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Norman McLaren Animation techniques (22)
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Around Is AroundNorman McLaren 1951 10 minThe second of the two 3-D films--the first is Now Is the Time--commissioned by the British Film Institute to Norman McLaren for the Festival of Britain. It photographs moving oscilloscope patterns given stereoscopic form through the control of different left-eye and right-eye image positions. -
Animated Motion: Part 1Norman McLaren & Grant Munro 1976 9 minThe first part of this series by Norman McLaren deals only with tempo. It starts by showing the disc travelling in one move (1/24 of a second) from A to B, and progressively demonstrates slower and slower tempos.
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Animated Motion: Part 5Norman McLaren & Grant Munro 1978 7 minIn this fifth part, Norman McLaren deals not with motion (if motion is defined as a change of location in two- or three-dimensional space) but with change--change in the amount and color of light within an otherwise static screen. Normally, the animator combines such change with motion, but here it is studied in isolation.
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Animated Motion: Part 3Norman McLaren & Grant Munro 1977 9 minThe third in a series of five colour films that offer an introduction to the basic techniques of film animation. McLaren explains and demonstrates different aspects of movement that are essential to the animator’s art. In this case it is the pause and irregular movement.
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Animated Motion: Part 4Norman McLaren & Grant Munro 1977 7 minIn this fourth film, Norman McLaren explains and illustrates composite motion, where two of the categories of motion occur simultaneously in one action, such as the motions of jointed or pivoted parts (as occur in animal and human movements). Also shown is a human gesture with increasing amounts of emotion; and finally, the phenomenon of 'strobing' in animation is examined.
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Animated Motion: Part 2Norman McLaren & Grant Munro 1976 8 minIn this short animation film, Norman McLaren presents the first 3 of the 5 categories of motion: constant, accelerated and decelerated. Various types of acceleration and deceleration are demonstrated, and examples are shown of how these types of motion may be applied in regard to gesture, gravity and perspective.
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Boogie-DoodleNorman McLaren 1941 3 minIn this short animation film, the "boogie" is played by Albert Ammons and the "doodle" is drawn by Norman McLaren. Made without the use of a camera, Boogie-Doodle is a rhythmic, brightly coloured film experiment.
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Blinkity BlankNorman McLaren 1955 5 minThis experimental short film by Norman McLaren is a playful exercise in intermittent animation and spasmodic imagery. Playing with the laws relating to persistence of vision and after-image on the retina of the eye, McLaren engraves pictures on blank film creating vivid, percussive effects.
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C'est l'avironNorman McLaren 1944 3 minOne of a series of French-Canadian folk songs, this film was illustrated by Norman McLaren for the Chants populaires series. White gouache drawings on black cards were photographed with overlapping 'zooms' to suggest the forward movement of a canoe along rivers and lakes. This film appears in Chants populaires no. 5 and in Chants populaires no. 6.
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Creative Process: Norman McLarenDonald McWilliams 1990 1 h 56 minThis feature length documentary is a journey into Norman McLaren’s process of artistic creation. A cinematic genius who made films without cameras and music without instruments, McLaren produced 60 films in a stunning range of styles and techniques, collecting over 200 international awards and world recognition. Drawing on McLaren's private film vaults, a gold mine of experimental footage and uncompleted films, this film explores McLaren's methods, including his celebrated "pixillation" technique.
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PointsNorman McLaren 1940 1 minNorman McLaren a dessiné à la plume, directement sur la pellicule, non seulement les images de ce film, mais aussi les sons. Ce procédé lui a donc permis de se passer de caméra et d'appareil d'enregistrement. Le titre est inscrit en plusieurs langues. (Titres multilingues ajoutés en 1949.)
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DotsNorman McLaren 1940 1 minAn experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by Norman McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The main title is in eight languages. Rereleased with multilingual titles in 1949.
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Evelyn LambartÉric Barbeau 2005 5 minA profile of Norman McLaren’s main collaborator, animator Evelyn Lambart, who worked as his assistant for several years and co-directed six of his films, including the celebrated Begone Dull Care.
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Five for FourNorman McLaren 1942 2 minThis animated short by Norman McLaren serves as a wartime savings campaign. Symbolic figures, drawn directly on 35mm film stock, move and dance against a simple painted background. The score is "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," by Albert Ammons.
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FloconsMarie-Josée Saint-Pierre 2014 2 minThis short animation was created using tests created in the production of A Chairy Tale (1957) by master of animation Norman McLaren. Flocons is set to the music of Tchaikovsky and features none other than Canadian filmmaker Claude Jutra, who plays a character imprisoned in the celluloid on which McLaren paints directly. Flocons aims to celebrate the 100th anniversary, in 2014, of Norman McLaren’s birth.
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Lines VerticalNorman McLaren & Evelyn Lambart 1960 5 minAn experiment in pure design by film artists Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Lines, ruled directly on film, move with precision and grace against a background of changing colors, in response to music specially composed for the films. Lines - Vertical is accompanied by composer Maurice Blackburn on the electronic piano.
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LoopsNorman McLaren 1940 2 minAn experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The titles are in eight languages. Rereleased with multilingual titles in 1949.
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Mail EarlyNorman McLaren 1941 1 minThis publicity clip for Canada Post is Norman McLaren's first film for the NFB. For this animated short, McLaren drew symbols by pen onto clear 35 mm stock, which was then superimposed on a photographed painted background. Benny Goodman's rendition of Jingle Bells provides the accompaniment.
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Now Is the TimeNorman McLaren 1951 3 minAlong with Around Is Around, one of two 3-D films commissioned by the British Film Institute for the Festival of Britain. Photographed paper cutouts and images drawn directly on film stock were given single-frame animation. Stereoscopy was achieved by photographing and drawing two visuals (one for the left eye, one for the right eye) with controlled displacement of the elements in relationship to each other. The hand-drawn sound was also composed and recorded on two separate bands for stereoscopic playing.
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Pen Point PercussionNorman McLaren 1951 5 minNorman McLaren explains how he makes synthetic sound on film. With an oscilloscope he first demonstrates what familiar sounds look like on the screen; next, how sound shapes up on a film's sound track; and then what synthetic sounds sound like when drawn directly on film. This technique is also demonstrated in Dots and Loops.
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SerenalNorman McLaren 1959 3 minA gay fantasia of patterned sound in which Norman McLaren salutes the West Indies, painting the spirit of fiesta on film to the lively beat of an island tune by Trinidad's Grand Curacaya Orchestra.
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TwirligigGretta Ekman 1952 4 minA stereoscopic animated film based on the techniques used by McLaren in Now Is the Time. Both the sound and the visuals were hand-drawn directly upon the film.
