Geoffrey Jones

Directing

Biography

Geoffrey Jones (27 November 1931 – 21 June 2005) was a British documentary film director and editor, noted for his contributions to the genre of the industrial film, and in particular British Transport Films. Jones's first major work for British Transport Films was the 1963 film Snow, an eight-minute short demonstrating how the railway network coped with the 1963 "Big Freeze". Noted for its fast-paced editing and unusual photography, the film received 14 major awards upon its release and an Oscar nomination in 1965. The success of this film led to his longer 1967 short Rail, which contrasted the final days of the steam engine with the emergence of diesel and electric power on the West and South Coast lines. This was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in 1968. His third and final film for BTF was Locomotion, completed in 1975, a history of the railways consisting of over 400 archive artworks, films and objects edited to music.

Known For

6.4

Comprising train and track footage quickly shot just before a heavy winter's snowfall was melting, the multi-award-winning classic that emerged from the cutting-room compresses British Rail's dedication to blizzard-battling into a thrilling eight-minute montage cut to music. Tough-as-boots workers struggling to keep the line clear are counterpointed with passengers' buffet-car comforts.

Snow

1963Movie

7.2

"Rail" captures British Railways at a major turning-point in its history. In certain respects, this was a period of considerable upheaval and loss. There was a facing-up to the increasing need for a big modernisation drive. Full and speedy electrification, or the wider promotion of diesel-power on remaining lines, became a matter of top priority. Geoffrey Jones recorded a rapidly disappearing world of everyday steam travel, with its labour-intensive rail workforce : some of the footage in "Rail" (recognisable from "Snow") dates from around 1962.