Frederic Back was a very well known animator. He made 9 different animated shorts, 4 of which were nominated for Academy Awards, and won 2. Most notable of his films was The Man Who Planted Trees, which we saw in class today. What made his work special? I Internet explored!
One thing Frederic was known for was drawing on Frosted celluloids. Frosted cels made it possible to use colored pencils, chalk, and crayon on celluloid surfaces that would ordinarily be too smooth to make it possible. This allowed him to get a bright, colorful style while still having a semi-transparent background. Strangely enough, he didn't develop this style until far into his career. Back's first film to use the frosted cel technique was All Nothing. After that, he only made three more short films before his death in 2013, one of which was The Man Who Planted Trees.
Another interesting tidbit about his work is that one of his films, The Creation of Birds, used paper cutout puppets. The characters in this film were made by cutting out paper and treating them like stop-motion puppets. However, unlike Reiniger, who patented this technique, he used full color, making another beautiful animated creation. Overall, his animation techniques were stunning and his work was incredibly famous, especially noting his success at the Academy Awards.
I loved The Man Who Planted Trees. It was easily one of my favorite films in this class, especially compared to the films shown earlier in the day. I didn't enjoy a tale of gluttony animated disgustingly and relatively lazily with the moral thrown in my face gruesomely. But a beautiful, inspiring tale that managed to fit in the moral nicely made for an amazing viewing experience.
I learned about all this through a combination of film-watchings, Jose-teachings, and the magical powers of...
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