Ferrymead Printing Society Preserving the passion for print

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Movies about aspects of Printing

Traditional Letterpress Videos
Mr Smithsʻ Letterpress Workshop Typographic artist Kelvyn Laurence - Smith works through the process of setting up a form and printing - shows the process well with lots of tips! (7:35)
Hand setting Lead Type Rob Lamb goes over setting lead type by hand. Lots of great skills, tips and valuable info and he throws in some of the history of where terms come from, etc Good explanations of key printing principles like printing measurement / lead spacing. (13:53 mins)
Locking Up Lead Type in a Chase for Printing Rob Lamb goes over the skills required to lock up metal type in a chase. Lots of great tricks and tips. Fairly lengthy (21:17) and slow presentation at times but lots of valuable info.
Distributing type Rob Lamb goes over the skills required to distribute type back into the case with lots of tips and methods. (9:01)
Upside Down Left to Right: A Letterpress Film A 2012 Youtube video about letterpress and one of the few remaining movable-type printing workshops in the UK, situated at Plymouth University, featuring Paul Collier.
Learning Typesetting A 1959 Vocational Training video from California. Very old but covers the basics of using the comp stick very well.
Letterpress:by Naomie Ross This 1:32 min video takes a quick look at the printing process with impressive motion graphics. It guides you through the process of setting the kerning, creating the lockup, mixing the ink and so forth.
How to use a Vintage Printing Press 2015 Youtube video where Pam Lobb of Graven Feather in Toronto, Canada walks you through how to use a vintage letterpress to create a unique print on paper. (4:48mins)
Boxcar Press videos - A series of little letterpress classes on video from Boxcar Press. These little letterpress classes feature the Vandercook, the Windmill, the Pearl, and Harold. A great resource.
Brian Donaghey on letterpress printing In this 2012 Youtube video, long time letterpress printer Brian Donaghey talks about his life with letterpress while printing on an Albion type. Very nice video of 5:46 mins long.
Specific Presses
Printing on a Desktop Adana 8x5 In this 2012 Youtube video, David Hughes shows how to set up the rollers, ink up and print on a typical Adana. No commentary (and rather noisy background) but overlaid text offers hints. 4:49 mins long.
General Overview Videos - these videos show multiple types of presses being used, often using polymer prints of wood type, but still with some very handy information.
Learning How to Press Letterpress A 2012 Youtube video where Danielle Feliciano demonstrates three great presses, a Showcard Proofing Press, an 8x10 Kelsey, and a Vandercook 219 housed at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Working with wood type and polymer prints, she shows from start to finish how to ink up, operate, and clean each press as well as how to use the guillotine cutter, how to oil the Vandercook, and how to change the packing. While this video may show presses not commonly available, it covers the whole process exceedingly well with lots of hints and tips. 35:48 mins long
Tested Learns the Craft of Letterpress Printing A 2012 Youtube video where a doco team from Tested visits the San Francisco Center for the Book to learn about letterpress printing. This one features polymer prints at the start but does have a good section on metal type letterpress toward the end. 14:09 mins long
Videos of Print Shops - These videos are more about what is happening in various print shops but usually give a good overview of a variety of machines and techniques being used.
Trading Stories with the Printers - a beautiful video made by some brilliant local Christchurch filmmakers who made a video featuring two of our members. Sadly Life Member Lou Young has since passed away - a huge loss to our Society. A 4:15min video
The Art of Hatch Show Print - This 8;00 min video shows you the art of letterpress printing as practiced by a 125-year-old Nashville, TN, print shop and why this one has been so influential in the music and entertainment industry. Great for those wanting to look at combining wood block carving with wood / metal type.
The Letterpress Revival A short video for a series in Flux Magazine, an online and print publication produced by students at the University of Oregon. It profiles two manual letterpress operators and explores why the craft still remains afloat in the digital age.
Letterpress Printing: Steel Petal Press In this 2:19 video, Shayna Norwood shows some of her work at the Steel Petal Press Chicago - printing on a C and P and a Vandercook SP-15. Very nicely crafted work.
Ink and Paper: Last Letterpress and Paper Company in Los Angeles In 1929, the Los Angeles City Directory listed 42 letterpresses and 17 paper companies in Downtown. Now, there are only 2 left. One is the oldest paper shop in Los Angeles. The other is a printer that uses technology over 600 years old. These are visited in this 2013 Youtube video of 9:09.
Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum - a 3:30min video on the Hamilton wood type
Videos or media about the history of printing
Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press In this BBC 4 documentary, Stephen Fry goes in search of the story of Gutenberg and his printing press and along the way, attempts to put together all the parts of the printing process as Gutenberg did, using the tools and technology of the time. Brilliant background to the story of Gutenberg.
Caxton and The Printing Press Audio playback of a BBC Radio 4 programme featuring Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and influence of William Caxton, the merchant who brought the printing press to the British Isles. 43 minutes long - downloadable.
The Art of Making a Book A 3:40 min video showing the whole process of making a book as it was originally done. Type is hand set into an 8 page layout, the text is inked in a traditional way and printing using a wooden hand pulled press and then the sheets are cut in bound in a traditional manner. The book is finished off with a leather cover and hot metal tools used for decoration. Brilliant little video
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