DOC: short documentary profile on Australian weapons maker
- Thread starter rob norton
- Start date
That was awesome. You should post it on http://www.reddit.com/r/artisanvideos
Stephen Mick
Totally Usable
rob norton
Veteran
@atarijedi thanks for watching - I think it was on reddit a while ago. Thanks for the add Stephen
I think I saw the axe part earlier, but the knife part is new to me.
It's really beautifully shot and executed, and I enjoyed it then and just now again. My main problem with it is it's not so much a profile of the guy as an illustration of his work process and (admittedly very lucid, but not very revealing) self-narration. The editing is overly beholden to both. I ended up with little sense of what motivates him, or what your own feeling is about it. I would've preferred he talked less and might've preferred that he stopped talking altogether, since I don't think anything he's doing is particularly hard to understand visually. And I suspect few people are actually watching the video to learn how to make an axe or knife.
I agree that his paradoxical combination of "tough exterior" and "underlying gracefulness" is very interesting. I wonder if you might've brought that out more with a slower pace, and with more shots of him absorbed in work instead of talking to you. The full-time narration seems to have invited an oscillation between close-ups of machinery and wide contextual shots which began to feel a bit staid. Perhaps taking the camera off the tripod and shooting more reactive and mobile would've been allowed it/you/us to know the subject more intimately.
The primal energy, even eroticism of the whole thing flares up a bit when he fondles and admires his own handiwork and calls it beautiful and so on. Would've liked to see more of that explored, his deeper psychology and motivations. (A good question for me is always: does a documentary reveal anything new about the subject to the subject himself or herself?) And he refers to "we" quite often, which made me wonder if his interaction with his assistants would've been interesting too.
It's really beautifully shot and executed, and I enjoyed it then and just now again. My main problem with it is it's not so much a profile of the guy as an illustration of his work process and (admittedly very lucid, but not very revealing) self-narration. The editing is overly beholden to both. I ended up with little sense of what motivates him, or what your own feeling is about it. I would've preferred he talked less and might've preferred that he stopped talking altogether, since I don't think anything he's doing is particularly hard to understand visually. And I suspect few people are actually watching the video to learn how to make an axe or knife.
I agree that his paradoxical combination of "tough exterior" and "underlying gracefulness" is very interesting. I wonder if you might've brought that out more with a slower pace, and with more shots of him absorbed in work instead of talking to you. The full-time narration seems to have invited an oscillation between close-ups of machinery and wide contextual shots which began to feel a bit staid. Perhaps taking the camera off the tripod and shooting more reactive and mobile would've been allowed it/you/us to know the subject more intimately.
The primal energy, even eroticism of the whole thing flares up a bit when he fondles and admires his own handiwork and calls it beautiful and so on. Would've liked to see more of that explored, his deeper psychology and motivations. (A good question for me is always: does a documentary reveal anything new about the subject to the subject himself or herself?) And he refers to "we" quite often, which made me wonder if his interaction with his assistants would've been interesting too.
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rob norton
Veteran
Thanks for the comments. I completely agree - I think the challenge is to steer away from technical and into the abstract (motivation, feeling etc. like you said). Anyone can make a how-to instructional video. A character like this doesn't completely open up straight away. I could have pushed the interview for more of that narration(deeper psychology etc.). He doesn't have any assistants, just uses "we" pretty loosely in reference to himself. I learnt a lot from the shoot, pretty much what you said - those "live" reactions and moments of realisation are needed, as well as digging up those deep thoughts. Rob
rileywright
New member
WHAT A TEDDY BEAR! this man is my uncle. . .i swear. heart of gold. the shots are really vivid too. i enjoyed it and felt nervous for him sometimes as well too.
BrianMurphy
Veteran
Nice work! Enjoyed how his character came through along with his amazing skill. I want one of his kitchen knives that I saw on his web page photo and have written him.
Cheers
Brian
Cheers
Brian