Dick Pope, the Oscar-nominated cinemtatographer of Mr. Turner and The Illusionist, visits master paint-maker Michael Harding at his colour mill in Cwmbran, Wales. Michael takes Dick on a drive to his local stables to collect a special ingredient for an ancient paint recipe. On the way, they discuss the challenges of their respective crafts, and the time-tested ways they each create colour in their work. Back at the colour mill, Michael shows Dick around and recounts some of the weird and wonderful ways paints and pigments have historically been made, taking him into a heavily padlocked shipping container where the special ingredient they collected earlier helps to create a brilliant white paint.
