Stacy Woodard
Encyclopedia
Stacy Robert Woodard was a producer, cinematographer
, and editor of nature films, who with his brother Horace Woodard edited Frank Buck
’s film Fang and Claw
.
, showed the life of the bee. However, Woodard has since been criticized for staging unnatural insect battles by forcing the creatures together in very small spaces.
Stacy Woodard, the elder of the two brothers by two years, photographed The River
(1938), the under-sea portion of Samarang (1933) and the whaling portion of I Conquer the Sea. The brothers shared two Academy awards for their short pictures, City of Wax
(1934) and The Sea. The entire expedition that went to Mexico to make The Adventures of Chico (1938), the story of a small Mexican boy and his animal friends, consisted of Stacy and Horace Woodard and two cameras with lenses, reflectors and reels of negative.
Amadee J. Van Beuren
co-produced some of the Woodard brothers' nature films, and hired the two men to edit Frank Buck
’s film Fang and Claw
.
. He died in New York City at the home of a friend at 10 Monroe Street in Knickerbocker Village
. His body was found lying on the floor of the kitchen, the medical examiner later stating that death resulted from natural causes (heart attack). Woodard had recently returned from Texas and Louisiana, where he had made a series of short films for the Shell Oil Company. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
, Vesperland Section, map 01, lot 2047, space 3 (ground).
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, and editor of nature films, who with his brother Horace Woodard edited Frank Buck
Frank Buck (animal collector)
Frank Howard Buck was a hunter and "collector of wild animals," as well as a movie actor, director, writer and producer...
’s film Fang and Claw
Fang and Claw (1935 film)
Fang and Claw was a 1935 jungle adventure documentary starring Frank Buck. Buck continues his demonstration of the ingenious methods by which he traps wild birds, mammals and reptiles in Johore.-Scenes:Among the scenes in the film:...
.
Early years
Stacy Woodard was the son of Robert F. Woodard, listed as a gasoline salesman on the 1910 US Census, and Christine Woodard. Stacy was educated at the Universities of Chicago and Arizona, specializing in biology. Before entering motion pictures he took part in surveys in the West and Alaska.Film career
The two brothers, Stacy and Horace Woodard, cooperated in every aspect of the making of the "Struggle to Live" series of one-reel films for Educational-Fox ("Struggle for Life," "Life in the Deep," and "Man, the Enigma"), sharing the producing, writing, photographing, directing and editing. These pictures displayed the masterly use of the microscopic camera, devised by Stacy Woodard, a huge apparatus weighing two tons, erected in the garage of its inventor's Santa Monica home. In one film, massed regiments of ants were seen assailing entrenched termites; a second recorded the fights between desert insects and animals; a third, City of WaxCity of Wax
City of Wax is a 1934 short documentary film produced by Horace and Stacy Woodard about the life of a bee. It won the Academy Award at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935 for Best Short Subject ....
, showed the life of the bee. However, Woodard has since been criticized for staging unnatural insect battles by forcing the creatures together in very small spaces.
Stacy Woodard, the elder of the two brothers by two years, photographed The River
The River (1938 film)
The River is a 1938 short documentary film which shows the importance of the Mississippi River to the United States, and how farming and timber practices had caused topsoil to be swept down the river and into the Gulf of Mexico, leading to catastrophic floods and impoverishing farmers...
(1938), the under-sea portion of Samarang (1933) and the whaling portion of I Conquer the Sea. The brothers shared two Academy awards for their short pictures, City of Wax
City of Wax
City of Wax is a 1934 short documentary film produced by Horace and Stacy Woodard about the life of a bee. It won the Academy Award at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935 for Best Short Subject ....
(1934) and The Sea. The entire expedition that went to Mexico to make The Adventures of Chico (1938), the story of a small Mexican boy and his animal friends, consisted of Stacy and Horace Woodard and two cameras with lenses, reflectors and reels of negative.
Amadee J. Van Beuren
Amadee J. Van Beuren (producer)
Amedee J. Van Beuren was the producer of Frank Buck’s first three films, as well as many cartoons and short films.-Early years:...
co-produced some of the Woodard brothers' nature films, and hired the two men to edit Frank Buck
Frank Buck (animal collector)
Frank Howard Buck was a hunter and "collector of wild animals," as well as a movie actor, director, writer and producer...
’s film Fang and Claw
Fang and Claw (1935 film)
Fang and Claw was a 1935 jungle adventure documentary starring Frank Buck. Buck continues his demonstration of the ingenious methods by which he traps wild birds, mammals and reptiles in Johore.-Scenes:Among the scenes in the film:...
.
Later Years and Death
Stacy Woodard lived in the Palace Hotel, San FranciscoPalace Hotel, San Francisco
The Palace Hotel is a landmark historic hotel in San Francisco, California, located at the SW corner of Market and New Montgomery streets. Also referred to as the "New" Palace Hotel to distinguish it from the original 1875 Palace Hotel that it was built to replace, the present...
. He died in New York City at the home of a friend at 10 Monroe Street in Knickerbocker Village
Knickerbocker Village
Knickerbocker Village Limited is a lower-middle class housing development located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City.-Location:...
. His body was found lying on the floor of the kitchen, the medical examiner later stating that death resulted from natural causes (heart attack). Woodard had recently returned from Texas and Louisiana, where he had made a series of short films for the Shell Oil Company. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
, Vesperland Section, map 01, lot 2047, space 3 (ground).