Geoffrey Jones: The Rhythm of Film (1955-2004)

une nouvelle fois, je nai rien trouvé en français sur ce cinéaste anglais
ces films sont des expérimentations au niveau du montage
si tu aimes Eisenstein ou Vertov (ou tout autre cinéaste soviétique), ceci est pour toi

Snow, Rail & Locomotion
Sa trilogie du train filmée pour la British Transport Films

Snow
1963, 8', 35mm, n&b
sur une musique composée par Johnny Hawksworth (cliques, cliques, t'aura des info)
The task of running the railways through the worst of a British winter.
pour en lire plus, et ben tu cliques ici
----> cest ici que ça se passe <----





Rail
1967, 13', 35mm, coul, son.
sur une musique composée par Wilfred Josephs (cliques, cliques, t'aura des info)
A commemoration of the steam age and celebration of the electric age.
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Locomotion
1975, 15', 35mm, coul., son.
sur une musique composée par Don Fraser
In Locomotion, the entire history of the British railways is illustrated through a captivating and accelerating rhythm.
----> cest ici que ça se passe <----





Trinidad & Tobago
1964, 19', 35mm, coul., son.
In the travelogue Trinidad & Tobago, images react, combine and dance together to create a living, pulsing journey.
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Shell Spirit
1963, 2', 35mm, coul., son.
Shell petrol fuels a journey by car from the city to the seaside.
----> cest ici que ça se passe <----
pour en lire plus, et ben tu cliques ici




This is Shell
1970, 8', 35mm film, coul., son.
An impressionistic look at the world of Shell and its activities.
pour en lire plus, et ben tu cliques ici
----> cest ici que ça se passe <----




Seasons Project
19--, 12', 35mm, coul., son.
The Seasons Project contains the early and skilled use of time-lapse photography in scenes of nature.
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A Chair-a-plane Kwela
19--, 3'', coul., son.
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A Chair-a-plane Flamenco
19--, 6'', coul., son.
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Filmed interview with Geoffrey Jones at his home in Wales, describing his career and working processes, interspersed with film clips (31 mins)
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Citation:

Since the 1950s, Geoffrey R. Llewellyn Jones has been making multi-award-winning short films that look, sound and feel like nothing else. With his extraordinary marriage of images, music and rhythm, he ranks alongside such luminaries as Norman McLaren and Len Lye, and remains one of Britain's true film artists. Born in London in 1931, of Welsh parents, Geoffrey Jones trained at Central School of Art in interior design, graphic design and photography. Mesmerised by cinema since he was a child and later inspired by Dziga Vertov and Luciano Emmer, his first film project, a satire on the commuter society, envisaged images cut to very rhythmic music, a technique that became his hallmark. Although the film was never actually made, the drawings led to work, when he was just 24 as a one man band: 'The Experimental Film and TV Department' of advertising agency Crawford International, where early work included an acclaimed commercial for Martini. He went on to make films for global companies like Shell and BP, and innovative animated shorts. [...] The Rhythm of Film brings a selection of Geoffrey Jones' films together in one collection for the first time to show what makes his work so special. Most of his work was in the sometimes precarious area of industrial shorts, but his unique vision is also revealed in his more personal works such as the Seasons Project and the two Chair-a-plane films.

Citation:

Only days before the release of this DVD, Geoffrey Jones passed away following a battle with cancer. The Rhythm of Film therefore becomes not only an insight into the work of one of British cinema’s unsung heroes, but also a fitting tribute. It may not offer a complete retrospective, yet over its 86-minute duration we are able to experience nine startling visions from a man who was clearly at the top of his game. Indeed, the term industrial filmmaker – for that is what Jones was, having worked for Shell, BP and Edgar Anstey’s British Transport Films (BTF) unit in his time – need not be seen as a derogatory one, but rather as a means of producing personal, distinctly singular works. Following a non-chronological approach, the BFI open the disc with Jones’ three most widely seen and widely acclaimed works: the Oscar-nominated Snow (1963), Rail (1966) and Locomotion (1975), all made for the BTF. Watching this trio of brisk works (their durations range from eight to fifteen minutes), Jones’ modus operandi becomes apparent: these are not ordinary, run-of-the-mill documentaries, but meditations; there is no voice-over and only minimal context (Locomotion opens with a brief note to proclaim the 150th anniversary of the Stockton-Darlington railway), the only accompaniment being strictly musical, but deeply rhythmic at that; plus there is Jones’ credit of “director editor” as opposed to “director and editor”, as though Jones is telling us that both are of equal importance.