Letterpress Leaves An Impression

By Nerida Little / February 1st, 2012 in Talks / England / 204 views

There is no shortage of dirge-like films on the ‘dying arts’. They are always visually stunning films but their tone is solemn and leaves you with a feeling that we are losing touch with a bit of our souls. Upside Down, Left To Right is a ‘dying art film’ with a difference.

Directed by Southern Devon indie filmmaker extraordinaire Danny Cooke, this film looks at the 500 year old typography technology of letterpress. The beauty of this film is that rather than playing the funeral march of another traditional way of doing things, it is a celebration of the resurgence of letterpress in universities across Europe. Leading the way is Paul Collier of Plymouth University; this film intersperses shots of Collier in the letterpress workshop with archival footage of the stunning machines at work in a ‘how-to’ video.

The intricacy and attention required by the letterpress technique is captured beautifully in a series of close ups and a stunning montage of the paints and the lettered type. Collier explains the benefits of the mechanical letterpress method over modern computerized and digital printing techniques, and it is fantastic to see how a printing method can take on new possibilities by moving it into the realms of art.

The end titles are produced entirely through letterpress and you can’t help but turn upside to try and read them before they’re printed right way up.