Episode 1 TOTALLY RUBBISH

I'm Nigel.

I'm Michelle.

We're going to show you how to turn useless rubbish...

What are you going to do with this lot?

'..into amazing useful stuff.'

So cool.

All here on...

Coming up, we meet an artist

who makes amazing music from tins

and table legs.

We visit someone who wants to recycle the sound of their band

and we turn a pile of magazines into a beautiful bowl.

But first...

Is it a carrot?

Or is it a pen?

Excuse me, guys, you don't know where the shopping centre is?

Excuse me, do you know where there is a shopping centre in the area?

Are you all right to draw me a quick map? I'm terrible with directions?

The thing is I'm really bad with directions.

Could you draw a map for me or something?

-Yeah, if you got a pen.

-Yeah.

Is this a joke, yeah?

-You can take the lid off it.

-MICHELLE LAUGHS

-Is it mine to keep?

-That's the Post Office, that's the square.

What do you think of it?

It's cool.

I knew that was a joke.

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?

It was all right, wasn't it? Right. I'm going to get making.

I'm going to show you how to prank your mates out of stuff

you have lying around.

OK. so here's how you make your very own, very funky carrot pen.

First, grab yourself a marker pen and then some old newspaper

and what you're going to do is roll your marker pen in the newspaper.

Take the lid off first.

Choose a corner and then simply just start rolling.

One top tip here is to make sure

the nib of the pen is always out because,

obviously, you are going to need to write with that part, so make sure

it's always sticking out of the end.

And then as you roll, you'll start

to develop a cone shape.

Just make sure you roll it nice and loose.

Roll it, roll it, roll it.

And what you want to make sure, once you've done that, is that you

leave about the same length as the pen on the top bit here

and then what you can do is snip off

this bit to make it nice and even.

Once you've done that, you're going to stick it down with some

sticky tape, keep it nice and secure.

That's it.

You're just going to go all the way along and then you're going to do

the exactly the same thing with the pen top.

So that's that. It's just a cone shape, same process,

just rolled it and made a nice little nib like that.

Now, with the used newspaper that I cut off, that is just going to

stuff inside there for this next bit.

What you need to find is an old scouring pad.

You've probably got one under the sink, somewhere like that,

and you're going to cut it up into strips to create your carrot leaves.

So, it's really simple. Just cut up some nice strips,

just do them at points,

and once you've done a few, just stuff them all in.

You can see your carrot is slowly coming to life.

Again get some more sticky tape. Just stick that down.

There we go.

So you've got your cone, you've got your carrot stems at the top

and now it's time to add some tissue.

So I've got some old tissue here probably from an old shoe box,

you can find it, or from a present, anything like that.

And you're just going to tear it into strips, like I've done here,

and then, this is always my favourite part,

sloshing on the PVA glue.

Just get it nice and sticky.

Tissue makes it easier to paint on and it makes it stronger too.

And then just start placing your tissue on.

Because you've put your PVA glue on first,

it sticks on really easily. You're going to leave that to dry

and once it's dry, it'll look something a bit like this. Ta-da!

Now, it's really coming to life. To give it, obviously, a bit more

character to make it more realistic, we need to paint it orange.

So I've got some orange paint here

and I'm just going to spread this all along our carrot.

Look at that. It looks so realistic,

like a giant carrot, the biggest carrot I've ever seen.

Then you leave that to dry and the very,

very final thing to just really bring it to life,

to prank all your friends, is just put some thin white lines all

the way around the carrot from the very top to the bottom.

And that will just make it totally realistic.

And if you're not into carrots, how's about trying

a banana or a leek.

Good enough to eat.

And all out of newspaper and pot scourers. Not bad.

Amazingly recycling one tin can saves enough energy to power

a TV for three hours and I have a feeling that will be

sweet music to the guy I'm about to meet.

Teddy plays in a band with his friends Lamar and Charlie.

He wants something that will make their sound unique,

but what can he use without spending money on expensive instruments?

OK, Teddy, so what's been going on?

I've been in my band for a while now

and we've been looking for a new sort of sound.

What are you going to use for this new sound?

I don't know what we are going to use,

but I mainly play the drums so anything around that.

OK. Have you got any cash?

No, we're not making any money at the moment

so it needs to be a minimal cost.

I think I know someone who is going to inspire us,

someone who makes new music out of old things.

Check this out.

I'm Jon Free and I make musical instruments.

Today, I'll show you how to make a guitar from an old biscuit tin

and a table leg.

As well as selling the guitars I make, I also play in a band.

We play gigs most weekends.

To start with, I'll take this table leg and this is going to form

the neck of the guitar. I've made a few markings here,

so I need to cut a section from the leg here, which is where the tin,

which will form the body of the guitar, is going to sit.

This is hard work.

There we are.

Oh, look at that.

So, I've roughly removed this section of wood from here

and I'm going to reserve those bits of wood for use later on.

I just want to check that this tin, which is the tin that

I'm going to use for the body of this guitar,

that it will fit nicely in there.

Yes, that looks like it's starting to take shape.

So, next, I just need to plane off a bit of this to shape

the headstock where the tuning pegs will sit.

This belt sander is a real time-saver. You can do the same job

with a bit of sand paper, but it'll take hours and hours and hours.

Jon Free is an expert craftsman. Let's leave it to the professionals.

So there I've turned a discarded table leg into what will be

a guitar neck.

Now I need to drill the holes for the tuning pegs.

So now the tuners have been installed.

I've put some strings on and they're held at the other end by this penny,

just clamping them on, so I can turn to the tin,

which is going to form the body.

Cut a little section here where the neck will go through.

It's going to go in one end and out the other.

Obviously, I'm being very careful as I do this, as these are very

sharp tools and there are some very sharp edges of metal here.

I slide that in there.

As you close it up that's pretty much ready to go.

Just needs a bridge here that supports the strings

and transmits the vibrations to this nice tin.

I'm going to take one of the blocks of wood from earlier that was

cut out from the neck.

I want to install a fret along the top.

Cut off a length of fret wire. Pop it in that slot.

This fret gives a nice hard surface for the strings to sit on.

Somewhere round there.

You never know quite how they are going to sound.

All tins sound different,

different sizes have different resonances, so this one...

This one sounds like that.

Don't be scared to try unusual objects. You just don't know

what sounds something might make.

I didn't know a sea cabin trunk might make the same sound

as a double bass until I'd tried it.

Amazing what sounds you can make from old table legs,

biscuit tins and suitcases

and a great way to get things started as we find a new sound

for Teddy's band.

So, Teddy, as Jon Free showed us, there are lots of things that

people throw out that can be used to make musical instruments.

So, let's have a look in your recycling and see what we can find.

What have we got? We've got some old plastic bottles.

-Cardboard.

-Old cartons.

-Tins.

How many of these have we got?

We've got loads. Got different sizes and shapes.

These are going to be perfect for what I've got in mind.

What are we going to be making?

We are going to make some tin can drums.

That sounds really good actually.

They are going to be nice and easy to make,

so grab yourself a tin can.

We need to put a drum skin over the top.

I thought we could use some old balloons.

We need to cut the ends off, about three centimetres up.

We need to stretch this balloon over the top.

This can be a little bit tricky.

Sometimes it can be a little bit baggy and that's not we want,

we want it nice and tight.

We need to pull the balloon

so that it's tight over the top. Now the thing is, when you're pulling

it tight, you might need to get a friend to help you with this.

Put some tape around to hold it.

Maybe on the other side as well.

Yeah.

Go on give it a go, tap it.

-What do you reckon?

-Yeah, it sounds good.

-So we've got that one, that one's done.

-Perfect.

How long have you been playing drums, Teddy?

-Since I was about three.

-And how old are you now?

-13.

-There you go, ten years on the drums.

Oops! Still got a lump in this one. We'll fix that.

Why are you called Odd Sox?

We were all wearing odd socks at the time.

You can smooth out lumps even if you've stuck it down.

-Lovely. Two drums done. Couple more?

-Yeah.

So once I hook you up with these new drums,

any chance of me being the fourth member of the band?

Possibly.

Come on, I'm a musician too. I reckon I can cut it.

Do I have to audition?

Yes, you might have to -

to impress the other band members.

Tap that orange one. Green one.

So, you see, as Jon Free said, different size tin cans,

you can get different sounds.

What we need to do to increase the resonance of this little drum

is to put a hole in the bottom.

A normal can opener. Just punch a little hole

in the bottom of your tin can, like this.

See that. Maybe put another one on the other side.

-This let's the sound get out.

-Sound flow.

Yeah.

Now let's have a listen to it.

-That's better.

-Flow a bit more.

I've got something special for you here.

A little Odd Sox logo for your can.

-Yeah, they're cool.

-Yeah? You like those?

You can decorate your tin can drums anyway you like.

OK, so we've got some nicely decorated drums here, ready to go.

-The thing is I think they need testing.

-Yeah.

-Are you going to test them for us?

-I think I'll test them. I'll try.

-Are you ready for this?

-Yeah.

-Let's do it.

# I'm feeling good tonight

# Feeling like I wanna travel the whole world tonight

# I've got all my life to live

# I've gotta learn to fly

# I'm feeling good tonight

# I'm so alive, yeah

# I'm so alive, yeah. #

-Well done, guys. Well done, Teddy.

-Thanks.

So there you have it - tin can drums. Why don't you give it a try?

To make tin can drums, here's what you have to do.

Stage one - get a tin can and make sure it's clean.

Stage two - cut the end off a balloon.

Stage three - stretch the balloon over the top.

Stage four - use electrical tape to secure the balloon in place.

Stage five - paint or decorate the drum if you want to.

Stage six - make as many as you like.

Still to come, we help a house take shape on the beach

all out of thrown-away signs.

And we show you how to transform your old toys

into something you'll treasure.

But first, Totally Famous.

Introducing Marcel Duchamp - totally famous for being an art rebel.

French artist Marcel Duchamp loved challenging people to

question what art was.

As part of a rebellious group of artists known as the Dada artists,

he created art that was both silly and shocking.

He took mass-produced items like bicycle wheels

and reinvented them as sculpture.

He took copies of masterpieces, like the Mona Lisa, and doodled on them.

This made some people in the art world very angry, which made

mischievous Marcel happy.

He called his items of everyday art his ready mades and the one that

really made everyone get in a tizzy was called Fountain.

Yes, it is what you think it is.

By now, the art world really thought he was taking the, er...

You get the picture.

But they couldn't stop talking about his thought-provoking work.

And by the time he was an old man, bad boy Duchamp had become

a famous art figure credited as the founder of conceptual art.

Art critics even dubbed his notorious Fountain the most

influential work of the 20th century.

What a wee genius.

So, please show your appreciation for the totally famous art rebel

Marcel Duchamp.

Today, we are going to be making a bag charm.

Out of leftover ribbon and some old toys.

First thing you have to do, get some old ribbon,

tie a knot in the end of each piece. It should look like that.

That's one and you do the other one exactly the same.

Then you get the old toys and you start to thread them

onto the ribbon.

This button's good but it might be hard to thread through the holes.

How about that?

That's brilliant.

Where did the tyre go? I was going to use that.

-Oh, this one?

-No, that one.

-No, it's my tyre.

I wonder what else I can use.

Now you've got to tie them in the middle...

..and so with this bit, you can tie it around the bag.

And there's your bag charm.

And there's my bag charm.

The best thing about making bag charms is you can use your old toys

and you can decorate your bag.

What can you make from a big bag full of rubbish?

-What have you got for us this time?

-I've got loads of rubbish.

Can you guess what I'm going to make?

I don't... I really don't know. Paper aeroplanes?

No, this is going to be a great gift.

To make this gift, you'll need an old bowl,

a load of unwanted magazines,

scissors,

tape and PVA glue.

-Check that out.

-A bowl.

-It's...it's a bowl.

-Made out of magazines.

-Do you get it now?

So get your old magazines, rip out the pages

-and then you just need to cut them in half length-ways.

-OK.

And all you need to do is start folding.

The first fold should be about one centimetre wide.

Then you just refold over and over until you have created a strip.

You're going to need loads and loads of these strips, so get cracking.

And with one of the strips, you're going to start rolling it.

-So try and keep it nice and tight.

-OK.

And then, once you've got your roll, you're just going to get a tiny

bit of tape, stick that down.

-Yeah.

-So you've got your first bit.

-This is the first bit of your bowl.

-The first bit of your bowl?

First bit of your bowl, OK?

Now you just keep adding on strips

so that your spiral becomes bigger and bigger.

Then you need to find yourself an old bowl,

turn it upside down so that you have got the base facing you and you

need to make these magazine strips as wide as the base on your bowl.

So I've got one here and I've just made it as wide as this base here.

-It just fits nice and neatly on it.

-OK, I've got you.

So again, just grab your magazine strips

and you're just going to start sticking it round,

but now you have got your bowl, you can use it as a guide.

OK, I see what you're doing.

So you're making a new bowl around the old bowl.

Exactly. That is exactly what I'm doing using the sticky tape

to secure it and just keep going with your magazine strips

and, yeah, the old bowl just kind of acts as your guide.

When you're about halfway there - check this out - you'll end up with

something that looks like this. You can see it coming to life.

Starting to look like a bowl now.

And you just keep securing it down with some sticky tape,

nice thin strips as you go along.

When it's completely finished, you'll have your very own...

-Wow

-..magazine bowl

and the last thing to do, just to give it that final touch,

is to grab some PVA glue.

And slosh it all around, outside and in.

And obviously, PVA glue dries clear

so it just means it keeps all the strips secure, basically,

it keeps it bound together and it gives it a nice glossy finish.

These bowls won't hold water

but they would be good for holding fruit, sweets, toys or art stuff.

So there you've got your very own bowl all made from old magazines.

It's very cool.

BURPS

Look at you stuffing yourself with all that old paper, Min,

when you could be making something else from it.

How do you mean?

Well, it's important to put that old paper to good use.

The average family uses six trees' worth every year.

Talking of paper...I've got a joke.

OK, what is it?

Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill?

Oh, I know this one! To get to the bottom.

THEY LAUGH

Welcome to Brighton, Michelle, the seaside.

This is the life, isn't it?

Just sitting here enjoying the sea view, getting the sun rays.

There's only one thing that I think that could make this better

and that's if we had somewhere we could just chill on the beach,

like a little den, sit back, relax, enjoy the scenery. Perfect.

You know what? That's not that difficult to do.

I reckon we could have our own crib right here on the beach

made out of recycled stuff. That would be cool.

It's all about making shapes.

When you say making shapes, what do you mean, like, you know,

doing a bit of dancing, throwing a few moves out there?

You could say moving is involved. Come with me.

Michelle, this is Nick.

I think Nick is going to be able to help us out.

What have we got here, Nick?

Well, I'm an artist and I make mathematical shapes -

spheres and balls and other structures out of

all sorts of urban rubbish and recycled materials.

Where did your inspiration come from?

I used to play board games and they had these lovely dice,

so there was a dodecahedron, which is a 12-sided die.

The granddaddy of them all is the 20-sided die,

-which is the icosahedron.

-Wow. What a name!

I started making sort of small sculptures,

so this one is woven from measuring tape.

-That is wicked.

-So there is six...

-Absolutely love that.

One out of train tickets.

-So that is 60 train tickets punched together.

-That is so cool.

This one is made out of five packs of playing cards,

so that's 270 playing cards

and these are slotted together to make this large shape.

OK, but the problem is Michelle wants a place to chill on the beach.

-That's it. I'm very demanding, Nick.

-Wow. OK.

-I can't help it.

How's this going to help us?

Well, these can be models for something much bigger.

OK, so we can make even bigger shapes?

-Oh, yeah, we can make something much bigger than this.

-Let's do this.

These are estate agent signs that people use to sell houses.

I've been given permission to take them out of this skip.

Why these signs in particular?

There's a standard size that they all come in and we looked at our

playing card ones earlier... We're just scaling it up.

-So they'll be super-sized?

-Yeah, to about ten times the size.

We are going to do something really impressive with them.

Wicked. Let's give you a hand then.

See. I told you it had something had to do with moving.

I don't really know what I'm making at the moment, so fingers crossed.

-It's a little bit harder than playing cards, isn't it?

-Sure, yeah.

When I've made my playing card sculptures, I can do it at my desk

but for big boards like this, you really need like a team of people.

It's a real group effort.

It's a great way of recycling things, isn't it?

It's very clever.

It's going well.

I think we have got something really cool coming together here.

I can't wait till it's finished.

Is there anyone home?

No-one in yet.

We're on the very final bit. It's nearly done.

OK, ready, steady, up in the air.

That's the last bolt. It's done. Your very own dome by the sea.

-Enjoy.

-That is brilliant. Thanks so much, Nick.

It looks amazing, doesn't it?

There you go, Michelle, I told you it could be done.

You know, I still can't believe that this has all been made

out of things that people just throw away.

Well, you've been watching Totally Rubbish. We'll see you next time.

-But shall we get in?

-We've got to check it out, haven't we?

We've got to, haven't we?

Now, I think it's about time that you went to get some ice cream

-and I can just chill in here.

-I've got to get the ice cream?

Yeah, well, this is my den, isn't it? So I'll see you later.

This is so cool!

Why don't you have a go at making a carrot pen...

..some tin can drums...

..a bag charm out of old toys...

..or a magazine bowl?

And start collecting your old sponges...

plastic bottles...

and old pencils for next time on Totally Rubbish.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd