ASIFA-East Presents Hubley Retrospective
When most of us create a film to express our very personal beliefs we usually put our heart and soul into it. The thing that always impressed me about John and Faith Hubley was that not only did they put their heart and soul into their work, but they also included a large portion of their brains as well.
This was quite evident the other evening at the season's first meeting of the local chapter of ASIFA. This organization, which is represented by animators worldwide, meets every month to view animated works by international filmmakers and to discuss their merits. Every once in a while, ASIFA-East, the New York based branch of the organization (there are other chapters in Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco) sets aside an evening to screen films made exclusively by one of their own members.
The Hubleys began producing films back in the fifties when television commercials were becoming a fact of our everyday lives. John Hubley brought his expertise as an animation designer for Walt Disney and later the revolutionary UPA studio to the creation of some of the most outstanding one minute messages to grace the tube. John Hubley had a knack for combining inspired graphic images with musical tracks steeped in the American folk idiom and jazz played by the nations' best practitioners of the art. Toward the latter part of that decade he and his wife Faith made the important decision to find the time and money to produce films of their own as an antidote to the pressures and maddening demands of the commercial field. The course that this decision took, often at the insistence of Faith Hubley, led to their making at least one film a year that was solely theirs. This still growing library, produced sometimes at their own expense, at other times through grants and sponsors, brought them a clutter of awards including three Oscars and numerous Academy nominations. Their films have played in theaters, on television and just about anywhere people could find to set up a projector. The productions continue to this day unabated even after the death of John Hubley in 1977. Faith Hubley has carried on the tradition, producing films of her own design, and often working with her daughter Emily who has become an animator in her own right.
Employing the talents of their family goes back to the use of the Hubley's four kids in various films in which their voices were recorded off the cuff and edited, to form a soundtrack that captured the essence of childish thoughts with warmth and capriciousness. Included in the evening's screening was the first film that the Hubleys made as a non-commercial effort, "The Adventures of An *”, released in 1957. This film set a pattern for almost everything that was to follow. Many subsequent productions dealt with childhood experiences and a view of the world through the eyes of assorted children. In the "Adventures Of An *” , the first signs of the Hubley graphic technique utilizing loosely drawn figures that are double exposed against full color backgrounds, a frank departure from the traditional painted cel method, became apparent.
In these explorations of the child's view of life the artists have sensitively shown how the young react to the conditions around them and the adult audiences receive an insight into a special place that is rarely revealed in a population set on destruction of its own planet through mismanagement or war. The childhood theme is best expressed in the films, "Moonbird," "Windy Day" and "Cockaboody." In her recent films Faith Hubley has become increasingly involved with the theme of saving the environment as indicated in her productions, "Second Chance, Sea," "Whither Weather," and "Enter Life." Other themes that are becoming prevalent in her work are those related to the myths that have dominated various societies. Faith and daughter Emily are now busily completing a new story regarding American Indian myths, an area worth mining for any animator. Often she makes use of visual reference to well known paintings and art styles as in the films, "Step by Step" and "Sky Dance." As in all Hubley films, the music is consistently intriguing.
In the past John Hubley depended on the talents of jazz artists such as Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald. Faith Hubley uses similar stylists but has turned repeatedly to the talented young musician, Elizabeth Swados, for original scores. If you missed this screening there will be two additional evenings of other works by the Hubleys. Back Stage will carry the listings as to time and place as soon as the dates are set. The programs are presented for members of ASIFA but the interested public is invited free of charge. In a world where every television announcement leaps out at you with razzmatazz sparkles, it might be worthwhile to check out the films of the Hubleys and get a glimpse of a corner that is filled with introspection, warmth, taste and humanity.
A New Film From Producer Neil Wolf
A recent production, "Vision For Tomorrow," produced and directed by Neil Wolf, demonstrates the effectiveness of cornea transplants. The film, running roughly 20 minutes, has already received a CINE Golden Eagle for its fine description of the cornea transplant process. Wolf utilized many of the familiar shots of laboratories and interviews with medical specialists that are all too common in medical films but fashioned the story so that these scenes filmed in Paris, Zurich and at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, come together to make a fascinating documentary. The graphic sections employ a magnificent three dimensional model of the eye that was wholly created by computer technology at MAGI Synthavision in Elmsford, New York. (Additional animation segments were filmed by veteran cameraman Francis Lee.) Neil Wolf (212) 719-2444, working with scriptwriter Joe Scheer, feels that this production has the look and feel of a television documentary rather than the average film that too often gets made for informational purposes."
George Davis of Eighth Frame Camera Service and Animation Producer/Director Howard Beckerman discuss a shot for a scene in the film "Stufin' Goes Flyin'" which is slated for cable early next year.
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