Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz are a little closer to being swashbuckling Pirates of Penzance, thanks to a Cornish coppersmith.
Michael Johnson, who owns The Copper Works at Newlyn, will be paying close attention to the on-screen swordplay when he watches the latest Pirates of the Caribbean epic – he's the man who made the stars' belts, buckles and sword sheathes.
Known as a baldric, the over-the-shoulder belt worn by Captain Jack Sparrow is just one of dozens of pieces created for the blockbuster movie at Michael's workshop in Wesley Place.
This is the third Pirates installment he's worked on, and he's delighted to see his work shining on the silver screen.
"We are only a small cog in a big machine, but if the final product is good, we are proud to be part of what is very much a collective effort," he said.
He was hired to do the metal and leather work for Johnny and Penelope by Penny Rose, one of Hollywood's most sought-after costume designers. Along with his apprentice Shelley Anderson, and Marcus Perry, it takes up to six months to complete the pieces needed for each film.
But Michael's no stranger to the demands of the film industry or show business at large: when young and living in Australia he began work as a dancer, ultimately becoming the artistic director of a dance company there. He also happens to the nephew of the internationally regarded armourer Terry English, and it was an invitation from him that brought Michael back to this country in the mid-1990s.
The experience he gained as an armourer with his uncle and in other workshops during the next decade was to lead him eventually to Newlyn and to the setting up, some six years ago, of his copper works. But why does copper hold such appeal? "It is a very flexible metal that you can do an extraordinary amount with," says Michael.
He allows groups of local children the free use of his workshop, materials and tools each Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
And he hopes handling items that will be worn by A-list celebrities may even inspire one or two coppersmiths of the future, among them.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN