Bookcases on TV

[LizzieMacQueen]

I'm loving all these broadcasts from inside reporters and contributors houses. So many of them have bookcase backdrops and I'm sure a lot of thought has gone into how these are being broadcast. It gives a little insight to their lives.

What would your 'impressive background' look like?

Oops, meant to add my contribution.

I'd have a selection of cookbooks, one or two of the children's school made projects and a framed family photo. Sadly no sporting trophies to display.

I've been making sure I'm in the kitchen when I've had to Zoom for work. It's the only room that we've finished so it looks smart whereas the rest of the house looks like it's stuck in the 70s 😁

My bookshelves are definitely not curated. I have hung a plain bedsheet to hide them on video calls, much to my colleagues amusement.

People on the telly need to sort the bookshelves out. I'd do it for them, if I was allowed out.

Not having this. These are savvy media professionals. They don't just happen to point the camera at the bookshelf where random titles just happen to be.

They phoned around to get those books in.

Love this thread.

I’m afraid I am a bit judgypants with backgrounds - a bloke at my work has had the same pair of running tights and pile of washing on his bed for months now. I have to admit I don’t trust his ability to deliver my project based on his inability to fold laundry

And did you see the state of Matt Hancocks study - it looked like a student bedsit!

I've been fascinated too. The BBC's Will Gompertz's kitchen is amazing and I can't wait to see political editor Norman Smith's April Paddington calendar page.
I really don't think one of the reporters on my local news has read the Hilary Mantels on her bookshelf.

I'm sure one of the contributors last night on Newsnight had the Harry Potter collection.

The backgrounds are a useful distraction!

Agree re Norman Smith, that's one of my favourites.

But I don't mind clutter, in fact I prefer the normal to the too well balanced (Joe Wicks).

Joe Wicks was on the radio , and said all his front room furniture is piled up in the rest of the house!

My husband has started to put a different soft toy on the bed behind him in the spare room when he makes regular conference calls just to see if anyone notices apparently Elmo was a big hit😂!

I set up a background for my Zoom, I picked a scenic photo. Better than seeing my not-impressive enough house, though I do have a nice bookcase, but it's in the wrong place for video calls.

This is my favourite thing about lockdown, too.

I quite like Jeremy Hunt's wee green/blue study that's so small he has bookshelves built all round the doorframe.

Joe Wicks was on the radio , and said all his front room furniture is piled up in the rest of the house!

THIS was literally my favourite thing yesterday, he put a video on Instagram stories of the pile of furniture and all the cables and wire. It might still be on there if you have a look. It made me feel so much better as that living room looked so Instagram perfect, I liked seeing the reality!

I'm sure some will just be using portable green screens - they're £30 on Amazon and there's open source software for that kind of thing.

I have been avoiding watching the news and my children would never do Joe Wicks so I now feel I have missed out. I am by nature very nosy so I think I need to start investigating the TV broadcasts more.

I'm sure some will just be using portable green screens - they're £30 on Amazon and there's open source software for that kind of thing.

I was convinced Joe Wicks was a green screen, and was surprised when it wasn't.

I’ve been interviewed in my house a few times (not Coronavirus, culture talking head), and I can assure you those are just the bookshelves in my study as they are, crammed and uncurated. Depending on the angle, a shot could contain Virginia Wolf’s collected diaries, Finnegans Wake, times of literary theory and Tom Tackles the Chalet School.

A friend is a quite well-known novelist and I’ve noticed her copy of Knit Yourself the Christmas Story behind her head as she discussed historical fiction.

Jack Monroe on Twitter @bootstrapcook has posted a picture of her bookcase, all in rainbow order for anyone who wants to see another bookcase

I love George Alagiah's fireplace !!

If you use Zoom, you can set a background. DH has been dialing into meetings from the beach, Paris, erupting volcano...

A junior doctor (president of an association or similar) has a pristine attic room with a built in day bed type thing and a set of harry potter books on he window ledge, always described as "central london"!

If that's the same one I'm thinking of, they're not HPs, they're medical books (like BNF but not), I think...

@Danglingmod Youngish lady, day bed has one of those cushions with a quote on? The colours and width really do look like a complete set of Harry potters and they are "tastefully" arranged! I could be wrong!

My bookshelves are definitely not curated. I have hung a plain bedsheet to hide them on video calls, much to my colleagues amusement.
This just draws attention to the fact you’ve got something to hide.

Are your shelves stocked with questionable book titles or is it that they’re cluttered and dirty?

I think we are thinking of the same person and I thought the books were Harry Potters, too, but they're a bit shinier and slimmer (width ways) so I think they're the Oxford Handbooks (of Clinical Medicine/Emergency Medicine et al).

I could be wrong though (and am clearly watching too much news!)