David Rawnsley (1909–1977) was a British

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

. For his last four films, Rawnsley oversaw a scheme to streamline production operations for the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

. His innovations were widely ridiculed by the Rank film crews. Despite this resistance, David Rawnsley developed independent frame storyboarding and back projection, both radical improvements to the filmmaking process which are still in use today. David Willingham Rawnsley co-founded the Chelsea pottery with his third wife, born Elaine Doran, a model and talented ceramic artist, and with her he had five children. Rawnsley moved from England to Capri in the 60s, and there he became a well-known sculptor and artist. He died in 1977 while married to his fourth wife Patricia, leaving one son from this last marriage.

Selected filmography

* '' Out of the Blue'' (1931) * ''

Fascination Fascination may refer to: Music *"Fascination", a stride piano composition by James P. Johnson recorded in 1917 (as a piano roll) and 1939 (acoustic) *''Fascination!'', a 1983 album by The Human League **"(Keep Feeling) Fascination", a 1983 song ...

'' (1931) * ''

Verdict of the Sea ''Verdict of the Sea'' is a 1932 British adventure film directed by Frank Miller and Sidney Northcote and starring John Stuart, Moira Lynd and Cyril McLaglen. It was made at Elstree Studios and on location by British International Pictures, t ...

'' (1932) * ''

Brother Alfred ''Brother Alfred'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Gene Gerrard, Molly Lamont and Elsie Randolph. After she finds him embracing one of the maids, a man's fiancée ends her engagement to him. In an effort to ...

'' (1932) * ''

The Maid of the Mountains ''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham an ...

'' (1932) * '' For the Love of Mike'' (1932) * '' Facing the Music'' (1933) * ''

Letting in the Sunshine ''Letting in the Sunshine'' is a 1933 British comedy crime film directed by Lupino Lane and starring Albert Burdon, Renee Gadd and Molly Lamont. It was based on a story by Anthony Asquith.Sutton p.218 The film was made by British International ...

'' (1933) * ''

Love at Second Sight Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...

'' (1934) * ''

Over the Garden Wall ''Over the Garden Wall'' is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel across a mysterious forest to find their way home, encountering a variet ...

'' (1934) * ''

The Improper Duchess ''The Improper Duchess'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Yvonne Arnaud, Hugh Wakefield and Wilfrid Caithness. The film is based on the 1931 play of the same name by J. B. Fagan in which Arnaud had starred. ...

'' (1936) * '' A Star Fell from Heaven'' (1936) * '' A Royal Divorce'' (1938) * '' 49th Parallel'' (1941) * ''

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing ''One of Our Aircraft Is Missing'' (stylized onscreen as ''......one of our aircraft is missing'') is a 1942 British black-and-white war film, mainly set in the German-occupied Netherlands. It was the fourth collaboration between the British writ ...

'' (1942) * ''

In Which We Serve ''In Which We Serve'' is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information. The scree ...

'' (1942) * ''

They Flew Alone ''They Flew Alone'' (released in the US as ''Wings and the Woman'') is a 1942 British biopic about aviator Amy Johnson directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Robert Newton and Edward Chapman. It was distributed in the ...

'' (1942) * ''

The Way Ahead ''The Way Ahead'' (also known as ''Immortal Battalion'') (1944) is a British Second World War drama film directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov. The film stars David Niven, Stanley Holloway and Willi ...

'' (1944) * ''

They Were Sisters ''They Were Sisters'' is a 1945 British melodrama film directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures and starring James Mason and Phyllis Calvert. The film was produced by Harold Huth, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by ...

'' (1945) * ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...

'' (1945) * ''

I See a Dark Stranger ''I See a Dark Stranger'' – released as ''The Adventuress'' in the United States – is a 1946 British World War II spy film with touches of light comedy, by the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Deborah Kerr and ...

'' (1946) * ''

Night Boat to Dublin ''Night Boat to Dublin'' is a 1946 British thriller film directed and co-written by Lawrence Huntington. It stars Robert Newton, Raymond Lovell, Guy Middleton, Muriel Pavlow and Herbert Lom. Plot During the Second World War, a captured German ...

'' (1946) * ''

Under the Frozen Falls ''Under the Frozen Falls'' is a 1948 British children's film directed by Darrell Catling and starring Harold Warrender, Jacques Brown and Ray Jackson. The original screenplay was written by Mary Cathcart Borer as a film for children. It was late ...

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References

Bibliography

* Macnab, Geoffrey. ''J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry''. Routledge, 1994.

External links

* 1909 births 1977 deaths People from Sevenoaks British art directors {{UK-film-bio-stub