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Revision as of 17:13, 15 June 2019 by SJLahey (talk | contribs) (→Production: Copyediting)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada. The Log Driver's Waltz directed by John Weldon set to the recording of the song by Kate & Anna McGarrigle with, and as part of, The Mountain City Four is one of the most-requested items contained in the collection by the National Film Board of Canada. A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.
Conception
The idea for Canada Vignettes began in early 1977, when CBC's children's programming department at the CBC approached the NFB about producing short films, five minutes in length or less, to use as interstitial programming. When Secretary of State for Canada John Roberts announced in the fall of 1977 that $13 million would be given to federal cultural agencies to help promote national unity, the NFB was allocated $2 million to produce films for broadcast on the CBC, similar to CBS's Bicentennial Minutes in the United States, the previous year. The French-language service of the CBC also agreed to broadcast the series.
Production
Eighty filmmakers from across the country worked on the project over a three-year period. Many of the films were animation vignettes offering amusing portrayals of Canadian history, while others were produced from excerpts of NFB documentaries. The NFB decided that no film credits would be included, only a title.
Broadcast
The CBC's children's department subsequently informed the NFB that it could not show films longer than two minutes as their needs had changed in the time that it took to produce the series. A quarter of the vignettes were more than two minutes long. As a solution, the CBC main network agreed to make the longer and shorter films available to their network affiliates. Canada Vignettes were shown on both in prime time and during children's programming slots. The most popular film in the series to air on Canadian television was Canada Vignettes: Faces, an animated short that depicted the faces of Canada, including that of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Other Canadian television networks to broadcast the films included CTV, Global, TVOntario, and TVA. The series was also sold to international foreign broadcasters in such countries as Turkey, Italy, Algeria, Norway and the United Kingdom.
List of Vignettes
| Title | Year | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acadian Quadrille | 1978 | 4:00 | director: Colette Blanchard |
| Agnes Campbell MacPhail | 1980 | 2:05 | director: Margaret Wescott |
| Alouette | 1979 | 0:30 | director: Michèle Pauzé |
| Angel of Death | 1980 | 2:00 | director: Ron Webber |
| Arctic Mission | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Joan Henson |
| Arctic Seascape | 1980 | 1:30 | director: Joan Henson |
| Ballet Master, The | 1978 | 3:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Bells and Brass | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Rick Butler |
| Bill Miner | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Peter Jones |
| Bill Reid | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Jack Long |
| Birth | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Margaret Pettigrew |
| Blacksmith Shop, The | 1979 | 1:00 | directors: Rita Roy and Joe MacDonald |
| Bluenose 1921–1946 | 1979 | 2:05 | director: Richard Todd |
| Bluenose II July 24, 1963 | 1979 | 3:07 | director: Richard Todd |
| Breadmakers | 1980 | 1:30 | director: Tony Ianzelo |
| Bridge for the Dempster | 1980 | 2:00 | director: Kenneth McCready and Joan Henson |
| Bridging the Gap | 1981 | 1:00 | director: M. Marilyn Cherenko |
| Calliope | 1980 | 2:00 | director: Tony Ianzelo |
| Canada's Snowbirds | 1980 | 1:30 | director: Joan Henson |
| Captain Cook | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Barry Helmer |
| Catapult Canada | 1985 | 1:09 | director: Bill Maylone |
| Celebration | 1981 | 1:00 | director: Tony Ianzelo |
| Countdown | 1981 | 1:00 | director: Veronika Soul |
| Cree Conical Lodge | 1980 | 2:00 | director: Joe MacDonald |
| Cree Hunters | 1979 | 1:00 | director: Tony Ianzelo |
| Crossing Guards | 1978 | 4:10 | director: Kris Paterson |
| Dance | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Lise-Hélène Larin |
| Dancing Dolls | 1980 | 1:30 | director: Dorothy Courtois |
| December Lights | 1979 | 3:00 | director: Raymond Gauthier |
| Delta Plane | 1979 | 1:30 | directors: Hubert Neault and Nicole Robert |
| Dentist, The | 1978 | 5:00 | director: Wolf Koenig |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972 Pt. 1 | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972 Pt. 2 | 1979 | 1:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972, Marg Osburne 1927–1977 | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Don Messer 1910–1973 | 1979 | 1:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Marg Osburne 1927–1977 Pt. 1 | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Marg Osburne 1927–1977 Pt. 2 | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Martin Defalco |
| Easter Eggs | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Yurij Luhovy |
| Egg, The | 1979 | 1:00 | directors: Robert Bélisle and Jean-François Pouliot |
| Emergency Numbers | 1984 | 2:00 | director: John Weldon |
| Erik Davidson—Mechanic | 1979 | 3:03 | director: Richard Todd |
| Faces | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Paul Bochner |
| Fashion Designer | 1977 | 2:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Flin Flon | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Tina Horne |
| Fort Prince of Wales | 1978 | 1:00 | |
| From Cobalt to Casa Loma | 1978 | 2:00 | director: Kenneth McCready |
| From Flax to Linen | 1978 | 2:00 | director: Joe MacDonald |
| Full Circle | 1979 | 4:00 | director: Rudi Wrench |
| Ham, The | 1978 | 4:00 | director: Ronald Blumer |
| Headdress | 1979 | 1:30 | |
| Helen Law | 1979 | 3:00 | director: Jennifer Hodge |
| History for Tomorrow | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Joan Henson |
| Holidays | 1978 | 1:03 | director: Blake James |
| Home of the Beaver | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Ron Webber |
| Homestead | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Margaret Pettigrew |
| Horse, The | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Michael Mills |
| Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary: An Irish Folktale | 1978 | 5:00 | director: Eva Szasz |
| Ice | 1982 | 1:00 | director: Robert Doucet |
| Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Canadian Bounce | 1986 | 2:00 | director: Meilan Lam |
| Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Souvenir Programme | 1986 | 2:02 | director: Meilan Lam |
| Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Storming the Ice Palace | 1986 | 1:58 | director: Meilan Lam |
| Indian Pipe | 1979 | 1:00 | |
| Instant French | 1979 | 1:00 | director: André Leduc |
| Inuit Pipe | 1979 | 1:30 | |
| June in Povungnituk—Quebec Arctic | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Alanis Obomsawin |
| Klondike Gold | 1980 | 1:00 | director: George Geertsen |
| Lady Frances Simpson | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Christopher Hinton |
| Land Bridge | 1978 | 1:00 | director: George Geertsen |
| Land of the Maple Leaf | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Ron Webber |
| Log Driver's Waltz | 1979 | 3:17 | director: John Weldon |
| Logger | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Al Sens |
| Love on Wheels | 1979 | 4:00 | directors: Ben Low and Ian Rankin |
| Ma chère Albertine | 1979 | 5:00 | director: Suzanne Oliver |
| Maple Leaf, The | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Paul Bochner |
| Marine Biologist | 1979 | 3:00 | director: William Pettigrew |
| Maritimes Dig | 1980 | 3:00 | director: Dennis Sawyer |
| McIntosh | 1979 | 1:30 | director: Tina Horne |
| Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian | 1980 | 5:00 | director: Eva Szasz |
| Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton | 1978 | 2:00 | director: Sandra Dudley |
| Mer enligne nos terres, La | 1979 | ||
| Métis Coat | 1979 | 1:00 | |
| Moccasins | 1979 | 1:00 | |
| Move, The | 1985 | 5:00 | director: Larry Bauman |
| Music Makers, The | 1979 | 2:02 | director: Malca Gillson |
| Mussel Mud | 1985 | 1:38 | director: Aileen Brophy |
| Newfoundland | 1978 | 1:00 | director: George Geertsen |
| News Canada | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Yossi Abulafia credited as Yossi Abolafia |
| Nigogeux, Les | 1978 | ||
| Northern Seasons | 1980 | 1:00 | directors: Kenneth McCready and Joan Henson |
| Novelist, The | 1978 | 5:00 | director: Andy Thomson |
| Onions and Garlic: A Hebrew Fable | 1978 | 4:02 | director: Eva Szasz |
| Our Daily Bread | 1979 | 3:00 | director: Joe MacDonald and Rita Roy |
| Performer, The | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Norma Bailey. First Jury Prize for Short film at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival |
| Photographers, The | 1978 | 4:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Physiotherapist | 1977 | 3:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Port Royal | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Robert Doucet |
| Prairie Promise | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Margaret Pettigrew |
| Prehistoric Artifacts, New Brunswick | 1980 | 2:00 | director: Dennis Sawyer |
| Riverdale Lion | 1979 | 1:00 | director: David Verrall |
| Roulamour | 1979 | ||
| Seigneury, The | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Janice Brown |
| Skier | 1978 | 2:00 | |
| Sodbusters | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Wolf Koenig |
| Spence's Republic | 1978 | 1:00 | |
| St. Laurent Pilgrimage | 1985 | 2:00 | director: Dan J. McCrimmon |
| Stunt Family | 1978 | 3:00 | director: Lois Siegel |
| Thirties, The | 1978 | 1:03 | director: Blake James |
| Toronto | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Carlos Marchiori |
| Trading Post | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Wolf Koenig |
| Trees | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Robert Doucet |
| Two Friends | 1979 | 3:00 | director: Richard Todd |
| Under the Pole | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Joan Henson |
| Unity Pole | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Jack Long |
| Veteran, The | 1978 | 4:00 | director: Ronald Blumer |
| Veterinarian | 1977 | 3:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Vignettes from Labrador North | 1979 | 4:00 | director: Roger Hart |
| Violin Maker, The | 1978 | 5:00 | directors: Rosemarie Shapley and Judith Potterton |
| Visitor, The | 1979 | 1:00 | |
| Vote, The | 1980 | 1:00 | director: Margaret Pettigrew |
| Voyageurs | 1978 | 1:00 | director: Wolf Koenig |
| Wild Rice Harvest Kenora | 1979 | 1:00 | director: Alanis Obomsawin |
| Winter—Dressing Up | 1979 | 1:00 | director: Gerald Potterton |
| Winter—Starting the Car | 1979 | 2:00 | director: Gerald Potterton |
| Wool Spinner, The | 1979 | 2:00 | directors: Rita Roy and Joe MacDonald |
| Woolly Mammoth | 1979 | 1:00 | stop-motion animation by Bill Maylone |
| Wop May | 1979 | 5:00 | director: Blake James; about aviator Wop May |
See also
- O Canada (Cartoon Network series that featured some of the animated Canada Vignettes shorts)
- Canada's Story
- Events of National Historic Significance
- Heritage Minutes
- Hinterland Who's Who
- National Historic Sites of Canada
- Persons of National Historic Significance
- The Greatest Canadian
References
- ^ Ohayon, Albert. "Canada Vignettes: Essential Canadiana, eh!". NFB blog. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-410-women-s-rage-a-star-is-born-amazon-ups-its-minimum-wage-sharon-and-bram-and-more-1.4851227/why-canadians-are-still-celebrating-the-log-driver-s-waltz-more-than-half-a-century-after-it-was-written-1.4851233
- "Episode Guide for Canada Vignettes". www.tvarchive.ca.
- "Canada—Images of a Country". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
- "Canada Vignettes". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
- "Canada Vignettes". National Film Board of Canada. 22 Oct 2012. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
External links
- Canada - Images of a Country, Vignettes at the National Film Board of Canada
- Canada Vignettes listing at National Film Board of Canada
- Canada Vignettes, The Big Cartoon Database
- Episode Guide