Yes, I know it probably shouldn't be, but this is actually quite a fascinating documentary about the production of the common or garden nail. Starting with the most rudimentary of skilled black-smithery, we follow the industrial processes that create these essential items of just about every size imaginable. Some of these procedures are more manual than others, but the sheer size of the operation to smelt and coil and cut and hammer these objects on everything from mass production lines to those manufactured using a small smithy and an anvil are included, illustrating well just how essential these sharpened bits of metal are to just about everything we build. You can almost smell the molten metal, and the repetitive thrusting of the machinery churns them out by the million, if not billion. Nails notwithstanding, this is an impressive look at the power of mass-scale engineering and is passes ten minutes effortlessly, too.
4 Reviews
Interesting use of visuals
danaisgone24 May 2003
I was shown "Nails" in a film class and was really enthralled and enjoyed the experience.
The film is a short about the manufacturing of Nails. Yet it has no narration. It just shows the machines working and the nails being produced, with the sounds of the factory in the background. Simple.
But it's the strength of the shots that makes the film worth watching. The composition is the strength.
If you are interested in film as a purely visual medium try and find this. Although I'd have no idea where you should go look.
The film is a short about the manufacturing of Nails. Yet it has no narration. It just shows the machines working and the nails being produced, with the sounds of the factory in the background. Simple.
But it's the strength of the shots that makes the film worth watching. The composition is the strength.
If you are interested in film as a purely visual medium try and find this. Although I'd have no idea where you should go look.
Fascinating look at the making of nails
llltdesq30 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a documentary short produced by the National Film Board of Canada and nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Short, losing to Paul Robeson: Tribute To An Artist. There will be spoilers ahead:
I must admit, I really had no idea what to expect when I watched this, given that the subject matter is nails. But the NFBC has a very good track record, so I went in expecting that it would be well done at least from a technical standpoint. It turned out to be very good.
It opens with a shot of what appears to be a farm and then goes into a building where a smith is forging nails. We see him making nails by hand. then there's a transition to a largely automated factory producing nails in large quantities almost more rapidly than the eye can follow.
The next scene is a nail production facility falling somewhere between the two extremes shown thus far, one using machines but with more work being done by people working hands on at various points in the process. There's no narration, though there's a most energetic score which matches the tempo of the footage.
This short is available at the NFBC website for viewing online and they also list a DVD option. It's well worth watching. Most recommended.
I must admit, I really had no idea what to expect when I watched this, given that the subject matter is nails. But the NFBC has a very good track record, so I went in expecting that it would be well done at least from a technical standpoint. It turned out to be very good.
It opens with a shot of what appears to be a farm and then goes into a building where a smith is forging nails. We see him making nails by hand. then there's a transition to a largely automated factory producing nails in large quantities almost more rapidly than the eye can follow.
The next scene is a nail production facility falling somewhere between the two extremes shown thus far, one using machines but with more work being done by people working hands on at various points in the process. There's no narration, though there's a most energetic score which matches the tempo of the footage.
This short is available at the NFBC website for viewing online and they also list a DVD option. It's well worth watching. Most recommended.
Simply beautiful
skepticskeptical2 October 2020
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