Writing to picture: how to capitalise on the power of an image

Over the course of the last couple of months at university we have been taught about the importance, and the power, of writing to picture; to make television really work you must marry your words with the images on screen.

This audio slideshow from the BBC illustrates unequivocally not only how to write expertly to picture, but also the strength of still images to move you. You can click on the image below to view it.

© BBC Human Planet

It is narrated by Timothy Allen, a photographer who accompanied the film crews on their shoots for the making of Human Planet – an eight part documentary series for the BBC. He has selected pictures from more than eighteen months of filming to illustrate mankind’s intrinsic relationship with nature, and explains the background behind them. As a real fan of the likes of Planet Earth Diaries – the ten minute part at the end of an episode where the production team takes you behind the scenes of that instalment – I found this slideshow fascinating.

But what really makes it work, and what makes it my favourite slideshow yet, is the power of the image; an insight into human nature in all different guises, the struggle for survival, the exploration of new cultures through carefully selected pictures. Each and every photograph tells its own story, and the story of its subject.

Indicative of the strength of each image is the fact that you don’t even need to listen to the audio; just by watching the slideshow with the volume on mute you can take away your own meaning and interpretation. The narration naturally adds to the piece as a whole, but that is largely down to the way in which the script compliments each picture that you watch this package feeling engrosed, moved and illuminated.