Analog Made: One of a Kind
A film featuring Danny McCravy - Artisan Wood Turner
This mini-documentary features Atlanta-based wood-turning expert and artisan Danny McCravy. While much of my channel is about fine art, I thought much of what Danny says would resonate with other artists no matter what medium they create with. Danny talks about the joy he finds in wood-turning, the many friendships that he has made through wood-turning, and shares his candid thoughts on teaching the craft. Like many artists I've come to know, Danny is reluctant calling himself an artist. However, his beautiful turned-wood works (some of which my wife and I have in our collection) are the works of a skilled artist.
This film came about as a result of a filmmaking friend of mine - Rick Delgado - called me and told me about an new RED camera system he had just purchased. Rick wanted to do a fun project to get familiar with the new gear and asked me if I was game to work with him and give his new gear a spin. I told him I had just the perfect project to put his skill and equipment to work on. I had been carrying around for some time the idea to do a series called Analog Made. The series would feature artists and artisans. I wanted feature people who made beautiful art with their hands - sculptors, fine art painters, potters, glass-blowers, wood carvers, etc. Rick loved the idea and immediately flew to Atlanta.
Cinematographer Rick Delgado
After I picked up Rick from the Atlanta airport, we spent some time working out the approach we would take filming Danny McCravy. We visited Danny at his home and workshop and quickly got to work. The visuals were stunning - full of texture, rich colors, and interesting tools and equipment. Rick Delgado handled to the camera as I handled sound and "directed" the shoot. Danny's stories and commentary were a delight to listen to. We gathered several hours of footage (a video editor's delight and curse). It took several weeks for me to edit Rick's beautiful footage. Working with the RED Weapon gave us amazing footage to work with. Of course, the real artistry was in Rick Delgado's handling of the camera. All the footage was shot handheld. I loved Rick's framing of Danny's face and hands as he talked and worked the lathe. Editing RED RAW was an incredible experience for me. I edited the film in Final Cut Pro.
Sadly, I never got around to producing the Analog Made series as I had intended. Life took a few unexpected turns. Danny's wife died shortly after we made the film. His wife was my wife's sister - so it was just crushing to the soul to lose her. My wife and I also moved from Georgia to Colorado and that was an ordeal in itself - though very much worth it to both of us. Frankly, there just doesn't ever seem to be enough time to produce all the videos and podcast episodes I I want to do. Perhaps one day I'll bring back some version of Analog Made. Meanwhile, I hope you find something inspiring in this film.
Rick Delgado and I got together at Fabiano’s Pizza in downtown Douglasville, Georgia (just a block away from where some scenes of Stranger Things were filmed). Rick is taking notes as we plan out our approach to filming our mini-documentary.
Danny McCravy
Here’s the weapon (RED Weapon) of our choice. What a filmmaking beast!
Rick Delgado shooting b-roll. I loved the tight, closeup shots that he got. These shots revealed the beautiful textures and shapes found in Danny McCravy’s workshop.
RIck Delgado is behind the camera filming wood-turning artisan Danny McCravy in his workshop.
Danny McCravy making an urn. The whole process of Danny turning the small urn was beautifully captured by Rick Delgado. After the filming was over, Danny gave the finished urn to Rick.
My job was directing the interview and sound capture. I used this rig to monitor what Rick Delgado was filming and all the settings used in the RED Weapon. You can see me in the Small HD monitor as Rick sets up a shot.
My other job was operating the Zoom H6 to capture audio.
Directed and edited by Carl Olson
Cinematography by Rick Delgado
