''Filmed in Supermarionation'' is a 2014

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

and the struggling group of filmmakers who found success producing space-age puppet television series such as ''

Supercar A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...

'', ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a 1968–1969 British science-fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of nine-year-old schoolboy Joe McC ...

'', ''

Fireball XL5 ''Fireball XL5'' is a 1960s British children's science-fiction puppet television series about the missions of ''Fireball XL5'', a vessel of the World Space Patrol that polices the cosmos in the year 2062. Commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac, ''XL5' ...

'', ''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor I ...

'' and '' Thunderbirds''. Directed by

Stephen La Rivière Stephen La Rivière (born November 1984) is a British film producer, writer and actor based in London. His directorial work includes the feature-length documentary '' Filmed in Supermarionation'' (2014), based on his book of the same name (2009). ...

, and based on his book of the same name, the film was favourably received by critics. It was released theatrically in the UK on 11 October 2014, having been premiered at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

on 30 September 2014. It was subsequently released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Synopsis

''Filmed in Supermarionation'' tells the story of the development of

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and " animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...

, a term coined to describe the unique form of puppetry employed by the teams at

AP Films AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

and Century 21 studios under the watchful eyes of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The documentary is hosted by

Lady Penelope Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character introduced in the British 1960s Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'', which was produced by AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. The character also appears in the film seque ...

and

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado * Parker, Florida * Parker, Idaho * Parker, Kansas * Parker, Missouri * Parker, North Carolina *Park ...

, puppet stars of '' Thunderbirds'', who seek to uncover the story behind their creation.

Production

''Filmed in Supermarionation'' is notable for the filmmakers' efforts to create new puppet and special effects sequences that match the look and feel of the programmes produced by AP films during the 1960s. Dialogue was recorded with members of the original '' Thunderbirds'' voice cast and puppets and sets were recreated to as close to the specification of the original

series as possible. In addition to attempting to recreate 1960s film-making techniques, 21st century methods were also employed in the interest of matching the original productions. Although special effects sequences were shot on 35mm film stock, puppet sequences were captured digitally. This allowed for the image to be manipulated in post production to better match the unique qualities of 1960s film photography. The digital workflow also allowed for wire removal and digital set extensions to be utilised. Apparently, Century 21 stills photographer

Doug Luke Douglas Luke (10 January 1929, Staines, Middlesex – 3 January 2015) was an English photographer, known for his work with Gerry Anderson and the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, tha ...

was interviewed for the documentary, but is neither on it nor the deleted scenes.

Reception

Upon release, ''Filmed in Supermarionation'' was generally well received by critics writing across a wide range of publications.

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the film four stars, writing that "There is something very romantic about this success story of British entrepreneurial creativity." Rich Trenholm of

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

was similarly positive in stating, "the documentary's vibrant storytelling captures the vitality, innocence and sense of joy of the series themselves". Martin Townsend, in his New Year's editorial for ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', enthused: "The likes of

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

may be very impressive companies, but if I wanted to inspire children to be creative entrepreneurs I'd show them the Supermarionation film."

Empire Online ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and '' Smash Hits'', among other tit ...

rate the film four out of five stars, stating that "aficionados will relish this mix of clips, gossip and nostalgia". The ''

Sussex Express National World is a British multimedia company. The company was founded as JPIMedia Publishing Ltd in November 2018 following the acquisition of Johnston Press assets by its creditors. JPIMedia was purchased by National World PLC for £10.2 mil ...

'' gave five out of five, describing the film as a "fitting tribute". In contrast, ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' called it "overlong and overexcited".

References

External links

* * {{Gerry Anderson 2010s British films 2010s English-language films 2014 documentary films 2014 films Gerry Anderson British documentary films Documentary films about animation Documentary films about television Documentary films about the film industry English-language documentary films