what we do
•architecture
•art
•literature
•culture
Mainspring Narrative Films, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit company, produces quality educational documentaries focusing on art, architecture and cultural history. The company strives to foster a greater understanding of our modern world by exhaustively researching the past, and releasing films that often include previously unknown archival imagery and documentation. Mainspring is run by Producers Jake Gorst and Tracey Rennie Gorst.
“Emmy-winning filmmaker Jake Gorst is the Steven Spielberg of design documentaries.”
why we do it
Mainspring Narrative Films has two key objectives:
1. To re-introduce important history, forgotten in time and by the masses, but integral in shaping the culture of our day.
Example: Antonio Corsi (the subject of a current Mainspring film project) was once known to have the most famous face in the world, due to the hundreds of notable works of art by celebrated artists in which he posed. Today, very few are aware of the epic life story of the man who contributed his figure and face to such iconic works as The Storm by Pierre Auguste Cot, The End of the Trail by James Earle Fraser, and the Pygmalion series by Edward Burne-Jones.
2. To foster an awareness of important cultural heritage being lost due to neglect or deliberate destruction.
Example: The modern architecture produced during the mid-20th century is endangered due to re-development or decay. Mainspring Narrative Films has played a significant role in creating an awareness of this style of architecture helping to fuel the movement to restore and preserve examples of it. This has contributed to a significant increase in tourism and revenue to regions where it has been preserved. Films that made an impact include:
Leisurama (2005)
Desert Utopia: Midcentury Architecture in Palm Springs (2005, Design Onscreen)
Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island (2012, Design Onscreen)
If we don’t care about our past, we cannot hope for the future.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
film restoration
Mainspring Narrative President Jake Gorst cleaning a film by hand to prepare for scanning.
bringing the past to light
Mainspring Narrative Films seeks to present the past in the clearest possible form. Therefore, they locate project-relevant archival films, and then conduct a cleaning and scanning process. The high resolution digital transfers are then further processed to remove imperfections in the original film, and to correct color and frame rate issues. This results in motion imagery that often looks better than when it was first produced in the early part of the 20th century.
One of two state-of-the-art film scanners used by Mainspring Narrative.
Jake Gorst preparing to clean a reel of 16mm film.
It has been said that, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.
-William Murtagh, first keeper of the National Register of Historic Places
