THE BIRTH OF A ROBOT
Len Lye
Scen.: C. H. Dand; F.: Alex Strasser; Colour direction and production: Humphrey Jennings; Scgf.: John Banting, Alan Farmer; Mu.: “The Planets” di Gustav Holst; Sound editor: Jack Ellitt; Voce: E. V. H. Emmett; Prod.: Len Lye, per Shell-Mex Films/Shell Oil Company; 35mm. D.: 7’ a 24 f/s. Col.
info_outline
T. it.: Italian title. T. int.: International title. T. alt.: Alternative title. Sog.: Story. Scen.: Screenplay. F.: Cinematography. M.: Editing. Scgf.: Set Design. Mus.: Music. Int.: Cast. Prod.: Production Company. L.: Length. D.: Running Time. f/s: Frames per second. Bn.: Black e White. Col.: Color. Da: Print source
Film Notes
Lye had experimented with puppet films in 1934, and returned to the genre with this whimsical advertisement for Shell oil. The film was also designed as a showcase for a new colour process, Gasparcolor. Humphrey Jennings, the poet-director of Listen to Britain, is credited with “colour direction and production”. Lye’s puppets enact a crowded story climaxing in the birth of the Shell company’s logo, a robot figure.
Geoff Brown