Cityscape: Impressions of a City

Animator Ryan Larkin does a visual improvisation to music performed by a popular group presented as sidewalk entertainers. His take-off point is the music, but his own beat is more boisterous than that of the musicians. The illustrations range from convoluted abstractions to caricatures of familiar rituals. Without words.

A cinematic portrait of people walking in their individual ways.

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.

She was the nymph who found refuge in the river reeds when the goat-god Pan pursued her. Syrinx is the first film of Ryan Larkin, a young artist from Norman McLaren’s student group. To illustrate the ancient Greek legend of how Pan made his pipes, he employs various charcoal sketches. Accompanying music is Claude Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute.

This animation short by Ryan Larkin recounts some “comical experiences” Larkin had during his many years as a panhandler in Montreal. It tells the story of Astral Pan, a street beggar, who takes us on a wild journey from the sidewalks of a wintry Montreal day, to the gates of Heaven and Hell and back. The great filmmaker passed away before finishing his film. Spare Change was completed by a friend, producer and singer-songwriter Laurie Gordon, assisted by a team of young, devoted animators.