Cordell Barker

Like Minimalen, our longstanding signature film The Cat Came Back is celebrating its 25-year anniversary this year. So, what could be more suitable than to give a face to the master behind the kitty?

Cordell Barker (b. 1957, Winnipeg, Canada) has built a reputation as one of Canada's foremost animators with just three short films, each under 10 minutes. For nearly a generation, Barker has worked behind the scenes with advertising productions, but in between, he has - mostly on his own - worked intensly to create these films and managed to collect two Oscar nominations, a wide range of prizes and great fame for his unique hand-drawn style, precision engineering and black humor.

In this Masterclass, he will present the three shorts in chronological order and participate in a discussion about various aspects of the process of creation and generously share anecdotes.

As a filmmaker Cordell Barker focuses on pace, action and narrative, and the balance of these are especially treated in Saturday's session, the Timing Workshop.

->1: Masterclass / ->2: Timing Workshop

Cordell Barker 1: Masterclass
Fredag/Friday 18:00

CA 1988 | Ani. | 8 min
Director: Cordell Barker

THE CAT CAME BACK

Inspirert av den århundregamle folkesangen til Harry S. Miller om en mann som ikke har andre ønsker enn å bli kvitt en gal, selvsentrert katt som noen har satt igjen utenfor døra hans.

Inspired by Harry S. Miller's century-old folk song of a man who wants nothing more than to get rid of a crazy, self-centred cat that has been left on his doorstep.

Script, Animation: Cordell Barker | Animation Camera: Lorne Bailey | Sound: John McCulloch, Ed Ledson, Richard Condie, Cordell Barker | Voice: Richard Condie | Music: John McCulloch

Production: NFB - Richard Condie, Cordell Barker

CA 2001 | Ani. | 9 min
Director: Cordell Barker

STRANGE INVADERS

Et fremmed barn dukker uforvarende opp hos et veletablert,
barnløst par. I begynnelsen er de overlykkelige, men snart er
hele husstanden i kaos og ekteskapet henger i en tynn tråd.

An alien child arrives on the doorstep of a comfortable, childless
couple. At first they are overjoyed, but soon the entire household
is in havoc and the marriage is hanging by a thread.

Script, Animation: Cordell Barker | Sound design: Luc Préfontaine | Voice: Cordell Barker, Jennifer Torrance, Jackson Barker | Original music: Luc Préfontaine

Production: NFB - Jennifer Torrance, Cordell Barker

CA 2009 | Ani. | 9 min
Director: Cordell Barker

RUNAWAY

Fornøyde passasjerer storkoser seg på det trange toget, uvitende om skjebnen som venter på dem rundt neste sving. Krisen som er i emning fører til en klassekamp som er like underholdende som den er nådeløs.

Happy passengers are having a great time on a crowded train,
oblivious to the unknown fate that awaits them around the bend. The ensuing crisis leads to a class struggle that is as amusing as it is merciless.

Script, Animation: Cordell Barker | Original Music: Benoît Charest | Cast: Richard Condie, Leonard Waldner, Muriel Hogue | Sound design: Howard Rissin

Production: NFB - Michael Scott, Derek Mazur

Print Source: National Film Board of Canada, Éric Séguin, e.seguin@nfb.ca.

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Cordell Barker 2: Timing Workshop
Lørdag/Saturday 18:00

To Cordell Barker, good timing creates a good animation film, however the drawings may be. Yet timing is not about rigidity; it is like jazz – it maintains an internal beat while letting other actions evolve in suspended moments. Using clips from different films, Barker explores the elements of animation timing, showing how he came to appreciate its idiosyncrasies. Showing clips from his own oeuvre, he shares his thoughts on when the timing worked, and when it didn't. The workshop will mostly focus on The Cat Came Back, but also use Strange Invaders and Runaway. To round it out, we might even get some samples of what he is working on now – If I was god – which is a project using stopmotion puppets, claymation, and 2D animation.

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