Book and Media Studies

Produced by I.A. Recordings.
28 minutes; released 2010.
Hand made paper is still in great demand by artists and for commemorative documents. Several mills in the UK still make paper by hand using traditional wooden moulds. Making a mould is a very specialised craft. The only man in Britain still doing it is Ron MacDonald who started with E. Amies and Son Limited of Maidstone in Kent in 1948 and was involved with all aspects of mould making. He carried on into retirement with equipment moved to his home near Maidstone.

Produced by Direct Cinema Ltd.
28 minutes; released 2008.
Set in the small town of Brookston, Indiana, The Mark of the Maker introduces papermakers Kathryn and Howard Clark, who began their careers as a printmaker and a mechanical engineer. In 1972, they built Twinrocker, a hand paper mill, on the family farm - the first hand mill in America since 1929.

Produced by the University of Iowa Center for the Book.
143 minutes; released 1994.

Produced by the University of Iowa Center for the Book.
55 minutes; released 1994.

Directed by Peter Herdrich.
52 minutes; released 2003.
Format in the Hand-Press Period (1991): Discusses the physical format of books printed during the hand-press period on hand-made paper. Identifies laid and wove papers, watermarks, and the folding of sheets for folios, quartos, octavos, and other formats.
The Making of a Renaissance Book (1969): A brief history of Christophe Plantin's 16th century printing press, demonstrating the process of creating a printed book in the tradition of the Renaissance.

Produced Nick Cowlishaw
390 minutes; released 2012.
The DVDs carefully progress through the many stages in the bookbinding process and help the student or bookbinder to follow every individual step.

Directed by Phil Shepherd and Rob Shepherd.
110 minutes; released 1998.
An introduction to the craft of bookbinding featuring nine projects for the beginner.

Directed by Peter Herdrich.
75 minutes; released 2004.
How to Operate a Book (1986): An examination of book structures throughout history, the ways in which they work, and how best to handle them to preserve their original, physical integrity.
From Punch to Printing Type (1985): Stan Nelson, a specialist in the Division of Graphic Arts at the Smithsonian Institution, demonstrates the steps involved in cutting punches by hand, preparing matrices, and making type in a hand mould.

Directed by Janette Heffernan.
70 minutes; released 2007.
In this DVD master bookbinder Peter Goodwin demonstrates in detail how he achieves this traditional binding, easily, with little fuss.

Produced by Video Center Media.
145 minutes; released 1997.
Demystifying some of the elements of gold tooling using both type and line tools, and a demonstration of a step-by-step plan for successful hand tooling.

Produced by The Video Centre.
165 minutes; released 2014.
Instructor Stuart Brockman presents techniques for gold leaf tooling on leather.

Produced by Video Centre Media.
151 minutes; released 2004.

Produced by Video Centre Media.
215 minutes; released 2002.
This presentation covers the necessary equipment, the types of liquid adhesives that are available, the most effecive gold leaf to use, and the most efficient techniques required to produce solid gilt edges.

Directed by Gary Hustwit.
170 minutes; released 2007.
This film goes into the history of the popular Helvetica typeface, while also using the occasion to reflect more broadly on how type affects our lives.

Produced by PSS Type Foundry.
45 minutes; released 2011.
This fascinating design documentary captures the personality and work process of the late Canadian graphic artist Jim Rimmer (1931-2010). In 2008, the P22 Type Foundry commissioned Rimmer to create a new type design (Stern) that became the first-ever simultaneous release of a digital font and hand-set metal font. Rimmer was one of the few who possessed the skills needed to create a metal font and fully execute all steps of its design. This film is a unique opportunity to share Jim's knowledge and processes with the world.

Directed by Justine Nagan.
60 minutes; released 2010.
The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin personifies cultural preservation, rural re-birth and the lineage of American graphic design. At Hamilton, international artisans meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique. But the Museum's future is unclear. What is the responsibility of artists and historians to preserve a dying craft? How can rural towns survive in a shifting industrial marketplace where big-box retailers are king?

Directed by Douglas Wilson.
76 minutes; released 2012.
This film traces the history and influence of the linotype machine while profiling the people working to keep the linotype technology alive.

Produced by the BBC.
59 minutes; released 2010
The printing press was the world's first piece of mass-production technology. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world dramatically, igniting a cultural revolution which shaped the modern age. Fry investigates its inventor Johann Gutenberg, the lengths he went to keep his project secret, and the importance of printing in medieval Europe. Fry and a team of modern day craftsmen build a working replica of the original machine.

Directed by Duane Scott C.
105 minutes; released 2000.
Demonstrates several printing presses.

Directed by Murray Grigor.
60 minutes; released 2001.
"The Book of Kells" tells the story of this magnificent masterpiece. Created on the windy Hebridean island of Iona thirteen centuries ago, it now rests in the Trinity College library in Dublin. The manuscript has mystified, and motivated writers from W.B. Yeats to James Joyce and Umberto Eco, and its intricate Celtic knotwork continues to influence artists and craftsmen today.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1997.
A documentary about this seventh century illuminated manuscript. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Produced by Films Media Group.
35 minutes; released 2005.
Documentary describes the creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels, combining location footage with images from other manuscripts of the period and reveals the major pages of the Gospels in fascinating close-up. The complex process of making and decorating an illuminated manuscript is also explained.

Directed by Bernard J. Muir.
45 minutes; released 2008.
Presents the actual making of a manuscript as it would have been done in the Middle Ages.

Produced by Films Media Group.
24 minutes; released 1996.
This program is a concise history of the illuminated manuscript and book production.

Produced by Films Media Group.
30 minutes; released 2005.
Looks at the creation of medieval manuscripts ~ how illuminations were accomplished, what materials were used, how scriptoria functioned, which titles were selected. Explains the crucial role artists and artisans played in the survival of Western culture.

Directed by Danny Miller.
60 minutes; released 1994.
An instructional video on how to create marbled papers.

Produced by Pacifica.
103 minutes; released 2005.
Mastering marbling is an intensive marbling workshop you can take at home. Instructor Peggy Skycraft demystifies everything from the supplies and tools to the creation of these gorgeous intricate patterns.

Directed by Pamela Smith.
142 minutes; released 2012.

Produced by Video Centre Media.
161 minutes; released 2005.