14 votes

Seeking videos of mastery in action

Posted by culturedleftfoot
Tags: ask.recommendations, mastery, craftsmanship, videos

Mastery in any field or craft is welcome - construction, sculpture, martial arts, music, cooking, motorsports, you name it - but heavy preference for videos with camerawork and/or explanation that allows the viewer to appreciate the level of technique, precision, efficiency, and focus on display.

Also, I'm really referring to the practical demonstrations rather than analytical breakdowns after the fact, but if you have one of the latter and feel strongly about it, feel free to share. Long watches welcome.

Examples:

Jacques Pépin deboning a chicken from 5:00 onwards

A showcase of the incomparable Zinédine Zidane's ball control

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith plays 'blind' covers of Thirty Seconds to Mars and Bring Me The Horizon

Grandpa Amu assembles soccer ball out of wood

Lyrical breakdown of Lupe Fiasco's Mural

7 comments

  1. Baeocystin
    Link
    The entirety of Florian Gadsby's Pottery Channel on YouTube is an utter delight. He has a calm, focused affect that makes watching his work an almost zen experience, and he freely shares his...

    The entirety of Florian Gadsby's Pottery Channel on YouTube is an utter delight. He has a calm, focused affect that makes watching his work an almost zen experience, and he freely shares his insight into the craft.

    6 votes
  2. cfabbro
    Link
    I haven't posted any new ones in a while, but some of these videos might fit what you're looking for: https://tildes.net/?tag=artisan

    I haven't posted any new ones in a while, but some of these videos might fit what you're looking for:
    https://tildes.net/?tag=artisan

    3 votes
  3. Tannhauser
    Link
    This channel has lots of great ~4-5 minute videos highlighting Japanese artisans making various wares.

    This channel has lots of great ~4-5 minute videos highlighting Japanese artisans making various wares.

    3 votes
  5. Promonk
    Link
    If it's artistry and obsessive attention to detail you're looking for, the island nation of Japan has you covered. "The Five-Year Process of Making a Tsuge Comb" is a great example:...

    If it's artistry and obsessive attention to detail you're looking for, the island nation of Japan has you covered.

    "The Five-Year Process of Making a Tsuge Comb" is a great example: https://youtu.be/rsv8qXOXpBE

    High-end teppanyaki restaurants scratch that itch for mastery for me. A good start is "Kyoto's most hidden Teppanyaki Gem?" [sic]:
    https://youtu.be/AtEm8krPJmk

    [That channel, Aden Films, has a lot of videos about cooking mastery from all over the world, and is well worth checking out.]

    Craftsmanship shouldn't have to be limited to luxury goods and services, though. I think Japanese noodle shops are a great example of proletarian craftsmanship: "Udon Noodles In Osaka | A Skilled Owner With Lightning Fast Service | Local Udon Restaurant"
    https://youtu.be/uvDdGJTXrpM

    HMS2 (which I learned today stands for Hamster Miniature Studio 2) is a channel devoted to building miniature models and dioramas. The best ones IMO are when the model maker creates models from component materials rather than pre-fab kits, as in the video "DIY Miniature Rice cooker ミニチュア炊飯器作り":
    https://youtu.be/qnhcwh2mDW8

    In the course of writing this comment I went off on a tangent about some of my thoughts and frustrations about being a Westerner expressing an interest in Japanese culture online, but a top-level comment in a post about videos isn't the place for that. I'll elaborate about it lower in a comment thread if anyone is interested in discussing it.

    2 votes
  6. Wes
    Link
    You might enjoy the /r/ArtisanVideos subreddit. The submissions are infrequent but high-quality, so it's a good one to subscribe to and then forget about.

    You might enjoy the /r/ArtisanVideos subreddit. The submissions are infrequent but high-quality, so it's a good one to subscribe to and then forget about.

    2 votes