Setting West

Setting West was made using original printing materials from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as wood type, borders and stereotypes of “Cowboys and Indians”, trains and bison. These words and images were printed directly on 35mm clear film stock at eminent letterpress studios in North America: the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, the Center for Book and Paper Arts in Chicago, the Hatch Show Print in Nashville and the Musée de l’imprimerie du Québec & Lovell Litho in Montréal. Judith Poirier printed 1643 feet of film to produce her abstract western and her technique of printing onto celluloid creates a unique texture on screen, as well as generating an original optical sound track. Setting West reinterprets a classic cinematic genre while exploring a formative period in the history of typography and printing.

  • Judith Poirier
    Director
  • Judith Poirier
    Producer
  • Judith Poirier
    sound
  • Christian Thomas
    Sound mix
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    No camera used
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:1.78
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • FIFA, International Festival of Films on Art
    Montréal
    Canada
    March 12, 2016
    World Première
  • NaFF, Nashville Film Festival
    Nashville, Tennessee
    United States
    April 17, 2016
    US Première
    Honorable mention/Experimental Shorts
  • Milwaukee Underground Film Festival
    Milwaukee
    United States
    April 30, 2016
  • ANIFILM, International Festival of Animated Films
    Třeboň
    Czech Republic
    May 5, 2016
    European Première
  • VIS, Vienna Independant Shorts Film Festival
    Vienna
    Austria
    May 28, 2016
  • MIAF, Melbourne International Animation Festival
    Melbourne
    Australia
    June 22, 2016
  • New Zealand International Film Festival
    Auckland
    New Zealand
    July 21, 2016
Distribution Information
  • Judith Poirier
    Country: Canada
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Judith Poirier

Judith Poirier (MA Royal College of Art, London) lives and works in Montréal. She teaches at the École de design, Université du Québec à Montréal. Her work focuses on experimental typography through film, book design and printmaking. She uses letterpress, exploring connections between the printed page and the cinema screen.

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