Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren (1914-87) was a Scottish-Canadian pioneer in animation and film-making. His work was incredibly wide-ranging, always pushing through experimentation to discover the full potential of film.

McLaren founded the animation unit of the NFB in 1942 (National Film Board of Canada), and his legacy lives on through the work that has been produced with the NFB. He was able to make his own experimental films there but he also facilitated the growth of emerging talent in animation.

'Dots' (1940)

'Spook Sport' (1940)- Mary Ellen Bute/Norman McClaren/Ted Nemeth

Among McLaren's best known experiments were these examples of drawn-on-film animation (also known as direct animation or animation without camera). McLaren literally drew on the film stock with ink, perfectly matching the simple visuals with a playful soundtrack. It is remarkably effective despite being so abstract. We read a spirit into the dots according to how they move, and demonstrate the joyous power of animation (particularly when in harmony with sound) even in its most basic form.

'Neighbours' (1952)

Another area of McClaren's interest was pixilation. Pixilation takes live actors and applies the frame-by-frame tecniques of animation to play with different kinds of motion. As this clip from 'Neighbours' shows, with this technique it is possible to create the illusion of movements we could never see in reality, by freezing moments in sequence. It is thereby possible to see a man levitate, slide along the ground or anything the imagination can conjure.

'Pas de deux' (1968)

During my commutes to Cambridge on the train, I started to explore the vast range of McLaren projects available to watch online.

'Pas de deux' (1968) is one such film that was an incredible discovery on my dull morning journey. McLaren shot the ballet choreography of Ludmilla Chiriaeff, following the movements of Margaret Mercier and Vincent Warren while starkly lit against a dark backdrop. Over the course of the 13 minute film, the images of the dancers are duplicated in increasingly creative ways, building to to point of abstraction. The exquisite craft of the dancers is on full display as the moments of symmetry create a truly transformative experience.