Furniture Fit for the Kingdom

Today I thought I’d showcase this film that I came across yesterday morning, directed by Nathan Clarke it’s a short documentary type piece on furniture maker Harrison Higgins. The Virginia woodworker describes his ideology and how he feels about making functional items out of wood, also we are guided through some of the processes such as wood turning thanks to Nathan Clarke’s fantastic moving imagery.

This video is actually for Christianity Today, as I’m not really a religious man myself I was quite interested in the link here as it’s not something I’m familiar with. But as the end of the movie arrives we can see why through Harrison’s furniture with his job being to re-create 18th century furniture using techniques such as dovetailing and carving. He even goes as far as using equipment from that era, the hand saws and metal clamps in-particular.

I have to say my favourite shots are those which feature him making and this is what attracted me to this specific piece. Nothing against the story as such, I think what Harrison does is absolutely incredible and he’s a real talent, but you can’t beat seeing someone at work in their workshop. Actually it’s quite smart how the sequences fall together in the film, around the 1 minute 10 second mark it’s nice how it all comes together as we see Harrison roll out his pattern paper and get to work sketching and producing a chair.

Maybe today you’ll think this is quite obscure, especially considering the subject, but I assure you it’s a fascinating watch which is actually pretty gripping. If you’re into workshop shots this is definitely one for you. Also, if you’re interested in how the director Nathan Clarke produces these documentaries and also his thoughts on the religious element within his short films I’d recommend checking out this interview here. It’s quite nice to hear his thoughts on telling a compelling a story. For now, I hope you enjoy the video below.

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