If you’ve seen The Maker, you may not have realised that the hourglass is the villain. Like all good stories, this ticking clock creates urgency and tension for both the protagonist and the viewer.

Initially, we ordered an hourglass off eBay but after 5 weeks, it never arrived. The whole production was being held up by this final prop and we couldn’t wait any longer.

So instead, we decided to have it custom made and enlisted the help of glassblower extraordinaire, Mark Eliott.

Our eBay order not turning up was a blessing in disguise as Mark was able to work with Director Christopher Kezelos to craft an hourglass that looked handmade. It has so much character and fits perfectly into the world we created.

And here’s a fun fact – as we couldn’t stop motion animate the sand falling, the hourglass shots you see in the film are actually just video of the sand falling. Here’s the whole sequence sped up.

For more video of the hourglass being made, watch the full video on YouTube.