Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren was born on 11 April 1914 in Scotland and died on 26 January 1987 in Montreal. Following studies at the Glasgow School of Art, he joined a group of British documentary filmmakers headed by John Grierson. Inspired by the filmmaker Len Lye (and in particular his 1935 film A Colour Box), he experimented very early with new animation techniques by drawing directly onto the raw film stock. In 1940, Grierson invited him to join him in Ottawa to work at the NFB.
In the animation studio he founded at the NFB in 1941, McLaren established a creative laboratory which would be kept up by the diverse animators who made their mark there. In addition to drawing on film animation (drawing, painting, etching and diverse treatments), McLaren experimented with other original techniques: manipulating graphic elements by means of cross fades (La poulette grise, 1947; Là-haut sur ces montagnes, 1945; A Little Phantasy on a Nineteenth Century Painting, 1946); paper cut-outs (Rythmetic, 1955; Blackbird, 1958); frame-by-frame animation or animation of actors (Two Bagatelles, 1952; Neighbours, 1952); and a variety of trick effects — animated objects, superimposed movement, etc. (A Chairy Tale, 1957; Pas de deux, 1968).
McLaren also originated several experiments in synthetic sound, drawing sounds onto the optical track of the film stock and taking up the work of Rudolf Pfenninger, who drew sound waves on cards which, when filmed, were recorded on the film’s sound track.
Filmography
- 1933 : 7 till 5
- 1933 : Hand-painted Abstraction
- 1935 : Book Bargain
- 1935 : Camera Makes Whoopee
- 1935 : Polychrome Fantasy
- 1936 : Defence of Madrid
- 1936 : Hell Unlimited
- 1937 : Making a Book
- 1937 : News for the Navy
- 1938 : Love on the Wing
- 1938 : Mony a Pickle
- 1939 : NBC Greeting
- 1939 : NBC Valentine Greeting
- 1939 : The Obedient Flam
- 1939 : Scherzo
- 1939 : Surrealistic Hand Drawing
- 1940 : Boogie-Doodle
- 1940 : Loops
- 1940 : Stars and Stripes
- 1940 : La perdriole
- 1940 : Points
- 1940 : Spook Sport
- 1941 : July 4th, 1941
- 1941 : Mail Early
- 1941 : V for Victory
- 1942 : 5 for 4
- 1942 : Hen Hop
- 1943 : Barrel Zoom
- 1943 : Dans un petit bois
- 1943 : Dollar Dance
- 1944 : Alouette
- 1944 : C’est l’aviron
- 1944 : Tanguy Landscape Test
- 1944 : The Head Test
- 1944 : Keep your Mouth Shut
- 1945 : Là-haut sur ces montagnes
- 1946 : A Little Phantasy on a Nineteenth Century Painting
- 1946 : Hoppity Pop
- 1947 : Fiddle-de-dee
- 1947 : La poulette grise
- 1948 : A Phantasy
- 1948 : Dots and Loops
- 1949 : A Summer Day in Ottawa in 1949
- 1949 : Begone Dull Care
- 1949 : McLaren in Ottawa
- 1950 : Chalk River Ballet
- 1951 : Pen Point Percussion
- 1951 : Around is Around
- 1951 : Now is the Time
- 1951 : On the Farm
- 1952 : Neighbours
- 1952 : Two Bagatelles
- 1955 : 1-2-3
- 1955 : Blinkity Blank
- 1955 : Rythmetic
- 1957 : A Chairy Tale
- 1958 : Blackbird
- 1959 : Jack Paar Credit Titles
- 1959 : Mail Early for Christmas
- 1959 : Serenal
- 1959 : Short and Suite
- 1960 : Bounce Film
- 1960 : Lines Horizontal
- 1960 : Lines Vertical
- 1960 : Opening Speech
- 1961 : The Flicker Film
- 1961 : New York Lightboard
- 1961 : Pinscreen Tests
- 1961 : Six and Seven-eighths
- 1963 : Christmas Cracker
- 1964 : Canon
- 1965 : Mosaic
- 1966 : The Seasons
- 1967 : Birdlings
- 1967 : Korean Alphabet
- 1968 : Pas de deux
- 1969 : Spheres
- 1970 : The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees
- 1971 : Synchromy
- 1972 : Ballet Adagio
- 1973 : Pinscreen
- 1976 : Animated Motion
- 1983 : Narcissus
- 1985 : Pas de deux and the Dance of Time
