Norman McLaren
While attending art school in his native Scotland, Norman McLaren was converted to cinema after seeing the extraordinary films of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, and of the German animator Oskar Fischinger. He subsequently worked under legendary documentary filmmaker John Grierson, first at the General Post Office Film Unit in London, where he created Love on the Wing 1937, using the technique of drawing directly on the filmstrip. He immigrated to the US at the start of the war and made abstract films including Stars and Stripes 1940 and Dots 1940, then moved to Canada in 1941, where he again worked with Grierson, who had founded the National Film Board there. For his best-known works, including Begone Dull Care (co-directed by Evelyn Lambart, 1949) and Blinkity Blank 1955, McLaren drew and etched directly on film to create kinetic works that synchronised images with music. Other techniques included paper cut-outs (Rythmetic, co-directed by E. Lambart, 1956; Le merle, 1958) and line animation. Blinkity Blank, an explosion of lines etched on film, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Norman McLaren Program 1 All ages 53 minutes
Wed 23 Apr 5.30pm / Cinema A
Love on the wing 1938
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 4:27 MINUTES, UK / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Scherzo 1939
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 1:25 MINUTES, UK / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Spook Sport 1940
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 7:52 MINUTES, USA / DIRECTORS: NORMAN MCLAREN, MARY-ELLEN BUTE
Dots 1940
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 2:21 MINUTES, USA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Loops 1940
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 2:40 MINUTES, USA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Stars and Strips 1941
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 2:07 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Boogie-Doodle 1941
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 3:18 MINUTES, USA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Hen Hop 1942
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 3:39 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Mail Early 1941
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 1:44 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
V For Victory 1941
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 2:04 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
5 For 4 1942
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 2:52 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Dollar Dance 1943
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 4:05 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Hoppity Pop 1946
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 1:47 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Fiddle-de-dee 1947
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 3:22 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Mail Early for Christmas 1959
16MM, COLOUR, MONO, 40 SECONDS, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Begone Dull Care 1949
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 7:47 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Norman McLaren Program 2 All ages 30 minutes
Wed 7 May 5.30pm / Cinema A
Blinkity Blank 1955
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 5:15 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Short and Suite 1959
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 4:50 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Serenal 1959
16MM, COLOUR, MONO, 3:04 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Lines Vertical 1960
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 5:49 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Lines Horizontal 1962
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 5:55 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Mosaic 1965
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 5:28 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Norman McLaren Program 3 All ages 54 minutes
Wed 21 May 6.00pm / Cinema A
A Little Fantasy on a Nineteenth Century painting 1946
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 3:37 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
La poulette grise 1947
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 5:33 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
A Phantasy 1952
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 7:15 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Rythmetic 1956
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 8:41 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTORS: NORMAN MCLAREN, E. LAMBART
Le merle 1958
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 4:40 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Canon 1964
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 9:13 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Spheres 1969
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 7:20 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Synchromy 1971
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 7:27 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: NORMAN MCLAREN
Creative Process: Norman McLaren 1990
BETACAM, BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOUR, 52 MINUTES, CANADA / DIRECTOR: DONALD MCWILLIAMS
‘In Creative Process, director Donald McWilliams demystifies the process of artistic creation. Drawing on McLaren’s private film vaults, a gold mine of experimental footage and uncompleted films, McWilliams explores McLaren’s methods, including his celebrated ‘pixilation’ technique, and his daring forays into animated surrealism. He reveals sources of McLaren’s creativity and shows how they were transformed into cinema. This film is a unique examination of creativity — and a journey through McLaren’s own extraordinary creative process.’ National Film Board of Canada
Wed 7 May 4.30pm / Cinema A
Cinéastes de notre temps: Norman McLaren (Filmmakers of Our Time: Norman McLaren) 1972
BETACAM, BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOUR, 55 MINUTES, CANADA, FRANCE / DIRECTOR: ANDRE S.LABARTHE
Wed 23 Apr 4.30pm and Wed 28 May 2.00pm / Cinema A
