Hacker Cinema
The Art of Hermann Zapf
1967 · Film · short · 18 min
Directed by Harald Peter
A film on the purpose and techniques of calligraphy.
1 positivefrom 1 commenter
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
Videos commenters linked
From YouTube links in the comments below. Most are clips and trailers; “Full” means the uploader says so.
1 comment on Hacker News
There is a fascinating short (19 min) documentary about Hermann Zapf from 1967[1].
The Art of Hermann Zapf a film on the purpose and techniques of calligraphy
It shows Zapf doing calligraphy with various tools and explaining how he does it and what's important to him. Near the end (14:35) you see him doing calligraphy with a ballpoint pen which is most fascinating.
Hermann Zapf said that showing him lettering through a glass plate was his own invention and large quantities of alcohol were involved in convincing the film crew to bring the idea to execution ([2] in German).
The film is also a short introduction into the history of lettering from the Romans to the computer type of the 60s. You can see Zapf's castle built 1460 at 3:25.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jD4CpzIuR4
[2] http://www.linotype.com/de/5667/theartofhermannzapf.html