There’s a texture to the wearing of the jackets – a sensory feeling our three owners talked about– so we wanted that to come out in the location, mood and texture of the film.
We also loved the factory sounds, the contrast between factory and landscape, the production versus to weather and so focused on that to add an extra dimension.
We hope it’s a ‘seamless ‘ edit that weaves together our particular story. Watch our film ‘A Jacket for Life’ on our Vimeo channel.
You can also view it here.
We have recently had the pleasure of filming a day in the life of Rick Pooley, a designer, creator and restorer of stained glass based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Rick also offers customers the chance to design and help make their own glass panels too.
If you are in the region visit Rick in Newcastle at his Ashfield Glass workshop.
He’s the sort of man who will have the kettle on for you.
In this documentary we gain an insight into his work and find out how his passion for glass turned a hobby into a new career.
We have now finished editing so view the film on our Vimeo Channel.
You can also view it here.
Barbour jackets are beautiful and functional but you never really know who wears them.
Our location filming included some beautiful British landscapes from the South Shields waterfront as the sun rose to a day on an allotment in Beverley and walking on Aldeburgh beach.
The texture and tone of the locations are more than we hoped for and create a lovely mood for our quintessentially British story as did our Barbour owners Paul, Thea and Carole.
One of Barbour’s new retro lining fabrics was based on what the Customer Services team had found in jacket pockets over the years when they came in for repair. The contents hinted at customer lifestyles – from dog biscuits to toy cars, party poppers to plane tickets.
Over a period of weeks we’ve come to know a lot more about Barbour and it’s customers.
To find out more about the relationship between Barbour and its customers we spent a day with the Customer Services team and factory workers to see how Barbour wax jackets are made and repaired.
Visiting Barbour’s Simonside Factory at South Shields
There’s a great atmosphere of people who know what they are doing at Barbour’s South Shields factory. About 14,000 jackets are repaired, reproofed or altered by the Customer Services team of 11 people each year and demand seems to be growing. It’s an intimate relationship watching one operator like Denise trying to ‘get inside the jacket without anyone knowing you’ve been in it’ and a lifetime of experience which allows colleagues to bring them back to life.
On the factory floor it takes over 40 pair of hands to produce one new jacket. The process starts in the cutting room, with rolls of 55 metre long waxed cotton, which are cut into 4.6m lengths. Each length makes three jackets. With over 150 people on the factory floor dedicating time to each part of the process there’s a rhythm and sound which appeals to us as film-makers. It’s also a feast for the eyes.
There’s a great atmosphere of people who know what they are doing at Barbour’s South Shields factory. As well as making new wax jackets, about 14,000 jackets are also repaired,reproofed or altered by the Customer Services team of 11 people each year and demand seems to be growing.
It’s an intimate relationship watching one operator like Denise trying to ‘get inside the jacket without anyone knowing you’ve been inside it’ and a lifetime of experience which allows her to bring them back to life.
On the factory floor it takes over 40 pair of hands to produce one new jacket. The process starts in the cutting room, with rolls of 55 metre long waxed cotton, which are cut into 4.6m lengths. Each length makes three jackets.
With over 150 people on the factory floor dedicating time to each part of the process there’s a rhythm and sound which appeals to us as film-makers. It’s also a feast for the eyes.
We’ve always admired the fact that Barbour’s classic wax jackets are still hand crafted at Barbour’s factory in South Shields near where we live.
The 118 year old family business is well known for producing beautifully functional clothing and the quality of their jackets mean that for some customers it’s a relationship that lasts a lifetime.
Reading Barbour’s blog about the work of their Customer Services team at South Shields who alter, rewax or repair over 14,000 items a year made us wonder why some customers prefer to keep repairing than buy new and who wears a Barbour that’s over 30 years old?
As documentary film-makers it was too tempting a story for Magali Pettier and Jan Cawood of Tin Man Films and so we decided to find out more.
It’s been a joy filming on location for our upcoming short documentary about why people are so attached to their Barbour wax jackets.
We’ve met the small team who expertly repair, alter and reproof approximately 14,000 jackets every year at Barbour’s South Shields factory.
We’ve also met a few customers around the UK who have owned jackets for over 30 years and are now busy editing.
We hope it will become a seamless story that weaves all the threads together. We’ll begin the story by sharing our film-making diary with you about how and why I and Jan Cawood of Tin Man Films (www.tinmanfilms.co.uk) came to make this film.
It’s hard, it’s long hours in all weathers, it’s total commitment for little financial return – why would anyone want to be a farmer, and a tenant farmer at that, these days…
In ‘Addicted To Sheep’, we get right up close to an ordinary family who chose the hardships of life down on a farm in Teesdale over the relative comforts of city life – what do they gain as a family and why?
I have been working on this documentary for 19 months now. I have finished filming it. However, now I am looking for funding for the post-production. If you have any advice please contact me. I would be very very grateful. Thank you.
Below are film stills and two trailers. Comments are welcome.
Hi everyone. I have added the 3 minutes taster for the documentary I am working on titled ‘Addicted to Sheep’. It was produced in August this year to enter for the forum at the Amsterdam Documentary Festival. This was was edited by a different editor from the 5 minutes version. The production is now finished, however, a lot more work to do. I now have to fundraise money for post-production. If you have any comments, suggestions or help, I would be very grateful. Thank you.
