''Snow'' is a short

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film made by

Geoffrey Jones Geoffrey Jones (27 November 1931 – 21 June 2005) was a British documentary film director and editor, noted for his contributions to the genre of the industrial film, and in particular British Transport Films.John Russell TaylorObituary: Geoffre ...

for

British Transport Films British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues (extolling the virtues of places that could be visited via t ...

in 1962–1963.

Summary

An example of " pure cinema", the 8-minute-long film shows the efforts of

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

staff in coping with the 1963 United Kingdom cold wave.

Production

The film had its origins in primary research for a documentary about the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

. Jones' test research coincided with one of the coldest winters on record, and Jones approached BTF producer

Edgar Anstey Edgar Anstey (16 February 1907 – 26 September 1987), was a leading British documentary filmmaker. Anstey was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in 1907, and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College. He ...

with the idea to contrast the comfort of the passengers with the efforts of the railway workmen in keeping trains going in the frozen conditions. Work began on the documentary straight after gaining approval, and Jones and cameraman

Wolfgang Suschitzky Wolfgang Suschitzky, BSC (29 August 1912 – 7 October 2016), was an Austrian-born British documentary photographer, as well as a cinematographer perhaps best known for his collaboration with Paul Rotha in the 1940s and his work on Mike Hodge ...

travelled around the country filming scenes for the rest of the winter. The film was edited to a re-recorded version of

Sandy Nelson Sander Lloyd Nelson (December 1, 1938 – February 14, 2022) was an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock and modern jazz drummers of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and released over 30 ...

's ''

Teen Beat ''Teen Beat'' was an American magazine geared towards teenager, teenaged readers, published 1967–. Over its history, the magazine had multiple teen idols on its cover, including John Travolta, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Menudo (band), Menud ...

'' by

Johnny Hawksworth Johnny Hawksworth (2 February 1924 – 13 February 2009) was a British jazz bass player and composer of library music widely used for television. He lived and worked in Australia from 1984. Biography Born in London in 1924, Hawksworth in ...

, expanded to twice its original length by accelerating the tempo over the duration of the film.

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

composer

Daphne Oram Daphne Blake Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of ''musique concrète'' in the UK. As ...

then added various effects to the soundtrack.

Academy Award

The film was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...

at the

38th Academy Awards The 38th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1965, were held on April 18, 1966, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Bob Hope, and were the first Oscars to be broadcast live in colo ...

in 1966.Short Film Winners: 1966 Oscars
/ref>

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0059731, Snow 1963 films 1963 short documentary films British short documentary films British Transport Films 1960s British films

Summary

Production

Academy Award

See also

References

External links