Glad to oblige. The film is really about the machine first, and we operators second. Through a skillful use of interviews, shots of the machines at each shop, archival footage obtained in part from what used to be Mergenthaler Linotype and a tiny bit of animation, the story of the machine is laid out in detail -- loving detail -- and I've not heard from a single movie goer who did not thoroughly enjoy the film.
Our first day of shooting was in August, 2010, and the original intent of the director was to put together a seven minute film about the Linotype to be shown on the Internet -- something professionally done as opposed to many of the current videos out there on You Tube. It was a hot day, and we had to shut the doors of the shop -- too much street noise -- and turn off the fans. That took it to about 105 degrees; so hot that the cameraman had to ice the camera down to keep it from overheating.
That evening, the guys decided to make a real documentary about the machine, and to do it right. Doug Wilson told me that they ultimately had twenty-seven photo shoots, and if I remember right, six or seven of them were at my shop. (Naturally -- the machine could be easily lit, and I was accommodating and in the same town the crew lives in. These extra shoots ranged from one day-long session with the machine filmed against a green screen for future animation purposes -- footage that was ultimately never used -- to a session with Dave Seat filmed replacing a mouthpiece, to one session that was nothing more than an audio engineer coming in and recording all of the various sounds of the machine as it was put through its paces. Just filming the main titles (four lines total of mats in the assembler) took most of a day!)
Trust me -- the film is well worth watching, and for all of you that are out reach of a showing of the film, it will be released on DVD and as a digital download early this summer.
IF we can, we'll have a working Model 31 at the Springfield showing; if not, I am having an open house at the shop that same week, and theatre goers will be invited to stop by for a demonstration of the Model 5 that is used so extensively in the film.
