Canada Vignettes

Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada.[1] A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.

Conception

The idea for Canada Vignettes began in early 1977, when CBC's children's programming department at the CBC approached the NFB about producing short films, five minutes in length or less, to use as interstitial programming. When the Secretary of State for Canada announced in the fall of 1977 that $13 million would be given to federal cultural agencies to help promote national unity, the NFB was allocated $2 million to produce films for broadcast on the CBC, similar to CBS's Bicentennial Minutes in the United States, the previous year. The French-language service of the CBC also agreed to broadcast the series.[1]

Production

80 filmmakers from across the country worked on the project over a three-year period. Many of the films were animation vignettes offering amusing portrayals of Canadian history, while others were produced from excerpts from NFB documentaries. The NFB decided that no film credits would be included, only a title.[1]

Broadcast

The CBC’s children’s department subsequently informed the NFB that it could not show films longer than two minutes as their needs had changed in the time that it took to produce the series. A quarter of the vignettes were more than two minutes long. As a solution, the CBC main network agreed to make the longer and shorter films available to their network affiliates. Canada Vignettes were shown on both in prime time and during children’s programming slots. The most popular film in the series to air on Canadian television was Canada Vignettes: Faces, an animated short that depicted the faces of Canada, including that of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Other Canadian television networks to broadcast the films included CTV, Global, TVOntario, and TVA. The series was also sold to international foreign broadcasters in such countries as Turkey, Italy, Algeria, Norway and the United Kingdom.[1]

List of Vignettes[2]

Title Year Duration Notes
Acadian Quadrille 1978
Agnes Campbell MacPhail 1980
Alouette 1979
Angel of Death 1980
Arctic Mission 1980
Arctic Seascape 1980
Bells and Brass 1978
Bill Miner 1978
Bill Reid 1979
Birth 1980
Bluenose 1921-1946 1979
Bluenose II July 24 1963 1979
Breadmakers 1980
Bridge for the Dempster 1980
Bridging the Gap 1981
Calliope 1980
Canada's Snowbirds 1980
Captain Cook 1978
Catapult Canada 1985
Celebration 1981
Countdown 1981
Cree Conical Lodge 1980
Cree Hunters 1979
Crossing Guards 1978
Dance 1979
Dancing Dolls 1980
December Lights 1979
Delta Plane 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972 Pt. 1 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972 Pt. 2 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972, Marg Osburne 1927-1977 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Don Messer 1910-1973 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Marg Osburne 1927-1977 Pt. 1 1979
Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Marg Osburne 1927-1977 Pt. 2 1979
Easter Eggs 1978
Emergency Numbers 1984
Erik Davidson - Mechanic 1979
Faces 1978
Fashion Designer 1977
Flin Flon 1978
Fort Prince of Wales 1978
From Cobalt to Casa Loma 1978
From Flax to Linen 1978
Full Circle 1979
Headdress 1979
Helen Law 1979
History for Tomorrow 1980
Holidays 1978
Home of the Beaver 1978
Homestead 1980
Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary 1978
Ice 1982
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Canadian Bounce 1986
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Souvenir Programme 1986
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Storming the Ice Palace 1986
Indian Pipe 1979
Instant French 1979
Inuit Pipe 1979
June in Povungnituk - Quebec Arctic 1980 1:00
Klondike Gold 1980
Lady Frances Simpson 1978
La mer enligne nos terres 1979
Land Bridge 1978
Land of the Maple Leaf 1978
Les nigogeux 1978
Log Driver's Waltz 1979
Logger 1978
Love on Wheels 1979
Ma chère Albertine 1979
Marine Biologist 1979
Maritimes Dig 1980
McIntosh 1979
Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian 1980
Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton 1978
Moccasins 1979
Mussel Mud 1985
Métis Coat 1979
Newfoundland 1978
News Canada 1978
Northern Seasons 1980
Onions and Garlic 1978
Our Daily Bread 1979
Physiotherapist 1977
Port Royal 1978
Prairie Promise 1980
Prehistoric Artifacts, New Brunswick 1980
Riverdale Lion 1979
Roulamour 1979
Skier 1978
Sodbusters 1978
Spence's Republic 1978
St. Laurent Pilgrimage 1985
Stunt Family 1978
The Ballet Master 1978
The Blacksmith Shop 1979
The Dentist 1978
The Egg 1979
The Ham 1978
The Horse 1978
The Maple Leaf 1978
The Move 1985
The Music Makers 1979
The Novelist 1978
The Performer 1978
The Photographers 1978
The Seigneury 1978
The Thirties 1978
The Veteran 1978
The Violin Maker 1978
The Visitor 1979
The Vote 1980
The Wool Spinner 1979
Toronto 1978
Trading Post 1978
Trees 1978
Two Friends 1979
Under the Pole 1980
Unity Pole 1979
Veterinarian 1977
Vignettes from Labrador North 1979
Voyageurs 1978
Wild Rice Harvest Kenora 1979 1:00
Winter - Dressing Up 1979
Winter - Starting the Car 1979
Woolly Mammoth 1979
Wop May 1979 About aviator Wop May

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ohayon, Albert. "Canada Vignettes: Essential Canadiana, eh!". NFB blog. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Canada+Vignettes

External links

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