Posted by Arna:THE DARK YEARS is a three-part animated docudrama. Produced by Barna-Alper Productions in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada and in association with History Television. You can see it on the History Channel this Friday, March 21, beginning at 3:00 PM. Start times are 3, 4, and 5 pm for the entire three parter.
Set in the 1930’s in Canada, it follows the path of the great Depression as told by reporters of The Toronto Star newspaper.
Our pal, John Halfpenny directed the animation, that is to say was co director of the three parter with documentarian Stephen Silver.
Here’s John in an interview describing the process.
This is an ambitious animated epic all done in FLASH, full of great moments. Though I feel it does not always ‘work’ in the story sense, I find its images always compelling. I love the rawness of the animated forms and the stark simplified way the characters move against the textured backgrounds. There is really nothing else like it.
Backgrounds for this epic evoke the art of the era, all the more remarkable since they were painted digitally by artists Maureen Paxton and Clive Powsey.
Here’s a still from a crazy sequence in which the reporter Gordon Sinclair interviews Adolph Hitler! Chuck Gammage did the animation posing for this sequence. Rex Hackelberg designed the characters for this part.
Set in the 1930’s in Canada, it follows the path of the great Depression as told by reporters of The Toronto Star newspaper.
Our pal, John Halfpenny directed the animation, that is to say was co director of the three parter with documentarian Stephen Silver.
Here’s John in an interview describing the process.
This is an ambitious animated epic all done in FLASH, full of great moments. Though I feel it does not always ‘work’ in the story sense, I find its images always compelling. I love the rawness of the animated forms and the stark simplified way the characters move against the textured backgrounds. There is really nothing else like it.
Backgrounds for this epic evoke the art of the era, all the more remarkable since they were painted digitally by artists Maureen Paxton and Clive Powsey.
Here’s a still from a crazy sequence in which the reporter Gordon Sinclair interviews Adolph Hitler! Chuck Gammage did the animation posing for this sequence. Rex Hackelberg designed the characters for this part.
