Post Description
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tpv83
The first episode in the Handmade series, part of BBC Four Goes Slow, is a
beautifully-filmed portrait of the making of a simple glass jug.
Filmed in real time and without voiceover or music, the film's focus is
entirely on the craft process, an absorbing, repetitive process of blowing and
rolling as glass designer Michael Ruh delicately teases and manipulates the
molten glass into shape.
Ruh is a designer of contemporary glass objects, but the method by which he
creates them is essentially ancient.
Glass is heated in a crucible until it becomes liquid. Ruh's task, shared with
his assistant, is to keep the glass hot and in constant motion as he breathes
into it and gradually shapes the expanding globe into the form of a jug.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tpw1j
As part of BBC Four Goes Slow, this programme follows the forging of a steel
knife. From the slow stoking of the fire to the hammering, welding and etching
of the metal, the film is an absorbing portrait of the complex processes behind
the making of the knife.
Forged in a spectacular industrial space, bladesmith Owen Bush uses a
combination of modern and traditional techniques, some of which date to ancient
times.
The most time-consuming element of the process is the shaping and blending of a
sandwich of steels into a blade which, after polishing is placed in a bath of
acids, revealing an intricate pattern - a technique used by the Vikings and
Saxons.
The bold style of the film-making, making use of long, static shots and with no
music or commentary, allows the viewer to simply enjoy watching the painstaking
and highly skilled craftsmanship.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tpx1l
As part of BBC Four Goes Slow, this programme follows the slow and painstaking
process of making a classic Windsor chair.
A beautifully simple object, it is in fact anything but. Filmed over five days,
the film reveals the complex, time-consuming processes involved in creating the
chair, made by Jim Steele in his Warwickshire workshop.
This traditional design features woods chosen for their different qualities -
ash, elm and hard-to-source yew.
Jim makes just twelve such chairs each year, using traditional techniques and
aided by few modern tools. There are just two screws in the finished chair.
From the steam bending of the back to the turning of spindles, the carving of
the seat to the planing of the arms, it's a remarkable process to observe.
The bold style of the film, making use of long, static shots with no music or
commentary allows the viewer to admire in exquisite detail the painstaking
craftsmanship.
Comments # 0