New Computer to help Animators

From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

New Computer to help Animators

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
Cambridge
1981-09-18
Sound
3m

Character animator Chris James, a Grierson Award nominee, chats to Anglia TV at the Cambridge Animation Festival in 1981.

New York-born Animator Chris James, famous for the award-winning films 'About Face' and 'After Beardsley', is at the 1981 Cambridge Animation Festival, taking a look at the Quick Action Recorder (QAR), a new computer which has proven to be a great advance in the animation world.

American-born animator Chris James settled in England in the mid-60s. His film 'About Face' was runner-up in the Grierson Award for Best Short Film of 1978 and was screened on the inaugural day of the launch of the television Channel 4 in November 1982. In 1981 he produced the film 'After Beardsley' about the artist Aubrey Beardsley.

The Animator's Art

Free from commercial restraints, animators explore their art

After WWII, animation was increasingly recognised as a vital art form in its own right. Commercial work put food on their plates, but animators longed for creative freedom, and many production companies and determined animators created independent works in between paid gigs. Unshackled from commercial concerns, the resulting films were often daring in their pursuit of abstraction or personal expression. Meanwhile, many artists from other media have found that animation adds a vital new dimension to their work. But while such films were celebrated in their community they were rarely shown more widely. This collection showcases often hard-to-see examples of the animator's art at its purest and most individual.