Instructions For Reading The Book

• Quicklinks are visible at all times to the top left of the book
• Click the < > arrows to the Left and Right of the book to move backwards and forwards
• You can also drag the pages from the corners to leaf through, as you would a real book

• The bottom 4 buttons starting from the left:

• 1. Return to Table of Contents
• 2. Magnify (Double-click to get back to normal view)
• 3. Play pages as a slideshow (Hit the Pause button to stop the slideshow)
• 4. Click on the photos to enlarge.

In Griffintown

A life history documentary on the Mercier family

INTRODUCTION

G. Scott MacLeod

Director and Animator

Photo de Alyson MacLeod

G. Scott MacLeod is a multimedia artist in the truest sense of the term. A critically acclaimed painter andphotographer whose work is in many permanent collections, including that of the National Gallery of Canada, he is also a performing songwriter and recording artist.

Engaging his lifelong interest in history, with support from the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker Assistance Program and a Main Film Grant , in 2009 MacLeod added filmmaker to his list of endeavors with the release of After the war with Hannelore - A Berliner War Child’s Testimony from 1945 to 1989. The 22-minute documentary had several high-profile screenings, including at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois and Berlin’s Arnsenal 2 Institut für Film und Videokunst and One World Berlin Film Festival.

The Saga of Murdo MacLeod and His First Contact with the Abenaki (2012) and The Abenaki & People of the Dawn (2013) are two of six planned collaborations on Canadian history with celebrated Montreal storyteller Mike Burns.

Based in Montreal, MacLeod holds a BFA from Concordia University where he is currently a candidate for a Masters in ArtEducation.

Project Description and
Pre-Production

Treatment

My mission as a director was to help Claude, Lise and Stefan Mercier develop their life chronologies through their own personal research via their family archives, photos, letters and souvenirs ofGriffintown.

I felt that it was important for the Merciers to elicit their own personal stories, via their photos and memories of Griffintown. From this collected material and my research data, I have tried to translate their life stories into a documentary.

Researching and filming the Mercier's personal histories on site in Griffintown was vital as it helped me understand and contextualize their life histories and showed me this area of the city from a distinctly French Canadian perspective. This life history documentary project gave Claude, Lise and Stefan Mercier the opportunity to go through a process of self-reflection and in due course they have gifted their story to the viewing public. Our collective goal was to give the public tangible insights into the lives of everyday working people who lived in the once-thriving industrial community ofGriffintown.

Film Influences

Over the years I have studied feature works from countries like Australia [The Chant of Jimmy Black Smith (1978) by Fred Schepisi]; Ireland [The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) by John Sayles]; and New Zealand [Whale Rider (2002) by Niki Caro]. I"ve also studied animated works from Israel including Valse with Bashir (2008) by Ari Folman, and works from Canada including The Man Who Planted Trees (1987) by Frédéric Back, and The Danish Poet (2006) by Toril Kove.

Research

This 17-minute film was created as part of the thesis requirements for my Masters in Art Education at Concordia University. The purpose of the film was to answer the question: "What do the personal narratives of three French Canadian residents of Griffintown reveal about the importance of public spaces, buildings and communities?" This study focused on a two-generation French Canadian family: Claude Mercier (father) and Lise Jetté-Mercier (mother) [1940s to 1960s] and Stefan Mercier (son) [1970s-1990s]. I conducted a series of interviews that were initiated while viewing a selection of their personal photographs from the 1940s to the 2000s, in order to gain an understanding of their Griffintown community experience. As I am most familiar with ways in which knowledge is constructed through visual means, I used an arts-informed research methodology for my interviews. Specifically, I used a photo elicitation process to trigger their memories and stories about their homes and community life, enabling them to articulate their French Canadian experience in Griffintown. My goal for this research was to create a short documentary film that displayed my data and answered my initial question on the life of Claude, Lise and Stefan. I was interested in acquiring my data through their personal narratives and memories that centered around their family homes and community living in order to reveal the importance of public spaces, buildings and communities.

Post-production

Pre Editing - Animations

For this project, I have broken with conventional animation and explored new directions, similar to those featured in the work of South AfricanartistWilliam Kentridge. Like Kentridge, I use the same surface for each animation. So rather than a series of drawings to illustrate one of the Griffintown buildings in the film, I simply shot the illustration at many stages in its creation. Rather than using charcoal on paper like Kentridge, however, I have used water-based graphite and colour pencils on Mylar (a material once used by architects) as my primary medium, adding water to bring the drawings to life.

The Mylar sheets were taped to my glass animation table underneath my tripod and digital camera. The drawings were photographed in stages while being backlit from underneath a frosted glass table with a series of four angled lamps. The series of jpegs from each drawing were later assembled in QuickTime sequences to be assembled and edited into the story line.

Special Effects

At this phase of the production, we added the animation sequences that Jo Meuris reworked in After Effects. Once I cropped the images according to the 16 x 9 widescreen aspect ratio, we finalized all the camera moves and my online editor Rachelle Hamilton did the colour correction and contrast adjustments. Once the assembly and storyline were secured, we decided upon a series of camera moves, moving the focal point right or left on the image or pulling in or out. These movements were necessary to prevent the Merciers still photos and my one-cell animations from appearing too static, which they would if left full frame. In other words, once the photo was placed or the animation drawing unfolded we made the focal point change to maintain a visual flow in the image.

Sound Design and Final Mix

Stacy Le Gallee edited the Merciers narration and then selected sound effects to contextualize my animations and add in any other sound elements that were missing from our footage. The final element was to select music that reflected special moments and historic periods mentioned in the documentary. The challenge when selecting these sound effects and music was to marry both sound effects and music together. Successful sound designs are ironically the ones that do not jump out but rather serve the story and the image behind the story.

Graphic Design

The final stage of this project was to create the DVD box graphics and a promotional poster for our screenings. I once again worked with Jess and Elisabeth CharbonneauatTagTeamStudio.ca. They have done great work on my former projects. They designed all the elements of this DVD from the box layout to the education package and learning guide. What I have looked for in this type of design is a theme or message clearly conveyed, content that is easy to read and a key image that reflects the story. After all the work we put into a production, I believe it"s crucial to make a well-designed and aesthetically pleasing package, especially if it is going to be marketed to the educational sector.

TagTeam graphic design package.

Maps

Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN). Griffintown and Point St. Charles Heritage Trail. Retrievedfromwww.montrealmosaic.com

Architecture

Belisle, Jean. (2009). Portrait des ressources patrimoniales du secteur des bassins pour la société du Havre de Montréal. Vol. 1. et Vol. 2, Portrait du patrimoine, Maître d"oeuvre de l"histoire Inc. 19 juin 2006. Montréal: Société du Havre de Montréal. Hanna, David. (November 2007). Secteur de planification détaillée de Griffintown. Griffintown: Son histoire et son cadre bâti. Service de la mise en valeur du territoire et du patrimoine pour la Ville de Montréal. Moore, Lynn. (2012). "Griffintown revitalization plan unveiled" New green spaces and infrastructure would join condo projects already in area, The Montreal Gazette, October19th.

People

Hustak, Allan. (2005). "The Ghost of Griffintown: The true story of the murder of Mary Gallagher". Montréal: RedladerPublishing.

Sound Project

Gasior, Lisa. (2007). "Sounding Griffintown: Listening Guide of a MontrealNeighbourhood".

Films

Burman, Richard. (2003). The Ghosts of Griffintown, filmdocumentaire.
Régnier, Michel. (1972). Griffintown, Office national du film du Canada documentaire, 26:55 mn.

Conception trame sonore / Soundtrack Producers
Stacy Le Gallee et G. Scott MacLeod

Ingénieur du son, mixage et mastering / Soundtrack
Engineering, Mixing and Mastering
Stacy Le Gallee

Consultant musical / Music Consultant
Heidi Fleming/FAMGroup

Photos d"archives/Archival Photos
www.griffintown.org/photos/index.htm

Cartes / Maps
Chloé Trudeau

Traduction française / French Translation
Laure Péré et Jean Bruyère

Traduction anglaise / English Translation
G. Scott MacLeod

Sous-tires anglais / Subtitles
Rachelle Hamilton

Dossier de presse et guide éducatif / Press Kit and Learning Guide
Rob Lutes

Conception graphique / Graphic Design
TagTeam Studio

Webmaster / Web Design
Thornapple Productions

Comptabilité / Accounting
Ted Christeas

RÉalisÉ grÂce au soutien financier des personnes
suivantes / Produced with the financial participation
of the following people

Remerciements / Thank You Credit
Colette Chaput, Jean Elliott Manning, Lili Sweet, Doris Peterson, Patricia Burns, Natasha Pedros, Julia Innes, Krista MacKay, Jo-Ann Munro, Judith Litvack, Jane Heller, Alyson MacLeod, Janet Lewis, Nancy Blair, Anita Nowak, David Astrof, France Jodoin, Jo Anne Kelly Rudy, Diane Chambers, Tracy and Tammy Viser, Ezra Soiferman, Jeanette Kelly, James Fraser and Howard Bokser.

Remerciements / Special End CreditJake, Fiona, Alexander, David et Lindsay Eberts, Sean Cahill, Dr. Rosemarie Schade, Dana Velan, Victoria Wonnacott, Shannon Kay McCardle, Bärbel et Gunter Schulz, Roger MacLeod, Stewart MacLeod, Janou Fleury, Janet MacKay, Ira Salman, Peter McQueen, Nancy Bleck, Jocelyne Feine, Wei Liu, Dede Murphy, Nancy Stokes, Walter Makowski, Chris Marks, Martha Ivester, Roxanne Dyer, John McKay, Earl Pinchuk, Heidi Coleman, Dale Robinson, Rosa Gullo, Paul Geraghty, Paul Cassar, Marie-Sophie Bourque, Joanie MacLeod, Michel Bruyère, Maria Ezcurra, Tamara Scullion, Scott Huot, Sarah Campbell Besso, Maurice Forget, Jim MacLeod, Andrew Reid, Peter Turner, Scott Ian Bailey, Tom Burke, Christine-Anne Goodyer, Gillett Craig, Uschi Gruber, Maggie Ewing, Loni Cornax, Nathalie Senécal, Monica Baza, Enostore, Django Doucet, Lise et Claude Mercier, Matthew Barlow.

Turning Point

Composition par/by
Rob LutesDe/From the albumThe Bravest Birds, Lucky Bear Records

Musiciens / Performed by
Rob Lutes – acoustic guitar/guitare accoustique, Rob MacDonald – guitare résophonique/resophonic guitar, Josh Zubot – violin/violon,
Rob Fahie – basse/bass

Focus Statement

After Screening the Video

1. How did Lise Mercier characterize the relationship between the French-Canadian and Irish-Canadian residents of Griffintown? Why do you think it was mostly harmonious?
2. What was the Sunday afternoon tradition that the Merciers followed, no matter what else was happening in their lives? What kind of importance do these types of rituals have in creating a sense of family and home? Does your family have any similar traditions?
3. According to Lise Mercier, how many children did the average Griffintown family have in those days? What impact did this average family size have on the community? How does this compare to the community where you live today?
4. What types of vehicles does Stefan Mercier remember seeing driving through the neighbourhood? Why is it important for Stefan that the fire station is still in the same location as when he was a child?
5. What was Chez Willie? What significance did it have for Claude Mercier? What other public buildings are mentioned in the film? Why are these types of buildings important to communities?
6. Why do you think the Merciers choose to live beside their old neighbourhood? What kinds of emotions do you think this living situation stirs in them? What would they like to see happen to help preserve the history of Griffintown? Do you agree that a museum would be a good idea? What kinds of things would you put in the museum?

MacLeod Nine Productions

2319 Hampton Ave #1
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4A 2K5

www.macleod9.com
Macleod_nine@hotmail.com
514.487.8766

In Griffintown - Learning Guide