I think what you're describing may be due to
having a director trying to get what he needs
for a half hour show. Mr. Marks in person
covering a subject in front of an audience of
woodworkers is pretty relaxed and comfortable.
Not as mellow as Michael Fortune, not as
intense as Mark Adams but not as marginally
terrified as Yeung Chan.

It's the medium and the format that may be
the cause. It's hard to stay relaxed and
informingly informal under a bunch of hot
lights with a boom microphone waving just
above your head, eight or ten people around
you just off camera doing all kinds of things
- including holding a stop watch and a
clipboard.

Some people are more comfortable in a
defined and controlled environment and
others are better a free form, free for
all "we'll start here but after that ..."
situation.

If you want to watch one of the best
on camera or off, get any Frank Klausz
video and watch it. But then much of
it is probably by rote - he went through
the traditional european apprenticeship
and has had the information stuffed
into his genetics makeup.

charlie b