Last summer we filmed a new DVD on workbenches. When I say “we” I mean Chris Schwarz, Jeff, AJ and Mandy. I helped as I could, moving benches (three benches were used and rotated through), turning on and off lights, chiseling an area of a workbench and whatever else I could do. I also learned what a “Grip” is. You know when watching the credits at the end of a movie you see the term “Grip”. In order to fix a light issue, AJ came up with the idea to hold a blue cloth behind Chris. It worked and I stood there and gripped the cloth.
Making a woodworking DVD is a lot of work. Many different shots were taken to show something from different angles. There was pausing to wait for the passing of a loud truck, voice overs, changes in the sun glare through the windows, reflections from a camera tripod and other issues. The crew did a great job noticing anything that interfered with the shot or the sound. Then there was the heat. We had all the windows shut and turned the A/C off because of noise. When they turned the lights on it felt like putting your hand in front of a roaring fire!
Now that Chris is done, there will be more hours spent watching the video and selecting the best takes to put on the final DVD. All is all it was a lot of fun for me, and Maine in the Summer is hard to beat. And yes, I went to Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and bought some new tools. I bought two chisels, a 1/2 inch and a 3/8 inch for dovetailing. I have been using Marples blue chip chisels which are great but the sides are quite thick and as Chris has written, the wide chisel sides tend to monkey up the area where the bottom of the tail meets the baseline. So, after trying to save money and avoid buying more tools I splurged on two chisels. If you haven’t been to Maine it is a great place to visit and see the Toolworks.
-John
"Last summer" ??? Or does it just seem like it was a year ago?
Mid-coast of Maine is one of our favoutire places to be in the summer.
Yup, last summer as in one year ago! We have been traveling up to Maine once a year for the past three years to teach or do DVD’s. It really is a great place to visit in the summer and there is a great wine, beer and spirits shop that also carries exquisite food near the Toolworks!
Peace
JH
I very much like Chris’s videos shot at Lie-Nielsen, except for one nagging issue (I’m a photographer, so I’m probably the only one that noticed this) – all of the shots of his previous videos are shot with a large window in the background. Because the chips in video cameras (or digital still cameras, for that matter) don’t have anywhere near the exposure range of the human eye, the windows are completely washed out and over-exposed when the correct exposure is set for Chris and his work.
The glare from those windows is really distracting, as is the glare off of the work that he’s doing.
Perhaps someone will point this out to the production manager, and they can move the bench across the room to get a better setting, and perhaps use a polarizing filter to cut down on reflected light off of the work.
Yes, David. I am not sure when but they installed gels in all the windows for the tapings. This is a well known issue with the film crew and the reason I learned about what a Grip does. I think you will notice in the Workbench DVD and future DVD’s that this problem has been addressed.
Thanks
JH
Never been to Maine. Want to someday.
Hey John, would that be McKean & Charles that has the great beverages? I suspect so considering the lineage of its ownership!
Take care, Mike