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In Memoriam, Jacques Drouin 1943-2021
Animation filmmaker who specialized in the use of pinscreen animation that was developed in the 1930s by Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker. Drouin was a multi-award winner.
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MindscapeJacques Drouin 1976 7 minA particularly creative example of the pinscreen animation technique, this film is about an artist who steps inside his painting and wanders about in a landscape peopled with symbols that trigger unexpected associations. Film without words. -
Ex-ChildJacques Drouin 1994 4 minThis short animation tells the story of a young boy and his father, both of whom are enlisted to fight in the war. The boy's pride soon turns to fear as the bullets whistle overhead. His father takes his place and is immediately shot and killed. Horrified, the boy understands that war is not a game. Based on article 38 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates the right of children under the age of 15 not to be recruited into the armed forces.
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ImprintsJacques Drouin 2004 6 minIn this short experimental film, animator Jacques Drouin explores and highlights both sides of Alexeïeff-Parker’s pinscreen. Led by the repeated harmonies of a rondo for harpsichord by François Couperin, the film shows the filmmaker hurling himself into a hand-to-hand tussle with his own favourite instrument. Positioning the camera and lighting to reveal the relief formed by the pins, Drouin continually pivots the screen so that the viewer can glimpse the images hidden behind this mysterious screen.
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A Hunting LessonJacques Drouin 2001 13 minThis short animated film follows Antoine, a young boy fascinated by his mysterious neighbour, a man rumoured to have once been a big game hunter. Antoine is eager to learn about hunting, but the lesson he learns from the wise older man is not at all what he had expected: Antoine is left with a profound reverence for life. The film is based on Jacques Godbout’s book Une leçon de chasse, which was nominated for a 1997 Governor General's Award for children's literature.
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Making Movie History: Jacques DrouinDenys Desjardins 2013 5 minJacques Drouin's artistic trajectory is closely tied to the Alexeïeff-Parker pinscreen. No other filmmaker has employed the device with such dedication since Alexeïeff himself, who created the design in 1931. Consisting of a perforated board with 240,000 adjustable pins, the pinscreen can be manipulated to create evocative moving images. Having made a series of notable pinscreen films with his wife Claire Parker, Alexeïeff gave one of his 10 prototypes to the NFB. Intrigued by its creative potential, Drouin made good use of the precious item--to the great pleasure of its elderly inventor--crafting remarkable animation like Mindscape (1976) and Imprints (2005). Now recognized as the leading master of the technique, Drouin was called upon by the French Film Archives in Paris to oversee the 2007 restoration of their own pinscreens.
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The Light FantastickRupert Glover & Michel Patenaude 1974 57 minA detailed retrospective of the animation film at the National Film Board of Canada, of the techniques employed, and of the men and women who used and sometimes invented them. Documentary footage explains the techniques, and clips from NFB films illustrate the often spectacular results. Topics include Norman McLaren, hand-drawn-on-film and pixillation techniques, the "sing-along" animated songs of the 1940s, Alexandre Alexeieff's pinscreen, and Evelyn Lambart's fairytale improvisations.
