Lester Novros (January 27, 1909 – September 10, 2000) was an American artist, animator, and teacher.

Early life

Lester Novros was born in Passaic, New Jersey on January 27, 1909. Novros studied painting at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

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, was an active member of the Art Students League of New York and studied at the

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

.Lenburg, Jeff
''Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators''
p. 265.

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curre ...

, 2006. . Accessed April 28, 2017. "A native of Passaic, New Jersey, Novros grew up wanting to be a painter"

Career

His curiosity in the study of movement lead to an interest in

motion pictures A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. In 1936, he was recruited by the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

to come to Hollywood to work on feature animation projects. Novros was an " inbetweener" on the 1937 Disney animated film ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'', and received a credit for art direction for the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of '' Fantasia'' (1940). In 1941, Novros left Disney to form his own production company, Graphic Films. That same year, he joined the faculty of the Cinema Department of the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Thousands of students took his course on "Filmic Expression" before his retirement in 1984. Novros taught USC filmic writing students. I had his brilliant class in spring of 1986. He included the brilliant psychological theory of movement laws and human evaluation. This understanding creates excellence in all visual mediums. These theories were from Slavo Vorkapich. Graphic Films found immediate success producing training films for the military during

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. As the

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and

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emerged in the post war period, Graphic's expertise in animating the visual dimensions of space exploration played a key role in interesting the

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and the general public in supporting the country's first forays into space. Among his many achievements, Novros may be most remembered as a pioneer in the large format and special venue film industries. Included in his filmography are numerous specialty films produced for World Fair Expositions, including several titles for the 1964 New York's World Fair, including Chemical Man for Abbott Laboratories, Reaching for the Stars, for

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, and Voyage to America for the United States Pavilion. However, it was the 10-perf,

70mm 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wi ...

film '' To the Moon and Beyond'', (produced for Cinerama Corporation) that caught the attention of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, who soon enlisted the creativity of Novros and his special effects team in the creation of '' A Space Odyssey'' (1968). Novros's interest in large format film technology led him to produce some of the first Imax/

Omnimax IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

films, for the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center in

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, including Voyage to the Outer Planets, Cosmos: the World of Loren Eisley and Tomorrow in Space (1982). In 1976, Novros won national acclaim and an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for his

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...

''. Novros's much sought after course at USC helped young filmmakers understand the relationship of color, light, movement and form as they specifically related to the film medium. Upon his retirement from USC, he continued to assemble his lectures into a textbook. Former student and friend George Lucas penned these words for the introduction of the manuscript: "The first time I truly understood the unique quality of film was when I took Les Novros' class. Stressing that film is a kinetic medium, Les has kept the Eisensteinian flame burning at USC, and it is a tradition that has strongly influenced my work."

Death

At the age of 91, Novros died on September 10, 2000 in Sherman Oaks, California, after an extended illness. He was survived by his wife Esther (née Susswein) Novros and his children, including son

David Novros David Ross Novros (born 1941), is an American artist. He is known for his minimalist geometric paintings, shaped canvases, and his use of color. He has also studied fresco painting extensively. Early life and education David Novros was born o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novros, Lester 1909 births 2000 deaths People from Passaic, New Jersey Art Students League of New York alumni National Academy of Design alumni Film directors from New Jersey Animators from New Jersey Walt Disney Animation Studios people University of Southern California faculty