Film

Ghost Signs & Light Capsules in Winnipeg

Ghost signs & light capsules in Winnipeg are the focus of Writing on the Wall, a short film about the city and the work that has been done to document and preserve them.

4 Jan 2021

The Fascinating Legacy of Neon in Warsaw, Poland

Watch Eric Bednarski’s film ‘Neon’ and discover more neon and ghost signs highlights from the 2020 Neon Speaks festival.

9 Nov 2020

F.W. Woolworth Co. and the Winston-Salem Sit-Ins

Absolutely fascinating investigation uncovering the historical connections between two glass signs for F.W. Woolworth Co. and the Winston-Salem sit-ins that played a major role in the American Civil Rights movement. (Watch on www.pbs.org here.) Hat tip to Meredith at the Pre-Vinylite Society for spotting this, and to PBS for creating the documentary.

30 Nov 2018

When Better Letters Met Cliff Headford

This is a reposting of the article that originally appeared here on the Better Letters blog. On 4th July 2016 I received the following email in response to a book I was working on at the time: I care for an elderly gentleman in Bristol, now nearly 96, who was a sign painter after the […]

1 Jul 2017

R.N. Cattle & Son in Harvey Gould’s Soho

This fascinating video about Soho features longtime resident Harvey Gould talking about the people and places that he remembers from the area. At 10:48 he discusses the painted wooden sign for R.N. Cattle & Son in Portland Mews. He then heads up the mews itself to reveal the ghost of cricket stumps once painted onto […]

21 Dec 2014

London Shop Fronts on London Live

Following last week’s post about Shopfrontelegy, here’s a short film from the Secret London section of new TV station London Live. It’s based on the work of Emily Webber who writes the London Shop Fronts blog.

6 Aug 2014

Sign Painters’ Online Release

After touring the world, including the London run hosted by Ghostsigns, Sign Painters is now available to watch online and as an HD download. You can save $1.00 on the list price by using the code GHOSTSIGNS when you order it from www.signpaintersfilm.com.

13 May 2014

Photos and Reactions from the Sign Painters & Horn Please Double Bill

Click the picture below for a review of the London screenings of Sign Painters and Horn Please, February 2014.

14 Feb 2014

Sign Painter Movie / Horn Please Double Bill

[Update: Read a review of the screenings here] I’m very excited to announce that The Sign Painter Movie is coming to London and will be screened alongside Horn Please on Wednesday, 5 February 2014 [Update: Sold Out, tickets now added for Thursday, 6 February and Friday, 7 February]. The tickets were released on Friday and […]

16 Dec 2013

Sign Painters: The movie, the book and the resurgence

The Sign Painter Movie is now on tour with dates booked in until November, including Scotland and New Zealand for those outside the film’s USA base. I was treated to a preview screening and also got my hands on the book that accompanies the film. This was immensely exciting following my tracking of the project […]

28 Jul 2013

Born and Raised from David A Smith, John Mayer and Danny Cooke

This has left me speechless. Sublime. Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Thank you to David, John and Danny for bringing the story of this piece of work to life through film. An incredible follow up to the last one.

19 May 2013

Horn Please and the Wonderful World of India’s Hand-Painted Trucks

Horn Please is a short film by directors Shantanu Suman and Istling Mirche, all about the bright and colourful hand-painted trucks that fuel India‘s massive goods transportation system. It is an insightful and captivating expose of this fascinating cultural phenomenon, touching on the history of truck painting in India, the significance of the designs and the […]

16 May 2013

Ghost graffiti

The captions say it all really, note that the graffiti and the building it is on have both lasted longer than the enormous block of flats in the background. Found via Robert Lambie on uksignboards.com.

8 Dec 2012

Walldogs: Murals on Main Street DVD

This is one of 17 murals produced during a Walldogs ‘meet’ in Pontiac, Illinois, in the summer of 2009. These events bring together sign artists from around the world to decorate towns and cities with colourful murals. In this case it was the home of the International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum and a place […]

22 Sep 2012

Letter-press and type setting in El Salvador

Sadly google translate doesn’t work on video yet but I used it to get the following approximation of the description of this film.  If any Spanish speakers can add anything to this after watching then please write in  the comments or get in touch. This is a short documentary, a byproduct of a study that […]

13 Jul 2012

Faux ghostsigns

Sometimes hand painted signs on buildings are created to look old and weathered intentionally.  The example pictured (original photo on Flickr) was produced in 2003 for the Disney film, ‘Miracle’.  (Does anyone have a clip showing where and how it features in the film?)  Another Disney example is this sign for the ‘New Orleans Trading […]

1 Jul 2012

Keepers of the Craft film profiles Starr Studios in Dallas

Also, forthcoming, are the Signpainter Movie and another called Faded Paint. I really enjoy these films and the things I learn from them.  They evidence pockets of activity around the world and how the craft is indeed being ‘kept’ by these protagonists.  Keep it up! [Thanks to Traditional Sign Maker Magazine for the link.]

18 Jun 2012

Film director Danny Cooke profiles David A Smith, an artist and master craftsman of exceptional talent

This fantastic short documentary by Danny Cooke pays homage to the extraordinary work of David A Smith who plies his trade in Torquay on the Devon coast.  David’s website refers to him as a “traditional ornamental glass artist”but it is clear from this film that his talents extend far beyond glass work.I caught up with the […]

8 Jun 2012

Vancouver Arts Profile the Grandma’s Boy Reveal

This sign continues to win affections, and now there is this new material and analysis from Vancouver Arts.   See the story so far on this post and this one.

9 Apr 2012

Grandma’s Boy sign in Vancouver is no more, RIP

This is the scene at the central Vancouver intersection where this sign enjoyed an unexpected two weeks’ of fame following the destruction of the adjacent building. A nice collection of photos documenting the brief rise, and rapid fall, of the sign in this Vancouver Sun photo collection

8 Mar 2012

Faded Paint: Trailer for forthcoming signpainting documentary

The Colossal Media Facebook page recently alerted me to this trailer (see below) uploaded by Rick Janzen about a film he’s making about the declining art and craft of signwriting. This will add to the work done by the Signpainter Movie team. Faded Paint – The Vanishing Sign Painter from Rick janzen on Vimeo. You can see some of the […]

4 Mar 2012

Vancouver demolition reveals intriguing ghostsign

Twitter and my Google Reader came alive this week following the demolition of a Vancouver building that left the best part of this 1920s sign clear for all to see. Located on corner of Granville Street and Robson Street, it is a colourful specimen in excellent condition, the building which has come down working to protect […]

26 Feb 2012

The Signpainter Movie

Over the last couple of years I’ve been following developments at the Signpainter Movie project in the USA. It is an independently produced film that will chart the history and work of America’s remaining craftsmen (due for release next year). They have been diligently cataloguing their primary research interviews on their blog as they’ve journeyed […]

16 Dec 2011

UP THERE

This is fantastic, the final film ‘UP THERE’ produced over the duration of Stella Artois’ ‘Ritual Project’ in New York in collaboration with Colossal Media. I’ve already talked at length about this work and my admiration for Colossal Media so I won’t cover the old ground again here but what I love about this film […]

27 Apr 2010