Double Bass DOCUMENTARY : Double Bass Luthier

[Rvl]

Inspiring documentary.
My dream is to be a luthier when I retire.

thanks

Robert VanLane

 

[Jake deVilliers]

I heard a lot of traffic noise (rumble?) through parts of the film. Of course, 'a lot' is a relative term. I live and mostly work in a very small community near Boundary Bay, so traffic noise is sporadic except on fine summer weekends.

 

[jlwalley]

Yep, there is noise from traffic, that is just a part of that space. To try and exclude it would have been A) almost impossible B) un-true to the space and ambience.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Fantastic!

Thank you.

 

[powerbass]

I liked the movie, I am not a film maker so take what I say w/a grain of salt. I think the opening scenes, walking up the stairs etc are distracting and takes too long. Also there is one point where the frames change super fast - this is dizzying and doesn't mesh with the calm clarity of the rest of the movie. This is a movie of a French violin bow maker, it is simple and clear with minimal camera tricks or distractions. Bowmaker J-J Augagneur explains everything about making a bow! - YouTube What I look for in movies of makers/builders is I want to see right over their shoulders, see their tools, how they hold and use them, hear the sound of their tools etc. To me the process of making is not about words or camera angles, it is about observing the quiet concentration and process of the work. It is simple, direct where the act of making speaks for itself

 

[JoeyNaeger]

This was a treat to watch. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Yep, there is noise from traffic, that is just a part of that space. To try and exclude it would have been A) almost impossible B) un-true to the space and ambience.

I wasn't meaning to be critical. To me the street noise is part of the soundtrack of the film.

 

[jlwalley]

Thank you for your input. I just watched the piece you linked to, our works are very different and as filmmakers we each have different goals. Clearly the point of the bow maker film was educational and informative, from the start if the film I could tell what it was about. I take a much different approach, through sometimes slow pacing, ambient sound collection and changes in rhythm and angles. I do offer many shots and sounds of tools used in the craft too, I just make you work harder to find them!

 

[jlwalley]

Jake- No worries, I enjoy having an audience to bounce ideas and feedback off of!

 

[bluebird28]

I appalud your work enjoyed it and learned from it. Thank you.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Very, very nice piece of work, Jon. I enjoyed it immensely. I wouldn't change a thing about it. You and Michael should both be proud of this. Congrats!

 

[basswraith]

Thanks,
We did have allot of fun with it. Jon is a talented young videographer with tons of vision. He asked allot of tough but great questions. This is supposed to be part one of three. Next up a welder and a clock maker.
Michael Hartery

 

[billyfalconer]

The pacing of the cuts was erratic and distracting from the story.

 

[powerbass]

The pacing of the cuts was erratic and distracting from the story.

+1

 

[daveman50]

I enjoyed it and found it captivating. Visual art about creating tangible works of art for making sonic art.

I have no complaints about the filmmaker's style. Each of us would create something unique, if we had the tools and talent. I liked how the introduction communicated something essential about the location and setting of the shop.

 

[PB+J]

Lovely--beautifully done. I would have gotten to the subject a little sooner. The opening street shots bugged me a tiny bit. They were pretty for the sake of pretty and didn't seem to advance the subject.

Also--and this is an observation, not a criticism--it's kind of the utopian version of being a luthier--great space, plenty of leisure, little apparent routine or tedium. It's entirely coincident with his point of view--handwork is better, paying someone else to do it is worse than doing it yourself. These things might be true, but if you do everything yourself the result is dilletantism. The workman is worthy of his hire--mastery of luthiery is beyond me, and I see no good reason why doing it myself is necessarily better than paying a master craftsman. A documentary could aso include the "downside" and some would say it should--the tedium and routine, the frustrations with customers/clients, the tension between handwork and innovation with tools and machines that as far as I can tell every luthier experiences. Your film expresses, it seems to me, a utopian anti-modernism.

At the same time it's beautifully done and the point of view it expresses is certainly an admirable point of view and I'm not unsympathetic to it.

 

[Reku]

That was very awesome. thanks for sharing.

 

[jlwalley]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I enjoy hearing peoples perspective on my work, as you know as musicians it can be hard to think "outside of your own head". Some great thoughts here. My style is the one thing people either enjoy, or get caught up on.. No shot is ever just there to look pretty, each shot has a purpose. I just demand a bit more from the viewers than your average documentary, where everything is given and explained to you. I provide the space, you provide the context.

 

[wilsonn]

I enjoyed it very much. I would like to meet the subject. I agree with others that some of the intro felt long. The stairs, particularly, felt like too much. The section with the very fast cuts also felt out of place to me. But don't take the criticism too seriously as the overall piece was a pleasure in my day.

 

[swmmojo]

I enjoyed it and shared it with others [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Nice work Jon!