Viewing the Film - Text 1
It is understandable that, in such conditions of inventiveness, the tools and working methods making it possible to conceive animated films directly on the film stock responded to varying intentions and constant adaptations. At the same time, we might think that the process of viewing the film, making it possible to test the animation, the synchronization of sound and image, etc., would be the same from one film to the next. In fact, the production logic of this kind of film, which aimed for practicality and accessibility, could have led to the establishment within the NFB animation studio of a system which could have been used by any filmmaker wishing to make such a film. And yet, while several techniques were common to many films, it must be noted that, even at this stage of conceiving their work, NFB animators put in place quite different methods, in keeping with the formal inventiveness of the films themselves.
Norman McLaren was one of the first to ask himself how to “test” the animation: how to ensure that it worked without having to develop the film stock (always an expensive procedure)?[1] McLaren’s solution was to use a moviola, which enabled him to check his work, meaning both the drawn images and the drawing with sound, in real time.
