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Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren

Director · Canada · 25 films on Cinelet · 1939–1983 · 189 min in all
Oscar-nominatedOscar winnerAward-winningVimeo Staff Pick
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All 25 films, free, in the Cinelet app
22 min

Latest film · 1983

Narcissus

Dancers retell the Greek myth of Narcissus, the beautiful youth whose self-love leaves him trapped, through ballet and optical film effects.

Experimental · 22 min · 80K views

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Films

25
22 min Narcissus 1983 · Experimental · 80K views Dancers retell the Greek myth of Narcissus, the beautiful youth whose self-love leaves him trapped, through ballet and optical film effects. 39 min Pinscreen 1973 · Documentary · 15K views Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker demonstrate the pinscreen animation technique they invented, exploring with NFB artists what its 240,000 pins can do. 10 min Ballet Adagio 1972 · Documentary · 75K views Two dancers perform a classical pas de deux adagio, filmed in slow motion to reveal every detail of the movement. 8 min Synchromy 1971 · Experimental · 36K views Norman McLaren draws the soundtrack itself, sliding coloured optical sound bars onto the screen so that you literally see what you hear. Award-winning 14 min Pas de deux 1968 · Experimental · 280K views Two ballet dancers move through darkness as their motions multiply into trails of light in Norman McLaren's landmark dance film. Oscar-nominated 9 min Christmas Cracker 1963 · Family · 18K views Three playful festive segments: dancing paper cut-outs to Jingle Bells, a tin-toy rodeo, and the quest to decorate the perfect Christmas tree. 7 min Opening Speech: McLaren 1961 · Comedy · 13K views Norman McLaren tries to welcome a festival audience, but a mischievous animated microphone refuses to cooperate. 7 min Discours de bienvenue de Norman McLaren 1961 · Comedy · 41K views Norman McLaren steps up to welcome a festival audience, but a stubborn, living microphone refuses to cooperate, until he answers with some animation magic of his own. 5 min Le Merle 1958 · Musical · 46K views White paper cut-outs on pastel backgrounds playfully illustrate the French-Canadian nonsense song "Mon Merle", about a blackbird losing parts of itself. 4 min Le Merle 1958 · Experimental · 115K views A cut-out blackbird loses its beak, neck, eye, wings and feet one by one — then gets them back in twos and threes — to the rhythm of a lively French-Canadian folk song. 5 min Blinkity Blank 1955 · Experimental · 94K views Images engraved directly onto blank film flash and vanish in rhythmic bursts, playing with persistence of vision and afterimages. 8 min Around Is Around 1953 · Experimental · 18K views Moving oscilloscope patterns are given stereoscopic depth in this abstract 3D film made by Norman McLaren for the 1951 Festival of Britain. 7 min A Phantasy 1952 · Experimental · 12K views In a pastel dreamscape, inanimate objects come alive and perform solemn dances and playful rituals to saxophones and synthetic sound. Oscar winner 8 min Neighbours 1952 · Comedy · 419K views Two content neighbours lounging on their lawns discover a single flower blooming on the line between their properties, and admiration soon turns into a dispute over who owns it. 6 min Pen Point Percussion 1951 · Documentary · 14K views Norman McLaren uses an oscilloscope to show what familiar sounds look like, how sound appears on a film's soundtrack, and how he creates synthetic music by drawing directly onto the film. 3 min Now Is the Time 1951 · Experimental · 12K views Paper cutouts and images drawn directly on film dance in stereoscopic 3-D to hand-drawn sound, made for the 1951 Festival of Britain. 4 min Fiddle-de-dee 1947 · Experimental · 8K views Colors and patterns painted directly onto film ripple and flicker in time with an old-time fiddle playing Listen to the Mocking Bird. 2 min Keep Your Mouth Shut 1944 · Experimental · 10K views A talking human skull warns wartime Canadians against careless gossip in this brief World War II public-information animation. 4 min C'est l'aviron 1944 · Musical · 9.2K views A French-Canadian folk song comes to life as white-on-black drawings zoom ever forward, like a canoe gliding over rivers and lakes. 4 min Hen Hop 1942 · Experimental · 20K views A hen dances to lively music and transforms into an egg in Norman McLaren's hand-drawn-on-film animation. 3 min Five for Four 1942 · War · 11K views To a rollicking boogie-woogie piano, symbols drawn directly onto 35mm film dance across the screen in a wartime appeal urging Canadians to save. 2 min V for Victory 1941 · Experimental · 10K views A stick man, symbols and lettering drawn straight onto 35mm film dance to a brass band march in a wartime appeal to buy victory bonds. 3 min Boogie-Doodle 1941 · Experimental · 45K views Abstract shapes and lines drawn directly onto film stock dance in sync with Albert Ammons's boogie-woogie piano. 3 min Loops 1940 · Experimental · 23K views Abstract shapes pulse and loop to a soundtrack that, like the images, was drawn by hand directly onto the film strip. 2 min Stars and Stripes 1939 · Experimental · 12K views Stars and stripes, drawn and coloured directly onto the film strip, tumble and perform acrobatics to a lively march.

If you like Norman McLaren

NMNorman McLaren, Evelyn Lambart6 filmsNMNorman McLaren, Grant Munro3 filmsJWJohn Weldon12 filmsClaude Cloutier15 filmsRyan Larkin5 filmsESEva Szasz5 films

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