Danny Woodruff is at present, the only person working on this film other than myself.

Danny usually works in Manchester, England. He’s currently working away from home in Bordeaux, France. He fills his evenings and time off work transcribing the interviews for me. Transcriptions are a vital part of editing a documentary film.

Currently I’m working through the transcripts of the 20+ hours of interviews I have so far. On printed pages, I mark the suitable sections then these sections can be marked, labelled and catalogued in the editing software. I’m around half way through this first stage of the editing process. Actually cutting together a film longer than a few minutes is almost impossible without transcripts. The next stage is a ‘paper edit’.

I owe a huge debt to Danny for helping me with this.

I interviewed Danny recently. Partly as a long-time customer of Frith Street Tattoo and partly as a ‘staff’ member (or volunteer) of this project.
Before we get to the clip, Danny had this to say:

I’d like to state an aside that in fact my opinion with regards to tattooing really isn’t worth that much. I’m not a tattooer, nor do I aspire to be one. I’m a scientist but I love tattoos with almost the same passion I love science. My opinions are just that, my opinions and I’m very grateful that Stewart thought they were interesting enough to share with you.

I feel very honoured that Stewart allowed me to be part of this project and in some way repay him for the confidence and better life that the tattoos have given me. I’ve enjoyed every moment of transcribing the interviews and I’ve learned a lot more than just a “normal” customer would. Listening to the interviews has made me want to get tattooed by people I previously wasn’t sure about as well as made me reconsider a number of views I had about tattooing as a whole. As well as this it’s allowed me to take a part of Frith Street with me to a different country meaning I’ve had my own little escape that Frith Street normally provides.

Frith Street to me is a lot of things but whenever I think of either the shop or the artist that work there I’m always reminded of quote from Tony Soprano, “What happened to the strong, silent types?” Frith Street is the personification of a strong, silent type. Frith Street doesn’t whine about things, it doesn’t try to be something else, it just does good tattoos. For me working on this project has really driven that point home. This project isn’t a promotional tool or a “reality show”. It’s an honest portrait of a shop just trying to make good tattoos.

For me Frith Street is what a tattoo shop should be and what others should aspire to. I know I’ll continue getting tattooed there by as many artists as possible until I run out of room.

Thank you Stewart for letting me help you and for all the laughs and insights these interviews have given me. I don’t think I would have stayed sane in my flat in Bordeaux without them.

Thanks,
Danny.

Thanks Danny