THE MIGHTY RIVER

Additional technical information

"I did 90% of the drawings, along with the complex calculations. They're definitely the most complicated drawings I've done in my entire filmmaking career. Most were given a coat of fixative to achieve the transparency of normal cels, because I often had to use three or four cels at a time for my shots. I needed to create huge panoramas, with a variety of objects moving at the same time. To achieve effects of depth and movement, the different layers of cels had to move at different speeds. Most of the shots were filmed using the 'staggered mix' technique. The water was really difficult to capture in animation, but this technique, which is essentially a series of crossfades, manages to convey its fluidity convincingly. I had to use the technique throughout the film to give a sense of the constantly changing river environment. The complexity of the subject required over 200 set-ups showing an enormous variety of moods and settings."
F.B.

The music and soundtrack, which involved collecting a very specific set of animal sounds and cries, were closely aligned with the script from the outset. The final score was only composed once the editing was practically finished. The narration, which was particularly challenging to write because of the continual arrival of new pieces of historical and scientific information, was adjusted in the final edit and synchronized with the images.

Credits

Script: Frédéric Back, Hubert Tison
Narrator: Donald Sutherland
Drawings and animation: Frédéric Back
In-betweener: Shui Bo Wang
Original music and soundtrack: Normand Roger, Denis Chartrand
Camera: Jean Robillard
Editing: Norbert Pickering
Music recording: Jocelyn Dion
Voice recording: André Turcot
Mixing: Michel Descombes, Luc Boudrias
Research and documentation: Jean Provencher, Francis Back, Claude Villeneuve
Special collaboration: Michel Keable
Production administrator: Pierre Caron
Director: Frédéric Back
Producer: Hubert Tison
Produced by Société Radio-Canada, 1993