‘A lot of people think they know how to sharpen pencils, but… they don’t really.’ Such is the view of David Rees, a self-styled ‘artisanal pencil-sharpener’ who, at the time of this short film’s release in 2013, had sharpened some 1,500 No 2 pencils for paying customers. With deadpan humour and shrewd insight, Rees talks the audience through a step-by-step guide to achieving the perfect pencil point, while giving a brief history of the modern pencil and pencil-sharpening tools. With the charismatic Rees as his subject, Kenneth Price’s film provides a light reflection on the inherent value – and indeed joys – of care and precision, while also perhaps poking some fun at our artisan-obsessed times.

Does progress seem slower when you constantly check on it?
Research on how we perceive the rate of change shows how you can be strategic about goal tracking and boost your motivation
by André Vaz