In this short film, a young woman visits the Vimy Memorial to make a charcoal imprint of the engraved name of her great-grandfather who was lost in battle. She brings with her a notebook of sketches and diary entries that he made during his preparation for battle. The sketches transform into colourized archive footage and take us back in time to revisit the daily lives of the Canadian Corps soldiers. This project marks the first time the NFB has colourized its own archives for a film project.
Use to personalize the study of World War I. Do you have family members who fought in the First World War, Second World War or Korean War? Explore the story of your relative or another Canadian soldier using the Library and Archives Canada, and through family stories or newspaper stories. Study the use of personal accounts and archival footage to tell the story of this soldier. Ask students about their experience watching the archives in colour. How does it differ from watching archives in black and white?