an Edward Hopper feeling about it.
I remember walking through the city to a club it was Sunday Fenchurch to old street in the 1990s absolutely nobody about. No one lives in the City. Shoreditch was a boarded up ghost town compared to the crowds now.
I walked through the city at weekends very occasionally in the 80s and 90s and like you said it was very much "this town is looking like a ghost town". It's a lot busier these days and more people actually live in the city now. Many of the people are obviously tourists on some variation of "OK, we've done Brick Lane, let's try to find HMS Belfast".
It’s nice to hear you’re full time RU-vid now, your content is amazing and must take a huge amount of time to produce. I remember you saying you weren’t and I was very impressed that you fit it all in, and hopefully being full time RU-vid is giving you time to breathe.
I was going to make pretty much the same comment. I didn't realise he was an essential worker during the pandemic; that makes me even more glad he's not working so hard now. And I'm glad he chose making videos that we all love, over whatever essential work he was doing, even though we're all obviously grateful to everyone who did that work.
My first ever job was as a foot messenger, delivering advertising artwork from Ramilies St, W1, to all over Central and Greater London and sometimes beyond. An All Zones, monthly Travel Pass came with the gig and the Tube pretty much became my office for 2 years (86,87). The AtoZ was my bible. Avoiding the crowds wasn't always possible and sometimes it was better to just jump on a bus or walk to a less busy station. Regardless, my attachment to the Tube levelled it all out. Love these vids.
I shoot stills around London rather than videos and also try to avoid having too many people in my shots. As well as choosing quiet times, I also photoshop unwanted passersby out or, by taking two shots a few seconds apart, clone them out by adding bits where they aren't in one photo to the place where they are in the other. This only works if they are moving, though- stationary people a re more difficult to erase.
I happened to be heading up to the balcony on the front of the basilica that overlooks St Marks Square in Venice when I was visiting Venice in August around 1984 IIRC, when a sudden and very heavily shower suddenly unleased a deluge on the crowded square. When I stepped out onto the balcony a moment later I saw that St Mark's square was virtually empty, and I took a photo of the scene - a nearly empty St Mark's square, in August!
Trouble with 'indirect' routes is that sometimes you'll be charged the mega 'incomplete journey' fare by the exit gate, even if the route is perfectly valid \m/
How to avoid people in London: Stay in one place watching Jago’s videos. You travel without moving an inch. (Internet Connections may be subject to market risk. Please read offer documents carefully)
Very true about alt stations..... I go to Camden quite a lot for saying I'm from near East Midlands Airport, an often use Chalk Farm in place of Camden Town, as it's much less busy, even more so at peak times, as Camden Town station is hell when too many folks are using it.
I still maintain that however self deprecating you are about your videos, I think that the photography has improved in the two years + that I have been watching and the moments of cinematography have increased which, for me adds to the enjoyment of watching. And your dry humour adds to the aural enjoyment too. Thanks
Hi Jago from Spain. During my time on BR, I often used to work 12 hour nights (1900-0700) and, for the most part, the only people I would see were others doing the same thing - we were night owls. Since I was usually there to help sort out their problems, I wasn't unwelcome.
I lived in London 9 years. I since returned to my home country a few years ago where there's no London crowds, I sometimes miss the trains and buses I used daily.
1:37-2:01 This sounds right. Based on your style of these videos, the recording is supposed to focus on the topic you're discussing in the commentary, rather than the fact that you're filming at the location. It's a way of detaching yourself from the scene, and acting as the narrator rather than (perhaps) the protagonist. I recall this kind of topic mentioned in a previous video about how you keep yourself out of the recordings themselves.
As a shutterbug, I’m happy to say lockdown was amazing/liberating/transformative. At the same time, there was never a time where I didn’t want the old world back. As much as the restrictions allowed me to get some great photos, they also applied to me.
Your skill and effort at capturing good quality illustrative footage clearly shows. You impart information concisely and with a good sense of humor. You absolutely achive your aim of making the viewer forget that a person has captured the footage and we are not simply seeing another place. Glad to hear you don't get too much trouble about it.
When I lived in London I used to explore on Sundays. The city was virtually deserted and so were many of the interesting residential districts and Squares off otherwise busy thoroughfares like Oxford Street. And you have explored one of the knotty questions about art in geneneral as to how far the Author should intrude into a work of Art. There is always something deeper in a Jago video than the superficial subject might suggest.
"It's a stretch to call my videos artistic". Presents beautiful, evocative shots of an eeriely empty Northern Line that are stunningly artistic. Wonderfully informative as ususl Jago, don't see yourself short.
Glad to see you are almost at 200,000 subscribers. Hard to believe I subscribed to you when you were only at 2000 subscribers. Enjoy every one of your videos. Cheers! Ken from Alabama USA
Hello Jago, avoiding crowds is definitely a good way to show the trains and associated architectural features of stations etc., to full advantage. People, although essential for the viability of the enterprise just get in the way or as you said stare into the camera or could be adversarial. I like what you do and how you do it and thank you for all your efforts. Best wishes from Oxfordshire.
As long as you have your wits about you and always be aware of people around you, and not tread on any toes or arouse any suspicion, you should be fairly ok 👍
1. Your videos are wonderfully artistic. 2. The mimimal people content really focuses us on the trains, stations, and the infrastructure of the rail transport system. 3. Your content is also soothing and i look forward to new content dropping.
Especially people in Australia and Singapore have asked why I often showed trains that were empty-ish. This was in the early 1990s. My reply was that to avoid the crowds I often filmed late at night - especially at underground stations. I've never adopted the early bird technique as per Jago. Right now (2023) my wings have been clipped as I'm caring for aged parents, one of whom is bedridden. All I can manage is a few hours in the afternoon - even a full day trip outside of London is not possible. It is frustrating.
I love your videos and they definitely have art in them! And you have gotten a lot better since the pandemic when I discovered them. I totally have to thank you for helping me through it and losing my job later. And talking of that, congrats on being a full time youtuber! Well done, you!
I like the sometimes desolate feel to your vids. If nothing else they remind me of Manchester years ago. If you went there on Tuesday or Thursday, it was absolutely dead. You want to travel on an empty bus or train? You want the Arndale centre all to yourself? You want to get a greasy pig burger without the need to queue? Go on Tuesday or Thursday. Sadly, it hasn't been like that for about 30 years. I was there a few weeks back at 1:30 in the morning and it was almost as busy as during the day. But I digress, I guess...
I would call your work artistic - the shots, the script, the ideas, the humour, the subtlety, it is all on such a high level that there's a reason you're one of, if not the best channel for London/railway/transport history matters on RU-vid and wider. Keep up the good work sir, and stay stealthy!
5am at waterloo station, fortunately something I haven't experienced, yet. Thats the "I missed my last train and all the bars are shut so I guess I'll wait until the first train at the station" crowd
But your videos are artistic, Jago ! You do have a very unique style. Plus, of course, we always look forward to your creative "You are the (thing) to my (thing)." closing.
Good job, at least with this type of channel you have a lot of times to visit the stations as they have generous opening times. A friend of mine has shopping / fashion channel focused on London & people actually got mad at her for blurring faces and avoiding people being in camera because they feel they’re missing out “the feeling” of shooing in London. That’s it’s distracting lol. Unfortunately she can’t really avoid people in department stores etc
What a great video. I have learnt how to use routes that avoid crowds. It started years ago as I was caught up in the London bombings (in a train behind the Aldgate blast) and every time I went on the underground when it was crowded my body thought it was happening again and I had horrendous anxiety. So I used to try different routes, and I was amazed that there are so many other ways to get around town and different stations that are quieter. So it's something I've kept up now even though I can travel happily in tunnels again.
No, it's not weird. You're putting the (trains, station, tram, bus, infrastructure, etc) at the centre of the film, not yourself. It is a refreshing approach, and much appreciated.
You perfectly voiced one of the top reasons I enjoy your work - there is a distinct artistic quality to it, and that has to be the fact there are so few people in your shots. I love it. I try to do that with my photos as well. Thank you for being such an diligent artist, and keep up the great work.
There used to be a late, late train (01:05) out of Waterloo to where I live. The place was always very quiet, but not deserted, when I took that train.
What you say at 2:07 about filming in public is what I would've thought. A lot of people get ridiculously prickly over it at times. For instance, a couple of years ago my auntie pulled me up over pictures I'd just put on Facebook, saying that I needed to take them down because I didn't have the permission of the people in them to upload them - not COULD I take them down, but I NEEDED to! I didn't argue with her, because being a solicitor she'd probably know the legal situation better than I do, but I would've thought when you're out in public anyone can potentially see you anyway, so what difference does it make if it's in a picture? Yes, there is the potential issue of catching someone that wasn't really supposed to be there and them potentially facing awkward questions if anyone they know happens to see it, but then someone they know could also happen to see them at the time! In any case, she was being somewhat presumptuous in assuming that I didn't have their permission. For all she knew, I might have done! Besides, the pictures were taken in quite crowded places and so it wouldn't have been practical to get the permission of everyone in them anyway!
You should start watching auditing videos - people legally taking videos in public, members of the public or police taking exception to it and the hilarity that ensues.
@@chazzyb8660 No, she never posted anything! To be honest, I don't think she really understood how Facebook works anyway. For starters, she didn't seem to know the difference between a 'post' and a 'comment' - she'd often tell me to take a 'post' down, but I couldn't because I didn't make it, I merely commented on it! In many such cases, what she had an issue with was the post itself, rather than my comment on it, in which case there was nothing I could do, but she didn't seem to understand that. She eventually came off it, claiming that she was finding some things on it too much, but I think that was more of a reflection on her than Facebook. After all, social media is a pretty informal platform, and nobody really cares about bad language or crude humour on it as long as it's not abusive towards anyone!
@@regkray Those are awful. I don't get what's entertaining about them, it's just a bunch of "sovereign citizen" weirdos going around bothering people. Sure, I agree with the principle that you should be allowed to film anywhere without permission, but it's obnoxious.
@@hotelmario510 Many of the ones I have seen have had a deliberate air of subversion about them . The amusing thing is that the creators have no real idea of how to be properly subversive and spend their time taunting security guards and police officers.
I managed to visit London just before covid hit to see my family in England and as a tourist I’ve got to say, the tubes aren’t super busy for us. Like they get busy, but usually they weren’t the crowded cramped lines me and my brother expected. The only times they were busy was after a football match, at Heathrow, the morning and afternoon rush periods and stations near the Center of the city. Like if you avoided the tubes during those times and areas you’d mostly have a pretty good time of it.
This is splendid. You've just a little way to go before you do a tear jerking 'Choose Corrour' video. But I have always believed you could: if you want to. You've always seemed liked a relaxed narrator; of random stuff; but you've blossom in this!
Jago with your filming it's in the style of making the viewer feel like they are there taken in all the atmosphere with all their senses only thing missing is the smells
I well remember booking a hotel in the St Paul’s area for a Friday night That night was rammed but the Saturday morning was gloriously empty and it felt like I was in an abandoned city
I like the part when you said about you "being not there" when filming, as I can really relate to that style! I don't like to be someone in the way or to be looked, I just want t film like I was a CCTV, observing & capturing the scenes. Keep up the work Jago!
"In Central London you'll never find a train that is completely empty". With the exception of the District Line train that was "diverted" in the movie Skyfall. During rush hour!
Got caught in a Milky Bar advert shoot many years ago as a 7 year old kid, the director did not call cut but carried on with the shot, including me paying our paper bill and buying my Mum's Players Weights cigarettes along with a Cadbury Bournville bar. The producer came round to the house to get Mum's signature for it to be used, it was mostly cut apart from the back of my head when walking up to the counter and my back walking out with the 'Kid' chatting about Milky Bars, sound cut as I was derogatory, the theme tune played in the advert. I did get to meet the then Milky Bar Kid. Think the Bournville bar may have killed it, never did like Milky Bars or milk chocolate.
I've found this a handy tip for avoiding crowds on the London transport network: Don't live in London. I have friends there and it's a nice place to visit, but I can tell the noise, crowds and general busy nature of the place would drive me crazy within a few months. Hello from Leeds!
This was a really useful video with some insightful information! I've always wondered how you get such nice, quiet shots in your videos. Will definitely be using a time machine in the future to film during the COVID-19 pandemic!
That was the one thing I've discovered is that Londoners must HATE getting up early, for the most part. Most of the best filmed walks I've had usually start around 6 am, and you can go for a couple, maybe 3 hours and only encounter a small handful of people.
I discovered the magic of the early hours too. It's often the only way you can ever feel as if you have the place to yourself. Just you and the pigeons.
As a RU-vidr myself I don't mind people in my pictures or films, they are part of the scenery - but I guess living in Scotland I never encounter such vast crowds as you get in London. I always assumed you carried a couple of cones and some tape with a "Danger - Jago" notice attached, and wear a high-viz and lid.
