Inspiration: Calligraphy -- Basil Rathbone's Sherlock
Right smack in the middle of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (Basil Rathbone version) a page of beautiful calligraphy popped up: 2012-11-13 11.35.44 am.png2012-11-13 11.33.31 am.png
I wonder who the calligrapher was? Might be able to find out, if the studio kept the production records. (The movie was pretty good, too.)
That is some cool script... if only I could write like that!
Originally Posted by fountainpenkid
Isn't it lovely? I'm sure you'll be able to do it, practice is all it takes! But then, you're a musician, so you definitely know how to get to Carnegie Hall, right? lol
Maybe my Pelikan 400 tort. will bring enough flex to start writing like this...I'm having a bad case of over-checking-mail-after-track-practice syndrome
I'm a sophmore now so maybe I should start thinking about what I want to do when I grow up...I'm starting to think that music is the thing I enjoy the most, so...
Hi Will--it took me a while to reply to this! Hope your 400 arrived ok!
I have to tell you that when I was a sophomore I didn't even know what planet I was on half the time. And only my opinion here: as long as you're doing what you love to do, whatever it turns out to be, you'll be just fine. Not that classical music is the only worthwhile kind, but have you seen the Berlin Phil site for their live concerts? http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/
Lots of good stuff there in addition to the concerts, too. Fascinating orchestra. I still think it's funny that they did those concerts with the Scorpions.
Interesting calligraphy work, there are a lot of flourishes making it very attractive to look at if some what hard to read at times.
sinistral hypergraphica - a slurry of ink
"Nothing means less than zero"
The calligrapher put a long s at the end of a word. You'd think someone who does that sort of work for a living would know that they're supposed to be medial... But very pretty, all the same.
"What are moon-letters?" asked the hobbit full of excitement. He loved maps, as I have told you before; and he also loved runes and letters, and cunning handwriting, though when he wrote himself it was a bit thin and spidery.
Everyone's good comments inspired me to do some investigating. First, though, I should explain that the pages are supposed to be an old document containing the actual 'Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles': 2013-01-15 10.08.11 pm.png So, basically a visual to help lay some pipe for the story.
I couldn't find much detail on the production itself--even though it had a decent budget from Fox (in 1939), the director, Sydney Lanfield, was kind of a studio journeyman. So there aren't any film histories dissecting every single molecule of air that was breathed on the set, like you find with the Hitchcock movies. But I did find a really interesting article by Jill Bell: "Calligraphy's Role in Hollywood." (You can read/download it at www.jillbell.com. Click on 'Digressions' in the menu bar.)
She talks about the Golden Age days when hand-lettering was done even for lobby cards and posters, as well as main titles. Even some local L.A. history: there were about 20 working lettering artists back then, who created the Society of Calligraphers of Los Angeles. Maury Nemoy and Harold Adler are the well-known guys, with Adler's influence on Saul Bass. But not much info on the others.
Whoever the artist was on the "Baskervilles" set, they did a fair amount of work--there are several scenes of Dr. Watson writing Holmes, and they took the trouble to show a hand actually writing the words on the paper. The accuracy of the script style is all over the place, as people have pointed out. Still, pretty nice to see, for pen fans.
2013-01-15 09.44.28 pm.png 2013-01-15 10.50.20 pm.png
Last edited by Carole; January 16th, 2013 at 01:09 AM.
Yeah, gonna have to dig into a little spencerian stuff myself. I'd love to write a bit more like that...
Me too. However I think I'll need to switch to right-handed to develop the correct flow of the letters.
sinistral hypergraphica - a slurry of ink
"Nothing means less than zero"
Not I. I can only write righty when I'm really drunk.
Sounds like an easily solved problem...
"What are moon-letters?" asked the hobbit full of excitement. He loved maps, as I have told you before; and he also loved runes and letters, and cunning handwriting, though when he wrote himself it was a bit thin and spidery.
Re: Inspiration: Calligraphy -- Basil Rathbone's Sherlock
Yes, I would too. I'm reading "The Missing Ink" by Philip Hensher at the moment, and not only is it interesting but quite inspirational. And for a bit of a laugh there are bits such as this: "But copperplate is the hand we reach for at elevated moments of our lives, whether printed in a simulacrum of a hand --
Mr and Mrs Edward Boffin
Unwillingly invite you to the wedding of
Their Pregnant Daughter
Ethel
To the Worthless Wretch Who Did the Deed"
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