Smoggy Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 So many posts recently have reminded me of various aspects of this TV episode, So as I've not seen a link or reference to it here, I found it on Youtube. I'll say no more than I recommend you watch it when you can find an hour, you'll not be disappointed. (I hadn't expected other than a plain link, how did I manage that!!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Remarkable achievements by genuine novices. I remember seeing that program when it first aired on TV here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 It scares me to have a hot cut in the hardie hole and a novice swinging a hammer. Removing the hot cut from the anvil is such a small thing where as removing a finger can be a major issue. It is a well done program and presentation. The participants have listened to the instruction and taken it to the anvil to understand how the metal moves. I would be interested in what they are doing today with metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 That was a great program. Thanks for sharing. I noticed that with the hot cut as well Glenn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 That is exactly what it left me wondering Glenn. It would be nice to know and even better if all three are cutting the mustard in the metalworking world in some respect. Would I have shaped up? As a novice, I could not honestly say I would have.......after a lifetime of metal manipulation,,,,,I recon I could have scrapped through! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I believe there is a member on this site who was in a similar programme who may chip in with his take on what happened on the programme he featured in, and where he is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Fascinating presentation. I wish Public Broadcasting in US would pick up that series. I can identify with the individual struggles they went through. It also shows the value of intensive training at craft schools for aspiring crafts persons in what ever field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Charlotte, there used to be a show called Modern Masters on HGTV if I remember right. They would spotlight 3 artisans per episode, and some were smiths. YouTube may have them now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I recall the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I must have tried half a dozen times to reply, but it never works... I took part in the follow up series to this BBC one. The series I took part had the same presenter and same master blacksmith mentor, but was a Channel 4 production called "Real Crafts". The difference was that the Real Crafts series was about amateurs / semi-pro crafts people looking to take things to the next stage. I asked Don what happened to the three from the Mastercrafts series, he said that Dominic went and did a 6 month apprenticeship with him up in York, then setup shop for himself. The lady went back to her day job as a museum assistant(?). I don't know about the other bloke. I also asked Don if the three of them really made everything themselves, he said they did. With regards to "how would you shape up?"...if there was no camera I'd assume that everyone here would do really well as I expect everyone is keen and eager to learn, so you'd lap up the 1-2-1 instruction. (Needless to say that co-ordination and natural ability would go a long way). However the thing you can't know is how well you'd do with a camera in your face all the time, watching your every mistake. The folks on the Mastercrafts series had the advantage of being complete novices so I doubt they would have felt the pressure of expectation, unlike the participants on the Real Crafts series who had in the back of their mind that that this could be good advertising and there's potential clients out there watching this so please, please, please don't mess up. Team that up with a camera in your face all the time, being constanty pulled away from your work to have mini interviews about "how it's going", having your every word monitored by clip microphones, having to constantly stop and re-do what you just did so the camera can get a better angle etc etc etc...that's all stuff that massively affects "how you shape up", but has nothing to do with smithing ability. Supposedly the budget on the Mastercrafts series was much larger than the budget on the Real Crafts series, and we really noticed it in terms of tools and workshop. That really affected how we "shaped up", but how much of that translates onto the screen, I don't know, It's TV land, a clever edit can make one thing look like something else completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Thanks for both the follow up info and inside perspectie Joel, I'll have to have a search for the C4 series now..... (maybe one of the mods can do some forum forge welding and splice this reply to the original thread) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Thanks Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I love that episode, thanks for posting it. Thanks even more for the perspective Joel. It's too easy to forget what movieland, "reality?" TV and such production "values?" do to a person, their work and such. Editing can make pure poop look good and high end work look like drama queen crap. Seems modern American "reality" requires stupid levels of contrived drama to make the cut with producers and sponsors. Nobody will buy your tooth paste if there aren't enough bleeped out words and life and death consequences. For instance, what is evidently a highly skilled outdoorsman and one of THE guys you want to find yourself in a survival situation with just HAS to jump off a cliff, out of a helicopter, etc. every episode. What survival expert would even consider jumping ANY distance unless it was a life or death choice? Nope, not one, EVER. It's a "reality?" show production value driven by selling advertising value. Bearing in mind what it takes to get any metal smithing let alone footage of hot iron being forged on the air, I gust grit my teeth and take what I can get. If we want to see serious blacksmithing educational video we need to buy it, all we'll see on American TV is flash and dazzle to sell stuff and forget Youtube. Sure there are good videos on Youtube but unless you already know what you're doing you can't filter the grain from the chaff. Youtube enjoys NO production values, all you need is a camera and internet connection to post there so that's what you find. 99% zippo value nonsense. Heck it's worse than the book of faces. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 37 minutes ago, Frosty said: I love that episode, thanks for posting it. The BBC show contained much more practical information than the show I took part in. I must have watched the BBC episode 30 times, long before I even saw an application form for the show I took part in. I had a funny "oh yeah" moment one day when filming, I was putting an awkward shaped bar into the fire and trying to do it quickly so as not to disturb the fire too much. It then occurred to me that I'd learned that from what Don said on the BBC show, and he standing right next to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 5 hours ago, Frosty said: Seems modern American "reality" requires stupid levels of contrived drama to make the cut with producers and sponsors. Contrived is putting it mildly Frosty, some of the stuff that trickles down here from all over the world is so badly faked it is laughable. I saw a fire fighting truck drive over a couple of burning sticks with a pair of clowns inside the cab with the narration claiming they were trapped in an inferno. The editing manufactured a situation that was never there. I am so annoyed I am writing to the executive producer to spell out what I think his future should entail. We had a brand new restaurant reality show totally bomb here, less that 415,000 viewers country wide for the second episode. Replaced with "cats make you laugh out loud" and it rated 1.56 million. Ha-ha-ha cough cough hack wheeze! I would say the mastercrafts green wood craft and thatching episodes would be some of the best TV I have seen. Showing process,detail, constructive guidance and skill beats emotional fluff with no context every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 The Mastercrafts series is solid information, a person could learn enough from one to make a go at surviving on the skill. No it's not a course or even a class in a particular craft but it's good info. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 "...It then occurred to me that I'd learned that from what Don said on the BBC show, and he standing right next to me. ..." Priceless Joel, does he know...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phabib Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 My wife and I used to know a master metal worker named Victor Reiss who had a movie made of his life and work. The film maker is now looking for some money to edit about 10 minutes out of the film so that PBS can air it. They're in the last few days of a kickstarter campaign to raise the money. They've met the minimum goal, but I can't imagine that more money would hurt. I remember many hours looking at Victor's photos of projects and hearing his stories. There is a short video on the Kickstarter site that shows some of his work too. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1072521506/metal-man-the-story-of-victor-ries-pbs-version/posts/1434558?ref=backer_project_update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIJosh Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I just found this show yesterday and have been watching it. It's pretty good for a beginner like myself because I've already picked up a few "do's" and "don'ts" from watching the participants and the judge's reactions. It's also brought up some good questions for me that I intend to research deeper such as one episode where the smiths had to include a hamon in their blade. Overall, very entertaining for a new smithing addict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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