Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life

Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life
Promotional poster for Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life
Directed by John Walsh
Narrated by Tom Baker
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) John Walsh
Running time 15 min.
Production company(s) London Film School
Distributor Walsh Bros Ltd.
Release
Original release 1990

Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life is a British documentary for made by John Walsh when he was a student at the London Film School. Its subject was the art and animation of Ray Harryhausen The film looks at the stop motion animation process employed by Ray Harryhausen focusing on the creatures from his 1981 film Clash of the Titans. The voice-over was provided by Doctor Who actor Tom Baker who won the role of Doctor Who after the series producer at the time was looking for a replacement for Jon Pertwee who was leaving. the role. Producer Barry Letts saw Tom in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1973. [1]

In an interview given to the Manchester Animation Festival in 2016, Walsh described the origins of the project:

"When film student John Walsh looked up his cinema film hero in the BT phone book he was amazed to find his name address and phone number on public display. As a first-year student at the London Film School he wanted to find a subject for his third term documentary film. That phone call in the late 1980s led to a twenty-five-year friendship. Today John is a double BAFTA nominated filmmaker and a Trustee of the Ray Harryhausen Foundation. John will discuss the challenges that lie ahead for this most unique of charities and the plans they have for Ray’s centenary in 2020. Ray’s working practices will be discussed from his experimentation with cinemascope, his unrealised film projects to the controversial colouring of some of his earlier black and white films. John will present some never before seen photos from the 50,000 item strong collection and discuss the challenges of restoration and stainable legacy from the most complete and comprehensive fantasy cinema and animation collections anywhere in the world."[2]

Screenings

The film was nominated for various student film award prizes and received its first commercial screening at Greenwich Cinema in March 1990. [3] The event was presented on stage with a Q&A session from Ray Harryhausen hosted by broadcaster and writer Richard Holliss.

The film was screened as part of an even on Ray Harryhausen at the Manchester Animation Festival in 2016 now remastered in HD and with stereo sound for the first time. John Walsh took questions from the audience after the screening. [4]

As part of a Harryhausen’s Lost Treasures event the film was screened at the multimedia venue HOME (Manchester) [5].

Friday 1st July 2016 a screening was held at the Cinema Museum (London) Walsh discussed the "phone call in the late 1980s led to a twenty-five-year friendship." [6]

On 2 October 2016 Walsh gave a talk at with a screening at Canterbury Christ Church University as part their animation festival, Anifest.[7]

On 28 October 2017 Walsh gave a lecture to animation students at Staffordshire University.[8]

At MCM London Comic Con in May 2017 Walsh gave a talk for The Barbican exhibition of science fiction titled 'Into the Unknown' on Ray Harryhausen.[9]

Cineworld Aberdeen screened the film on 29th June 2017 after a 60th-anniversary screening of a colourised version of 20 Million Miles to Earth [10]

BFI screening on 26th August 2018 alongside another rarely seen interview with Ray. This coincides with a new book about the posters from Harryhausen's films. [11]

San Diego Comic-Con showed the film as part of a panel by John Walsh entitled 'Ray Harryhausen The Return of the Special Effects Godfather' on 20th July 2018. [12]

Restoration

In 2010 the film was restored in HD and now forms part of the film and audio archive of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation. John Walsh is now a trustee of the Foundation. The film was shot on Kodak 16mm stock and the sounded recorded on quarter-inch tape. The original film and magnetic tapes elements were digitally restored to create the newly remastered film.

References

  1. ↑ Turbervill, Huw (2013-11-04). "Tom Baker interview: 'Doctor Who fans saw me as a Messiah'". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  2. ↑ "Harryhausen's Lost Treasures - HOME". HOME. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  3. ↑ "The Greenwich Visitor August 2016". content.yudu.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  4. ↑ "Harryhausen's Lost Treasures | Manchester Animation Festival". Manchester Animation Festival. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  5. ↑ "Harryhausen's Lost Treasures - HOME". HOME. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  6. ↑ "Ray Harryhausen and Me… » The Cinema Museum, London". The Cinema Museum, London. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  7. ↑ http://www.skwigly.co.uk/canterbury-anifest-2016/
  8. ↑ http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/catalogue_show-and-tell-2017.pdf
  9. ↑ "Barbican Presents Sci-fi Talks at MCM London Comic Con – SEEN London". seenlondon.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  10. ↑ "Brown Paper Tickets". m.bpt.me. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  11. ↑ https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=7C609FD6-6D59-4226-B2A1-1E884917BB01&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=563E133C-B558-4EDD-BD6B-2C82826EDF35
  12. ↑ https://comiccon2018.sched.com/event/FSmV/ray-harryhausen-the-return-of-the-special-effects-godfather
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