As a designer who has been used to work the whole day behind a screen, Jan den Hartogh realized he was missing something important in his life and that was the opportunity to make stuff with his hands.
As a fan of the amazing atmosphere of heritage goods and brands he loves the fact that many of these companies have the wisdom to know the difference between progress and improvement, which is why a pair of Red Wings from 1905, or a Filson jacket from 1914 are largely the same as the way they make them today. They hit on a good thing, and were smart enough to stick with it. Inspired by real craftsmen, he decided to learn the skills himself and just by ‘learning by doing’ he managed to teach himself the making of quality leather goods.
The handmade leather products from Duke & Sons Leather are inspired by heritage brands with authentic characteristics, which have been making the same quality products for decades without making any sacrifices to quality and material. Often these products are still made by hand or on the same machinery that has been used since the early twenties.
Jan den Hartogh followed his heart. He gave up is well payed job to do what he dreamt of. He traded security for happiness. Most people have a secret dream, something they always wanted to do or become. Sadly for whatever reason they don’t follow up on it. Or they wait to long. What Jan did takes a lot of guts but it paid. Jan den Hartogh inspired a lot of people around him with his bold career switch. He inspired me. And because of that I really wanted to portray his life, skills and passion in the hope to be able to inspire others.
And so we planned to shoot three minute short film. Together with Sven Signe den Hartogh we interviewed Jan and we tried to get to the core of his being. His history, his life, his passion and why he does what he does. Which is all pretty ambitious to try and fit all of that in a film that short. But it came out great if I say so myself! Based on the interview I wrote a script to fit with the interview. I settled on a script that would show Jan den Harotgh his dedication to his product, ranging from selection of the right materials to the eventual creation. But also focus on his loving relationship with his family as they are a big part of his life.
We had quite a day ahead of us since we had to shoot the entire film in one day. Because of this I enlisted the help of both Roos Abbink and Raphael ter Maat to help out. Couldn’t have done it without them! But we’ve had more help that day. I was able to lent (read: raid) the equipment of Arteffects for the weekend. That ment I had my hands on a Sony FS700 with a, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Samyang 85mm f/1.4, Canon 16-35mm L f/2.8 and a Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro. Incredible gear which I’ve never had used before. So we went crazy with the slowmotion and macro images, I mean who wouldn’t?
We’ve had to get inventive to get the shots I’ve written in the script. I wanted to get dolly shots but didn’t have a dolly to work with. So we improvised with a skateboard and it worked great. The script also dictated that we shot Jan den Hartogh on his way back home on his Harley Davidson. Because of this I had to risk my life hanging out of a convertible trying to get this shots. Everything for the shot right? In the end everything turned out incredible.
