Franklin McMahon
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William Franklin McMahon (September 9, 1921 – March 3, 2012) was an American artist-reporter.'' His artistic output also included
films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...
. Other than in his very early years when he did illustrations "on spec", he was not an "after-the-fact" illustrator. In his own words, drawing from life made him an "artist-reporter" or a "reportorial artist." "That way," he said, "you can see around the corner."


Biography


Early life

Franklin McMahon was born in
Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
in 1921. He and his parents lived in Beverly Hills, CA for a time, returning to Chicago in his teens. He commuted to the Chicago suburb of
Oak Park, IL Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...
to attend Fenwick High School, where his cartoon drawings were published in the school's newspaper, "The Wick." '' Collier's Weekly'', a weekly national news magazine, noticed one of his cartoons. Thereafter, they paid him when they saw one they wanted to use. When he graduated in 1939, the Colliers connection helped land him his first job, as an apprentice in an art studio. During World War II, he was an
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
B-17 navigator, and was shot down in action in January 1945. He spent several months in a German prison camp. On occasion, when he could get hold of some paper, he drew his guards.


Post-war years, family, and continuing life

After the war, he married high school sweetheart Irene Leahy and used the
GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
to attend night classes at Chicago Academy of Fine Arts,
American Academy of Art The American Academy of Art College is a private art school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. The school's Bill L. Parks Gallery is open to the public and features exhibitions ...
, Harrington College of Design, and the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
. Franklin and Irene had nine children. Inspired at a young age by Franklin's work, his son Mark McMahon, went on to continue creating work in the artist-reporter's style.


Artistic output and areas of activity

McMahon's overwhelming main artistic output was his 8,000-9,000 drawings. He also produced
films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...
. His films incorporate drawings (see Technique section), at a rate of 200–300 drawings per ½ hour of film. The books, although sometimes labelled as "illustrated" by Franklin McMahon, had the same kind of on site"drawings as those from the courtroom, the political arena, and all his other spheres of activity. Even his commercial work had drawings mainly done on site, not after-the-fact illustrations for existing text.


Civil Rights and the Space Race

McMahon's work in both of these aspects of mid-20th Century American history helps illustrate his role as an artist-reporter. He began reporting from the courtroom in 1955, after some of his very early work came to the attention of ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine's editors. Because cameras were not allowed at the Mississippi trial of the suspected killers of Chicago teenager
Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
, ''Life'' commissioned him to go there to sketch courtroom events. His drawings, and in particular, one of Till's great-uncle,
Moses Wright Moses Anthony Wright (born December 23, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Early life ...
, standing to point at the accused men, were seen nationwide. From then on, on-site reporting with his drawings was a major part of his life work. The Emmett Till trial in September 1955 was the early catalyst for the
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
. McMahon's on-site and on-deadline images from Mississippi, published nationwide in ''Life'' magazine, provided the visualization that helped spur Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus in December 1955, which then led to the Montgomery bus boycott and to bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to national attention, along with fellow boycott leader
Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...
. McMahon was in attendance for King's "
I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
" speech during the August 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
. He also covered the two 1964 mistrials of the murderer of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. In March 1965, King's march for black enfranchisement was going from Selma to the Alabama Capital Montgomery. About that time, Franklin was returning from Cape Kennedy,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, after covering one of the US crewed space launches. He heard of the march on his car radio, and took a detour, arriving in time to document King's arrival in Montgomery. He also covered King in Chicago in 1966, the
United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
protest in 1968, and the
1968 Chicago riots The 1968 Chicago riots, in the United States, were sparked in part by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rioting and looting followed, with people flooding out onto the streets of major cities. Soon riots began, primarily in black u ...
following King's death. In 1969–70, Franklin was courtroom artist at the infamous Chicago Seven "conspiracy" trial of the eight (later just seven) defendants, resulting from protests during the
1968 Democratic Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
in Chicago. The 8th defendant,
Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
, was eventually bound, shackled, and gagged, then separated from the group and sentenced for contempt of court by the judge. The trial lasted five months, with McMahon producing almost 500 courtroom drawings. They were published across the nation, including an entire issue of the ''Chicago Tribune's'' Sunday magazine section. The Chicago History Museum currently owns both the collection of 483 drawings from that trial as well as that from the 1955 Emmett Till trial. In 1971, Marv Gold produced and directed the film ''69 CR 180'', an artist's report by McMahon featuring his courtroom drawings of the 1969 trial. The documentary animation was made, animated and narrated by McMahon, and edited by Ron Clasky. Civil rights was a continuing interest and vocation: he covered the presidential campaigns of black candidates
Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...
, U.S. House ('72) and the Reverend Jesse Jackson ('84, '88), and was at the 1995 Million Man March. During the
Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
of the 1960s and 1970s, Franklin was to return frequently to NASA's mission control, including his coverage of Neil Armstrong's walk on the Moon. All would earn him a mention in NASA's book ''Eyewitness to Space''.


U.S. Politics

He drew Democratic presidential candidate Governor Adlai Stevenson II ('52, '56) at his Libertyville, IL home. One of McMahon's drawings of Stevenson hangs in that home, which is now a state historical site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He covered every Democratic and Republican campaign from 1960 through 2008, including attending a vast majority of the conventions, He made first-person drawings of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon Debates (the first broadcast on live television) and later of Kennedy's funeral. During
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's successful 1968 presidential run, Franklin also drew the "unelected White House guys" (
H.R. Haldeman Harry Robbins Haldeman (October 27, 1926 – November 12, 1993) was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Watergate s ...
, John Ehrlichman and
John N. Mitchell John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal ...
), that he correctly predicted would surround Nixon. His take on Nixon's 1974 resignation showed the disgraced ex-president escaping in a helicopter. There are McMahon drawings from the 1973 Watergate hearings, of Senator John McCain's "
straight talk express The 2000 presidential campaign of John McCain, the United States Senator from Arizona, began in September 1999. He announced his run for the Republican Party nomination for the presidency of the United States in the 2000 presidential election. ...
" in New Hampshire in 2000, the stirring Barack Obama speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, and on the 2004 presidential campaign trail with
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and
Senator John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he pr ...
.


World religion

He was in Rome on October 11, 1962, for Opening Day of the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
, and went on to chronicle that major event through 1965. His film ''The World of Vatican II'' covers the opening and closing of Vatican II; and is a literal "travelogue in drawings" of many countries where Catholicism was facing new challenges at that time; and how and by whom they were being met. He followed Papal journeys, Council activations, and ministries in the Church world through the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, he was in Chicago and South Africa with the Parliament of the World's Religions. Drawings he made in South Africa were published by ''Notre Dame'' Magazine and accompanied an article by Archbishop
Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
in ''
U.S. Catholic U.S. Catholic may refer to: * Catholic Church in the United States With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest singl ...
'' Magazine.


Culture and sports

McMahon accompanied conductor Sir Georg Solti and the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
on their first European tour in 1971. The whimsical title (''Real Violins'') of his film describing that trip refers to Chicago's reputation as a city where gangsters once carried machine guns in violin cases. He worked for ''Sports Illustrated'' Magazine on assignments ranging from the 1959 American League champion baseball team
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
and Goose Hunting in Cairo, IL to the Acapulco Yacht Race in Mexico.


Corporate and industrial

McMahon also created artwork for corporations and businesses. A series of decorative plates which he designed with Chicago themes for
Continental Illinois National Bank The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was at one time the seventh-largest commercial bank in the United States as measured by deposits, with approximately $40 billion in assets. In 1984, Continental Illinois became the largest ...
(1972–1982) were given out as premiums at that time. They have since become collectors items, and are still traded on eBay. He did other work for Continental, and also had commercial commissions for McDonald's Corporation,
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
,
Marshall Field & Company Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
and
Borg-Warner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 employ ...
, among others. He had been heard to say that his work for Continental put several of his children through college.


Film productions

Franklin and wife, Irene, formed a film distribution company called Rocinante Sight & Sound. They produced several award-winning documentary films, some of which were shown on television (CBS and PBS) for a number of years. The Chicago Film Archives, a non-profit regional film archive, houses and manages the Franklin McMahon Collection. The collection contains audio reels and films made by Franklin McMahon between the years 1965–1998.


Filmography

* ''An American City at Christmas Time: An Artist's View'' (Chicago, 1978) * ''The Artist as Reporter'' (1977) * ''Primary Colors, An Artist on the Campaign Trail., Peabody Award, 1976'' (
List of Peabody Award winners (1970–1979) The following is a list of Peabody Award, George Foster Peabody Award winners and honorable mentions from the decade of the 1970s (1970–1979). 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 References

{{DEFAULTSORT ...
) * ''Real Violins'' (1975) * ''Portrait of an Election'' WTTW-TV (1972) 2 Chicago Emmyshttp://chicagoemmyonline.org/images/stories/1972-1973_emmy_winners.pdf * ''World City'' (1968) * ''McMahon's Politicians '' WTTW-TV (1968) Chicago Emmyhttp://chicagoemmyonline.org/images/stories/1968-1969.pdf * ''The World of Vatican II: An Artist's Report'' (1967) * ''69 CR 180: An Artist's Report'' (1971)


Publications

His book ''This Church, These Times'' contains more than 100 drawings, along with text by Father Francis X. Murphy and introduction by Father
Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Not ...
, then the head of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. He illustrated an essay on Richard Nixon's White House for '' World Book Encyclopedia'' and early in his career, illustrated a number of books for textbook publisher Scott Foresman and Company, including one on the Illinois Constitution, for which he traveled around the state. Other books with his drawings include ''Vittles and Vice'' (1952), ''You are Promise'' (1974) with Martin Marty, and ''From the land and back'' (1972) with Curtis Stadfeld . Also ''On The Spot Drawing'' (1969), ''American national government'', ''Policy and politics'', and ''Eyewitness to Space''. In 1994, ''American Artist'' Magazine featured his article, "Reporting from Around The World" in their publication, ''Watercolor''.


Recognition


Museum and Collection holdings

McMahon's work is in the permanent collections of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, the
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
(of the Smithsonian Institution),
The University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...
, The
Borg-Warner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 employ ...
Corporation, Time Inc.,
Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
, The New Britain Museum of American Art,
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
, the Lake County IL Discovery Museum as well as the already mentioned 500 + works in the Chicago History Museum. Many of McMahon's works are represented in the Corbis Collection.


Exhibitions ''(a brief list)''

Works by Franklin McMahon have been exhibited at *
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, D.C. * Chicago History Museum in Chicago, IL * New-York Historical Society Museum & Library in New York City *
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
in Brooklyn, NY * The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art of Art in Sarasota, FL * The
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
*
Loyola University Museum of Art The Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), which opened in the fall of 2005, is unique among Chicago's many museums for mounting exhibits that explore the spiritual in art from all cultures, faiths, and eras. LUMA is located on Loyola Universit ...
* Lake County IL Discovery Museum * The Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC *
Snite Museum of Art The Snite Museum of Art is the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. With about 30,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media, the Snite Museum's permanent collection serves as a rich resource ...
in Notre Dame, IN * Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL *
CNN Center The CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the international headquarters of the Cable News Network (CNN). The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building. The facility's commercial office space is occu ...
in Atlanta. GA * Park Avenue Atrium Gallery in New York City * Kraushaar Galleries in New York City *
The Peace Museum The Peace Museum was a museum located in Chicago, Illinois, that was founded in 1981 by muralist Mark Rogovin and Marjorie Craig Benton, a former US UNICEF representative. Museum staff included Marianne Philbin, Paul Nebenzahl, Ruth Barrett, John N ...
in Chicago, IL (museum closed in 2007) * Selma Performing Arts Center in
Selma, AL Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About 8 ...
*
Benedicta Arts Center The Benedicta Arts Center (BAC) is a performing arts center located on the campus of the College of Saint Benedict. Built in 1964 by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in the city of St. Joseph, MN, the Benedicta Arts Center has remained ...
in St. Joseph, MN


Honors and awards

McMahon won the Renaissance Prize of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Society of Illustrators elected him to its Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Artists Guild of New York chose him as "Artist of the Year" in 1963. His documentary films of several presidential campaigns earned him three
Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
and a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
. He also received the Minority Economic Resources Corporation's Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Civil Rights Achievement (2000), and honorary degrees from
Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...
(1985) and
Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...
(1979). He was a part of the guiding faculty of the
Famous Artists School Famous Artists School is an art Distance education, correspondence course institution, in operation since 1948. The school was founded by members of the New York Society of Illustrators, principally Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. History T ...
and served as a guest instructor at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
,
Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
and The
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. McMahon was a long-standing member of The Society of Typographic Arts (STA), Chicago of which he is an Honorary Member, and a thirty-six year member of the Twenty—Seven Chicago Designers (1950–1986).


Technique

Franklin McMahon's on-the-spot drawings were generally done with a charcoal pencil, then colored in his home studio afterwards, using acrylic watercolors. In the films for which he won the Emmy and Peabody awards, the process is similar to what is often done when scanning old daguerreotypes: using a moving camera to make more than a dry slideshow from a series of still images. However, in his films, the path of the camera is computerized, liberal use is made of zooming, and a carefully selected soundtrack accompanies all. The "
digital age The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during t ...
" equivalent is known as the '' Ken Burns Effect'', but McMahon's films were made decades before Burns' work, and the effect is somewhat different. The following is typical of the reaction when such films of his works are seen by viewers:
This ... motion picture is a film of drawings, but not of static drawings ... it seems to have been made by cameras moving seamlessly over hundreds of drawings. The overall effect is almost that it has been filmed live ... yet it is ... drawings.Excerpted from an article in the Dec. 2011 'Sedgebrook Times', newsletter.


References


External links


New York Times Obituary

Franklin McMahon paintings in the Corbis Collection

Web site created for the 1996 election cycle.

A family Related Web site.

Another family Related Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmahon, Franklin 1921 births American reporters and correspondents 2012 deaths Artists from Chicago United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American prisoners of war in World War II United States Army Air Forces officers World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Shot-down aviators Military personnel from Illinois