The Art of Frederic Back
It is important that I tell you about the films of Frederic Back. Working' through the auspices of A Radio Canada, The CBC French Services division, Back has created a world of animated stories that should be seen and studied by anyone engaged in the production of frame-by-frame images.
In a program of selections of animated films that included the work of Francine Leger and Paul Driessen from A Radio Canada at this month's meeting of ASIFA-East, there were three selections of Back's work. His films have a distinctive soft quality, derived from the use of colored pencils on frosted acetate and the delicate appeal of his characters. Yet this softness packs a sturdy wallop.
The selections included, Illusion, an 11-minute film, Tout Rien (Everything Nothing), 81/2 minutes and Crac, 15 minutes. Back's films have won numerous awards in international competitions and the latter film, Crac, received the Academy Award this year. Crac tells the tale of a rocking chair, built a century ago, which is then passed down from generation to generation. At last it ends up in a modern museum as the museum guard's comfortable spot to rest. Among all of the ultra modern art displayed on the walls, the small children that visit the gallery find the rocking chair the most wonderful object. At night while the guard makes his rounds, the chair calls up images of its past life. We see the scenes that comprised the earlier part of the film, scenes of country folk working and celebrating to the strains of fiddles and stomping musicians. These images merge with the avant garde cubistic and abstract museum paintings, bringing the whole pageant of the old and the new together. As the museum guard passes by the images fade and the chair comes to rest.
Tout Rien is a story about Adam and Eve and their annoyance with their Creator who has not given them the adornment that other animals possess. They request that they be covered with fur as bears are. This fails to satisfy them when they find that they become too warm wearing fur, so they request feathers. They are also disappointed in that arrangement. At last, having exhausted their demands to become as bears, birds, monkeys or fish, they slink away, and they contrive to dress themselves in the varied coverings of these beasts. So begins the slaying of animals for their feathers and hides.
Adorned with a bit of every animal we see the image of primitive man plundering the species around him. The spear pierces each one of them and finally, adorned from head to toe with the trappings of birds and mammals, wearing shark's teeth necklaces, the spear pierces the image of God in a pagan ritual. With humor and a lightness of touch that is almost startling compared to current styles of animation, Back manages to drive home the point of our relationship to the environment. Most important, as in all of Back's films, he tells us about ourselves.
Animation at CBC French Services is divided between nine animators. Back designs and animated his film almost entirely himself with the aid of other CBC artists when necessary. In a time when we expect to see animation that contains strong attitudes toward disarmament, world peace and concern for the ecology to emanate from the hand of an exuberant recent film school graduate, it is a delight to find that these images of regard for the human condition made with exceptional artistic ability created by a man of mature years.
Frederic Back was a young artist and illustrator in France during World War II and emigrated to Montreal in the late 1940's. He became a teacher at an art academy and continued working as an illustrator. Along the way he began doing animation and gradually it grew to a fulltime obsession.
In 1977 Executive Producer Hubert Tisson coordinated the formation of a team of creative people to enliven the already operational animation department of CBC French Services. Back became an integral part of this department and surrounded by other creative people, they jointly produced hundreds of opening titles and promotional films as well as 10 animated shorts. Their work is exhibited in many ways. Primarily made for Canadian consumption on television or in theatres, the films are traded internationally with other countries and find their way to prestigious international film festivals.
There is a lesson to be learned from viewing the animated ideas of Frederic Back. These shorts, with their warm and gently humorous portrayal of children and animals, combined with well integrated musical tracks and excellent pacing, offer a contrast to much of the mechanical animation that pervades shows for children as well as the harsh, hard-edged look that American commercials have come to embody.
Children's programming should have the diversity of visual design that is apparent in the best books for their age level and advertisers might benefit from portraying their products in a more humane style rather than with the slick and heavy handed techniques that confront us at every twist of the dial. More necessary than style is one factor that reveals itself in every frame of Frederic Back's work. It is something worth striving for: good taste.
New Animation Publication
Harvey Deneroff, in Los Angeles, informs us that Grafitti, the ASIFA Hollywood newsletter is to be turned into a quarterly magazine. The publication, which may go through a name change, will feature articles bout animation for professionals in the field, and hopes to pick up readership from the thousands of interested non-animators throughout the country. It is termed "a sort of American Cinematographer for animators" by Deneroff. Currently he is soliciting articles and illustrations for the first issue. A publication date will be announced shortly.
Anyone wishing to participate in this venture and to contribute articles should contact Deneroff at 23121/2 Scarff Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007. The phone number of ASIFA-Hollywood is (213) 466-0341.
No comments:
Post a Comment