WEBVTT

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Pull out the one below half way.

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Then pull out your case

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far enough
to reach the back row of boxes.

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[music box plays]

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My name is Paul Collier.

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I'm the Letterpress
and Typography technician

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at the University of Plymouth.

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Letterpress is an old form
of mass production,

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an old form of printing,

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invented around about 1450s
by Johannes Gutenberg.

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This workshop tends
to work in the same way

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as it did back in that time.

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So by using these pre-molded,
reusable letters

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made of metal and wood,
moveable type,

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we can produce words and sentences

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and paragraphs and pages of text.

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This is a 500 year old process
and it moves

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like a 500 year old process.

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It requires
a greater degree of consideration

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when you're using this,

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mainly because there are no quick
highlight and change sizes

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or typefaces like we can do on the computer.

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That's where technology
has really pushed forward,

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is that we can change things
in an instant.

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Here if you setup a paragraph
or a sentence,

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if you get it wrong
or if this--

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if you haven't planned your way forward
through that,

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then you just have to take it all apart

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and start all over again.

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[chaotic music plays]

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Once you're there amongst it really,

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because I know the layout of the case;

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I'm familiar with all the letters
are in the boxes.

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My mind tends to wander.

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I'm listening to what students
are saying in the room.

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I'm making sure their body language
is alright;

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they're not struggling with things

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and bit by bit I'm putting my letters together

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and I know
whats it's going to look like.

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I have a vision
of what it's going to come out like.

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I'm looking forward
to seeing it basically

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and getting it finished.

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But the process is quite therapeutic.

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You can calmly put this thing together
piece by piece,

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It's a very enjoyable process.

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[music continues]

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I think Letterpress is going through--

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we're going through a revival right now.

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We almost, particularly this country,
nearly lost the lot

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and jumped on the Lithography bandwagon

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and just threw everything else away.

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The equipment now
is becoming a highly sort-after now.

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We're in the process of people wanting
to have this machinery

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and get hold of it

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and that's not easy now
because its difficult to find.

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Sometimes even harder are spare parts

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and bits and pieces like that and

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It's old school.

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It's all nuts and bolts
and highly mechanical

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and that makes life a little bit easier
for us really,

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but there are one or two pieces
on each bit of kit

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that are difficult to find.

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That's just the way it is.

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[electronic music plays]

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The quality of image produced
by Letterpress is quite sort after.

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The inked in depression
that is the characteristic mark

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left in the sheet by the letters

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is something that people
don't see very often

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because the laser print and inkjet

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don't produce that anymore
and that's the familiarity.

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So when they see this,
it has the wow factor

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and I always like to see the look

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when a group of students come in
for the first time

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and I'm showing them
how the room operates and how it functions

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and how they function in the room.

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It's very clear
that they've not seen that before

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or they really get it.

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They really get
what the quality of that is.

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It's something that you can't really
reproduce in any other way.

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It's that first look
at the quality of the way

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that the type impresses into the paper,

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It's very special.

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The digital age does remove us
from the tactile work,

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the more hands on

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and I think there is a longing in our soul
to get back to that.

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Even if we can't
there is something about these places

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that people want to occupy and try out.

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Certainly as an art form,
it is very appealing,

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It's very current now,
whether that will fade...

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I think it's interesting to note

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that there are other universities around Europe,

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who are opening their own Letterpress
studios as we speak.

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That really tells a story there I think,

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that this is here to stay.

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[upbeat music plays]