Stanley Jackson (filmmaker)

Stanley Jackson (born 1914, Winnipeg - d. 4 July 1981, Toronto) was a film director, commentary writer and narrator with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

Jackson was a schoolteacher in Toronto and Winnipeg before joining the NFB during World War II. He was the commentary writer and narrator on almost 80 NFB documentaries, creating a characteristic narration style for NFB works of the period.^[1] He was described as "irreplaceable" in the field of documentary film commentary writing by Unit B colleague Colin Low.^[2] Ironically, Jackson is also credited with helping to break the NFB narration style he helped to create, on Low and producer Tom Daly's 1954 film, Corral:

Gathered around the moviola, the crew watched the film; it was silent, save for the music. "Where's the commentary?" someone asked halfway through. They kept watching. When it was over, Jackson asked them frankly, "What would a commentary do for that?" Low and Daly couldn't help but agree. Corral became the first NFB film without a voiceover track.^[3]

References

1. Evans, Gary (1991). In the national interest : a chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989 (Repr. ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 70. ISBN 0802068332. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
2. Geoff, Alexander (2010). Academic films for the classroom : a history. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. pp. 34–35. ISBN 9780786458707. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
3. Hassannia, Tina (1 March 2016). "Colin Low, Don Owen and how the NFB's Unit B changed Canadian cinema". CBC Arts. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 August 2016.

External links

Stanley Jackson at the Internet Movie Database