The Films of Sheila Graber 1974 to 1977

THE BOY AND THE CAT – 1974 10 minutes

The first ‘complete’ film I produced, first: shot on Super 8 and re-taken at a later date on 16 mm. Situated in the streets of the seaport in which I live, the characters are based on my own cat and nephew Nigel; and the plot follows their adventures through the snows of Christmas.

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The Boy and the Cat

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS – 1975 4 minutes

The school I taught in had a fine Madrigal Group led by Brenda Orwin. I taped them one Christmas singing this well known Carol and later animated it using mainly cut-outs and some cels.

Years of designing Christmas Decorations for school helped with the Storyboard involving Santa Claus as the link figure through the ever growing menagerie of ‘presents’.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas

MICHELANGELO – 1975 4 minutes

Made for use in art lessons as an introduction to the work and aims of this major artist. His main works from early Pieta to Dome of St. Peters are shown created in chronological order. Backed by Beethoven’s 5th the film rapidly advances to catch something of Michelangelo’s own action-packed creative drive.

I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN MAJOR GENERAL and WHEN I WENT TO THE BAR – 1975 3 minutes each.

From Gilbert & Sullivan sung by John Reed.

An early couple of experimental cut-out films. The crazy lyrics of these well known songs just seem made for animation.

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When I went to the Bar

THE LADY OF SHALLOT – 1976 5 minutes

Experimenting with newly bought 16 mm equipment I tried to create a film which relied almost entirely on slow-moving fades/dissolves/zooms and pans for its animation. It is drawn in soft pastels and incorporates multi-plane effects on home-built equipment. The poem seemed a good subject to use as it conjures up slow-moving mystical melting images.

FOUR VIEWS OF LANDSCAPE – 1976 4 minutes

Made for fun and for use in art lessons, it portrays the differing approach of four artists to the theme of Landscape, Constable – ‘Down to Earth’ Turner – ‘Dramatic’ Monet -‘Impressionistic’ and Van Gogh -‘Emotional’.

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