Pen Point Percussion
1951 · 6 min · ★ 6.1 · Animation, Documentary
A documentary showing Norman McLaren working on the hand-drawn sound process he uses for his short film, Loops.
Directed by Norman McLaren · Written by Donald Peters
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Daedalus · 2024Daedalus
★ 10.02024
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"Fly too high and you will burn, go too low and you won't breathe." A 7 day vlog during the summer of 2023, a story of dreamers and drowners.
Neighbours · 1952Neighbours
★ 7.61952
MovieComedyAnimation
In this Oscar-winning short film, Norman McLaren employs the principles normally used to put drawings or puppets into motion to animate live actors. The story is a parable about two people who come to blows over the possession of a flower.
Korean Alphabet · 1967Korean Alphabet
★ 7.51967
MovieAnimation
The Korean alphabet, illustrated with animation, spoken, and accompanied by music.
Ballet Adagio · 1972Ballet Adagio
★ 7.11972
MovieMusic
A slow-motion study by Norman McLaren of the pas-de-deux adagio, one of the most exacting and difficult dances of classical ballet. A ballet originally choreographed by the Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer is performed for this film by the internationally known Canadian pair, David and Anna Marie Holmes, to the music of Albinoni’s Adagio. A film to heighten the aesthetic appreciation of classical ballet and to afford observation of the technique and mechanics of the adagio movements.
Chants populaires nº 5 · 1943Chants populaires nº 5
★ 7.01943
MovieAnimationMusic
Alexandre Alexeïeff illustrated the song "Et moi je m'enfouiyais" (En passant) using the pinscreen technique. Norman McLaren illustrated "C'est l'aviron" using drawings on a fixed background, with the characters pasted in as they were drawn.
Opening Speech · 1969Opening Speech
★ 7.01969
MovieAnimationComedy
Norman McLaren attempts to give the opening speech for the first Montreal International Film Festival, but his microphone won't cooperate.
Begone Dull Care · 1949Begone Dull Care
★ 6.91949
MovieAnimationMusic
In this extraordinary short animation, Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren painted colours, shapes, and transformations directly onto their filmstrip. The result is a vivid interpretation, in fluid lines and colour, of jazz music played by the Oscar Peterson Trio.
A Little Phantasy on a 19th-century Painting · 1946A Little Phantasy on a 19th-century Painting
★ 6.91946
MovieAnimation
Taking "Isle of the Dead," a work by the Swiss symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin as his starting point, Norman McLaren creates a deeply disturbing surrealist dream.
Synchromy · 1971Synchromy
★ 6.81971
MovieAnimation
The film's soundtrack is an original musical composition produced with synthetic sound - through photographing unusual geometric shapes and running them through an optical sound head. The images are an artistic rendering of this soundtrack.
Pas de Deux · 1968Pas de Deux
★ 6.71968
MovieMusicDrama
Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal after-image visuals.
Blinkity Blank · 1955Blinkity Blank
★ 6.41955
MovieAnimationMusic
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.
Blackbird · 1958Blackbird
★ 6.31958
MovieAnimationMusic
To the tune of a classic French-Canadian nonsense song, surreal blackbird made of lines loses body parts and gets them back threefold.
A Phantasy · 1952A Phantasy
★ 6.21952
MovieFantasyAnimation
An animated film drawn entirely in pastels. Various fantastical plant-like things "grow" from the ground, eventually launching five spheres. The spheres drift in space while changing shapes and come back down to another setting, which eventually becomes more fantastical and symbolic than the opening one. The soundtrack has a jazz slant, with an ensemble of four saxophones and synthetic sound (i.e. sound created by drawing directly on the soundtrack).
Pinscreen · 1973Pinscreen
★ 6.21973
MovieDocumentaryAnimation
Pinscreen animation makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows.
Dots · 1940Dots
★ 6.21940
MovieAnimation
An 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.
Boogie-Doodle · 1941Boogie-Doodle
★ 6.11941
MovieAnimation
An animation film, made without the use of a camera, in which "boogie" played by Albert Ammons and "doodle" drawn by Norman McLaren combine to make a rhythmic, brightly colored film experiment. The main title is in eight languages.
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A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.
Mr. Duck Steps Out · 1940Mr. Duck Steps Out
★ 6.61940
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Donald visits the house of his new love interest for their first known date. At first Daisy acts shy and has her back turned to her visitor. But Donald soon notices her tailfeathers taking the form of a hand and signaling for him to come closer. But their time alone is soon interrupted by Huey, Dewey and Louie who have followed their uncle and clearly compete with him for the attention of Daisy. Uncle and nephews take turns dancing the jitterbug with her while trying to get rid of each other. In their final effort the three younger Ducks feed their uncle maize in the process of becoming popcorn. The process is completed within Donald himself who continues to move wildly around the house while maintaining the appearance of dancing. The short ends with an impressed Daisy showering her new lover with kisses
The Million Dollar Cat · 1944The Million Dollar Cat
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Tom inherits $1,000,000 from an eccentric aunt on the condition that he not harm any living thing - even a mouse. And guess which mouse keeps following him around and pointing this out to him?
Mouse in Manhattan · 1945Mouse in Manhattan
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