I Review

I love the first views of each of the videos we make. I review them just to check for any glaring errors I might make but then too for faults that might be somehow out of sequence. I also want to ensure our videographers are supported fully and have confidence in their concluding each of the episodes they piece together. From day one we have always wanted the videos to be as carefully crafted as the pieces I make and Natalie hits the mark every time. Natalie works both as videographer and editor. It can be a tough call sometimes because retakes can be hard or impossible. Something said can easily be replaced with a retake, dropdown or even a voiceover, but conversation and a missed cut on a piece of wood with obvious grain can almost never be resynchronised without a completely new take and that is always hard on me. To achieve the best results, I generally walk the videographers through my intended path like a rehearsal. That way they know generally at least where I will be turning to or pulling something from.

I always enjoy watching the videos because it is as if I am watching someone else use the planes and saws. The other thing though is that I get to see my work from an angle I can never actually see. In my world, the saw and plane strokes are almost always going away from me yet in the reviews they can be coming at me or from right to left or vice versa. I learn from my videos too. It helps me to deliver significant reasoning for why a plane is slightly skewed or my aligning of my eye to the work. Unconscious delivery might seem intentional and the movement can be exaggerated when in reality is simply that our human bodies can only work the tools in a certain way. Two hands working a plane and a saw with both hands always creates a triangular geometry to and through the body and yet the body, sideways to the workbench, means the body and any tools held must be offset. This reasoning follows the same tenet that form follows function in the multidimensionality of our human form. In other words, our bodies, in the incredible flexing and versatility of them, dictate how we work the tools in accord with every circumstance presented to them.

Natalie crafts her work carefully, confidently and yet does all things with measured caution. She searches beyond the lens and after the videoing for authenticity. Matching her work with mine has raised the bar continuously and this is the symbiosis we strive for so as not to have any weak linkage between the two crafts of woodworking and videography––quite the challenge sometimes.

I love that we work in such close proximity and whereas Natalie is in charge of videography there are others there too, filming and directing, and now we also have Rosie in there too. Sometimes being a crafting artisan can be quite isolating with unshared work and working. That's how it has been throughout my life with shared space and isolated space running parallel with one another.

Who's Rosie? Well, she's our cocker spaniel. She comes into the office with Joseph a couple of days a week.