This film is part of Free

Johnny Barleycorn
A delightful animated appeal to help bringing in Scotland’s harvest, made by the legendary Lotte Reiniger.
Overview
Prepare to roll up your sleeves and bring in the sheaves, inspired by this gorgeous animated job advert. Its curious mix of Scottish city landscape and Weimar woodcut style is thanks to its German-born creator Lotte Reiniger, in a departure from her more familiar silhouette technique. Though best known for her pioneering animated feature The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and fairy tale shorts, Reiniger was no stranger to publicity films from her time in both Germany and Britain, for example H.P.O. (1936).
The film was commissioned by Scotland’s Department of Agriculture, which engaged in an extensive publicity campaign in print and cinemas to tackle a shortage of farm labour in the postwar period. In some cases children were granted leave from school to bring in the precious crop of 'tatties'. But this film speaks to more adult workers, and makes use of stirring reversion of the traditional John Barleycorn folk song – though with only subtle references to its association with alcohol. It is left to Reiniger to make an intoxicating use of walking tea tables and gallivanting money bags to convince the audience to follow Johnny to the fields.
Related

A Colour Box A Colour Box
Advert 1935 4 mins
Part experimental cinema, part advert for the parcel post service, always joyful.

Spherical Harmonics Spherical Harmonics
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2014 5 mins
Spherical Harmonics is about the strange power of the CG image. It's a fantasy under construction, full of digitally created memories, counterfeit physics and controlled accidents.

Noddy Goes to Toyland Noddy Goes to Toyland
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1963 12 mins
How can you not say yes to Noddy? It’s all he can say to you.

Shadows! Shadows!
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 3 mins Silent
Meet Sammy, his dog Sausage and their creator, early British animator Joe Noble, whose inventive streak sees him chased by his own shadow

Experimental Animation 1933 Experimental Animation 1933
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1933 2 mins
Long before MTV, Len Lye crafted this antecedent of the music video with a cheeky monkey singing and dancing to Cuban hit 'Peanut Vendor'

Ubu Ubu
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 19 mins
Farting and swearing and violence – oh my! Albert Jarry’s controversial play translates beautifully to splattered inks in Geoff Dunbar’s award-winning animation.

Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass) Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2011 33 mins
Over 30 years and 150 projects, the composer shares, with humour and passion, the intricacies of making film music.

Ian Neil (Masterclass) Ian Neil (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2012 74 mins
Neil selected soundtracks for 127 Hours, Shame, Kick Ass, Control and many more. He discusses the job and its complexities, referencing his own work.

Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan
Inside Film 2012 mins
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's adapter reveals his quest for "the poem of the book" and the importance of simplicity: 'Drain the pond to find the fish'.

Screenwriters' Lecture with Brian Helgeland Screenwriters' Lecture with Brian Helgeland
Inside Film 2012 27 mins
L.A. Confidential's screenwriter explains why he thinks writer's block is a myth, and reveals Clint Eastwood's unique powers of persuasion.

Olivier Assayas (Masterclass) Olivier Assayas (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2010 41 mins
Irma Vep writer/director Assayas moved from film journalism to filmmaking – a fascinating journey told with disarming honesty to Jonathan Romney.

Roger Corman in Conversation Roger Corman in Conversation
Inside Film 2013 61 mins
Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Francis Coppola and making movies in five days – prepare yourself for Corman wisdom.