The Crafts - Ricochet TV looking for participants

[Sheffield Tony]

This came to me via the Heritage Crafts Association and the APTGW.

Ricochet TV Casting
The Crafts (working title)

Do You Have A Passion and Talent For Crafts?

Ever dream of becoming a professional crafts person and creating masterpieces with your own hands?

TV Production Company RICOCHET is making a new series that celebrates traditional and contemporary crafts for a major broadcaster. Each episode will feature a different craft with a rich heritage and modern appeal; Stonemasonry, Weaving, Glass Blowing, Greenwood, Ceramics, Metal Work and Cabinet Making.

We are looking for the UK’s most talented amateur crafts people to hone their skills under the mentorship of some of the UK’s top crafts men and women - in an opportunity that could change their lives forever.

If this is you or someone you know we would like to hear from you. Call the team on 01273224837 or email to [email protected].

(Quoted page here)

Same company that made Mastercrafts, and a similar brief. Anyone up for it ??

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Sounds like it might be another of those formulaic programmes. You know, three (insert random craft of choice) amateurs have just six weeks to produce a piece of craft work on a budget of just two-and-sixpence, with guidance from (insert random established crafts practitioner), and then be judged by a panel of Islington Pseuds and Over-Opinionated Wazzocks, competing for just one place as an apprentice. 'The Apprentice' with chisels.

I think I'd prefer it if a production company just did some genuine research into the current state of various crafts, and made a programme talking to various established and not-so-establised practicioners, and show-cased what they did and how they did it, how they survived in the marketplace, and learned a bit about why they did what they did.

Sorry for my cynicism, but it seems that television producers want the world to fit their production ideas these days, rather than wanting to reflect the world as it is.

 

[Richard T]

Don't apologise CC - you have predicted it faultlessly. The thin veil of "crafts" will soon be out of the window replaced by over-blown "human interest".

" Dayy eyyt, and Torny is woorried aboot hes witlin". Etc.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Interestingly, this has received a rather negative response on both places I have posted it.

I rather enjoyed "Mastercrafts", an earlier series made by Ricochet and presented by Monty Don. There was at least a reasonable amount of technical content to it, even if human factors were given more attention than some might like.

I do have a couple of hesitations though - firstly why it must always have an element of competition, which seems to me suprious and not what craft is about - I'm interested in making things to the best of my ability; it matters not whether others can do it better. Secondly, the notion that any talented amateur should dream of / aspire to being a professional, and the implication that producing "masterpieces" is the sole reserve of the professional. I'm happy as an amateur. I can spend as much time as I want getting things right, so that they are pleasing to me, family and friends - without having to worry about balancing books and making money, or dealing with grumpy customers !

 

[Richard T]

There seem to be rules involved in the making of television programmes now that make educational aspects redundant.

The element of competition, the judges and their personalities, the personal troubles of the takers - part.
It's a "reality" formula that seems to have taken president above all else and must be adhered to no matter how ill - fitting.
This is why I always find myself back watching Roy Underhill again and again, or independently made how tos on youtube and elsewhere.
If only this current stagnation of television fashion could be broken through.

Was "Mastercrafts" the one that included turning skittles from green Elm and their final efforts judged by Mike Abbot? If so it was rather good we thought.

 

[AndyT]

If it does make it to air, I expect we'll all watch it any way.

I think the real problem for companies such as this one is that anyone wanting really detailed instructional/explanatory video knows that it's not on TV. For a while it was on VHS then DVD, available through specialist tool dealers. It was expensive to distribute but could provide a small income to the makers. But now the cost of distribution has dropped to zero and the cost of 'good enough' production has almost disappeared. That means that the need for a production company disappears too, and anyone with a story to tell and a video camera can offer their efforts to the world.

A lot has happened in the last six years - which is when Alf posted three little tutorial videos on YouTube on use and care of hand planes. (See here) IIRC she was a bold pioneer at the time - similar content was hard to find online.

So now we all know that if we want to learn a technique we'll look on YouTube, Vimeo etc. That's where we can find gems such as 'Brit' Andy's two hour tutorial on saw sharpening - which I don't think anyone would expect to see on TV.

So if a programme is going to be financed by advertising or BBC licence fee it needs a broad enough appeal to get more than just a specialist audience - hence the story telling aspect of it.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Very true. And frankly, I for one am eternally grateful for the medium of YouTube
What an absolutely staggeringly useful innovation it is for anyone serious about
Self paced learning on a budget

 

[MIGNAL]

Yes, how to sharpen a saw is probably a little too much to expect from daytime mainstream TV. Making a cabinet might have much broader appeal though, despite only a few handful of people who watch such a programme actually ever going on to make a cabinet. Par for the course really. Sht loads watch cooking shows, they then all tootle off to the supermarket and buy a trolley full of ready meals. I guess countless millions have sat and watched countless home makeover programmes, everyone of them transfixed. They have absolutely no intention of ever dipping a Harris into a pot of paint. People just like watching other people work. As long as they can sit on their fat ars.s they aren't really bothered what is being made. You just need the attractive looking presenter (even vaguely attractive is fine) and away you go.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Was "Mastercrafts" the one that included turning skittles from green Elm and their final efforts judged by Mike Abbot? If so it was rather good we thought.

Mastercrafts had green woodwork, blacksmithing, weaving, thatching, stonemasonry and stained glass, as I remember.

The woodworking was tutored by Guy Mallinson, and judged by Mike Abbot. The main object was to make a chair by greenwood methods, can't remember if skittles happened along the way.

 

[No skills]

So negative eh?

Hopefully somebody that has some talent but no work sees this and has a crack at it.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

So negative eh?

Hopefully somebody that has some talent but no work sees this and has a crack at it.

Well, yes - I suppose we were a bit negative. However, that's more a reflection on the standard of most television programmes than on crafts. The formulaic nature (or just plain banality) of most programmes was one thing that contributed to my deciding to get rid of my telly altogether, and I don't regret it. The very few programmes I do watch, I watch later on the interweb i-player thingy. 'Mastercrafts' was better than most, but it still turned skilled crafts into a sort of up-market game show, complete with drawn out tension when deciding who'd 'won'. Real life ain't really like that, and that formula slightly demeaned the crafts showcased, for me.

Something that might be worth watching is a programme that reviewed one craft a week. Take stonemasonry, for example. What call is there for masons? Heavy repairs to historic buildings, new work on high-end architecture, monumental masonry, sculpture, lettercutting - all different branches of the craft. How much demand is there for each? Do masons work in teams, or generally on their own? What's involved in the training? How do they go about moving heavy weights, and getting them into place on buildings? Is the trade well manned, or is there a shortage of good masons? What does their trade mean to individual masons in each discipline? How do you get a foothold in the trade? What about masons' contribution to our heritage through the years, and how does modern work compare to that of previous centuries? Has the trade changed much? How do they go about working different types of stone, and how does the material affect how they approach the job? Is granite more satisfying to work than limestone, or is it a right pain?

I reckon I'd learn a bit from a programme like that.

 

[No skills]

I don't disagree that the tv 'drama' part of this whole idea is going to be pretty tedious and formulaic, but to get funding for the program they are going to have play to the masses (unless they are very lucky) rather than the enthusiast. It shouldn't have to work like that but I'm guessing most tv content has to 'earn its keep' like that.

Despite some positive noises from optimists (do they make any other ) I do think that many crafts/trades (however you want to name them) are fading out, the country appears to be geared towards producing service and technical workers with just enough folk in the building/civil engineering to keep us in houses and roads.
I wont pontificate any further on this, I just hope no skills 3.0 has an opportunity for 'craft' work come working age rather than the tedium I think she's doomed to.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:lol: Panem et circenses. The problem is -
1/ That the B.B.C. has lost the plot.
2/ That the great unwashed don't watch anything that is remotely interesting or educational, ergo the advertisers don't pay, ergo the programmes don't get made.
3/ There's no "ergo" key on my keyboard.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Ditto, Phii.p.

I was struck by the announcement this morning that B-Sky-B made over £1bn this last financial year, and that a typical subscriber paid them more than £500 p.a.

Given all that the BBC does for the licence fee, you could put it up by, say, £100 and it would be awash with funding, for example to put the Ashes and F1 back onto FTA channels, AND to do quality minority-interest programming, such as proper series on woodworking and other crafts.

Furthermore, where the BBC leads, ITV would be forced to follow, as the contrast would be obvious. It worked in times past.

Sky only exists because of a vacuum in the BBC, of poor programming and funds drain through top-heavy management.

 

[bugbear]

3/ There's no "ergo" key on my keyboard.

∴ you need to cut and paste.



BugBear