Documentary on Yuri Norstein from Magia Russica : 2
Yuriy Norshteyn was born in the village of Andreyevka, Penza Oblast, during his parents’ World War II evacuation. He grew up in the Maryina Roshcha suburb of Moscow. After studying at an art school, Norshteyn initially found work at a furniture factory. Then he finished a two-year animation course and found employment at studio Soyuzmultfilm in 1961. The first film that he participated in as an animator was Who Said “Meow”? (1962). After working as an animation artist in some fifty films, Norshteyn got the chance to direct his own. In 1968 he debuted with 25th October, the First Day, sharing directorial credit with Arkadiy Tyurin. The film used the artwork of 1920s-era Soviet artists Altman and Petrov-Vodkin. The next film in which he had a major role was The Battle of Kerzhenets (1971), a co-production with Russian animation director Ivan Ivanov-Vano under whose direction Norshteyn had earlier worked on 1969’s Times of the Year. Throughout the 1970s Norshteyn continued to work as an animator in many films (a more complete list can be found at IMDB), and also directed several. As the decade progressed his animation style became ever more sophisticated, looking less like flat cut-outs and more like smoothly-moving paintings or sophisticated pencil sketches. Norshteyn uses a special technique in his animation, involving multiple glass planes to give his animation a three-dimensional look. The camera is placed at the top looking down on a series of glass planes about a meter …
wow this is great! thanx so much for posting it. Is there more of this documentary?
oh & do you know anything about how the fog effect was created in the hedgehog in the fog, or where I can find out about that? thanx again!
Eternal Magic from the world’s most great film animation artist. Nortstein creates a world so full, it draws the Heart into His realm. He is like a God.
Whenever I try to explain the short shrift given to animation among the “serious” arts (at least in America), it’s always Norstein who I have foremost in my mind. In a just world, he’d be a household name.
Norstein is the undisputed master of animation.
A poet and craftsman like no other.
I love his work…
Just breathtaking… His work moves me to tears.
norstein is beautiful.
totally know what that guy means at the end about the candle. I met Norstein once in Edinburgh and I always regret not asking him about how he did fire in his films. A genius.
This man has to be one of my favorite Russian animators alongside Petrov, Maximov and Khrjanovsky. “Сказка сказок” is an absolutely wonderful film. Thanks for the short piece of the documentary, this snippet made me want to see his work again.
This documentary is great and so is Norstein’s work. Can you please share the rest of the documentary with us? Thank you