Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren, 1944

Norman McLaren , CC , CQ (born April 11, 1914 in Stirling , † January 27, 1987 in Montreal ) was a Canadian animation director . A native of Scots McLaren began his career as an experimental filmmaker , working for John Grierson's GPO Film Unit in the 1930s before moving to America at the start of World War II . Since 1941 McLaren worked in Canada, where he created numerous animated films using various techniques for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). McLaren founded the NFB's renowned animation film studio and remained closely associated with it until his retirement in 1983.

In his long career, Norman McLaren has received numerous film awards. He is considered the founder of the " pixilation " technique, which he used in his Oscar- winning short film Neighbors . 2009 McLaren's work has appeared in the register of the UNESCO - world cultural heritage added.

Life

Early years

Norman McLaren was born in Stirling, Scotland. At the age of eighteen he began studying art at the Glasgow School of Art . McLaren originally wanted to become an interior designer , but did not graduate from that degree. Instead, he became interested in films. Especially the works of Soviet avant-garde Eisenstein and Pudovkin fascinated McLaren, but he discovered during demonstrations of the local film clubs and the abstract animated films Oskar Fischinger . Together with several fellow students, including the later documentary filmmaker Stewart McAllister , MacLaren made films himself from 1933. His first film, Seven Till Five , documented life and study at the Glasgow School of Art and was heavily influenced by Eisenstein. The first attempts at animation films followed in 1935. In addition to taking still pictures of abstract drawings, McLaren also worked, similar to Len Lye , without a film camera by drawing directly on the film material.

Norman McLaren's films were shown at the Scottish Amateur Film Festival , where he won in 1935 with Seven Till Five and in 1936 with the abstract film Color Cocktain . In 1935 John Grierson was a juror at the film festival. He became aware of McLaren and offered him a job with the GPO Film Unit, which he directed. A year later, McLaren accepted the offer and moved to London. There, McLaren worked on both short documentaries and commercials for the General Post Office . With Love on the Wing in 1938, his first professional animation film was made. In addition, McLaren accompanied Ivor Montagu to Spain, where he assisted as a cameraman in the creation of the documentary Defense of Madrid about the Spanish Civil War .

With the outbreak of World War II, the pacifist Norman McLaren emigrated to New York City in late 1939 , where he tried his hand at working as an independent film producer . In addition to a few shorter advertising films, several abstract animated films were made on behalf of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in which McLaren relied on his technique of direct animation on the film strip without a camera. In these films, McLaren also refined the possibilities of manipulating the soundtrack , with the help of which he could create a “synthetic sound”.

Career with the NFB

National Film Board of Canada logo

In 1941 McLaren accepted an invitation from John Grierson to work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) founded by Grierson two years earlier. McLaren moved to Ottawa and immediately started working on short films and trailers . Films like V for Victory encouraged buying war bonds . The great demand for animated films meant that in 1942 Grierson commissioned McLaren to set up his own animation film studio at the NFB. Despite the World War, McLaren found numerous talents at the Canadian art schools who from then on worked for the NFB, including Grant Munro , René Jodoin and Evelyn Lambart . Above all, Evelyn Lambart became a loyal companion of McLaren, who supported him as a co-director on several films.

In addition to his work in setting up the animation studio A , Norman McLaren appeared in the 1940s as a director of various types of animation. In addition to the pictures painted directly on the film strip, McLaren first experimented with layered cartoons in Alouette in 1944 . In Là-haut sur ces montagnes in 1946 he approached the animated films of Alexandre Alexeieff by creating three-dimensional landscapes with pastel colors using the chiaroscuro effect. Many of these films were part of the hugely successful Chants populaires film series , in which Canadian folk songs were visualized. McLaren hit a completely different style of music in the short film Begone Dull Care , published in 1949 . The abstract colored surfaces and figures drawn directly on film were animated to the music of the Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson . Begone Dull Care was McLaren's first international success, so the film was awarded a silver plaque at the first Berlin Film Festival .

In 1949, Norman McLaren went to China on behalf of the UN educational organization UNESCO to teach animation techniques to students. There he witnessed the proclamation of the People's Republic and the establishment of the communist government under Mao Zedong . McLaren returned to Canada in the summer of 1950. He made two animated films as 3D films for the 1951 London Festival of Britain before turning to his most ambitious film project to date. Under the impression of his experiences in China and the Korean War , McLaren produced the film Neighbors , which tells as a parable of a deadly escalating conflict between two neighbors. For this film, McLaren did not animate drawings for the first time, but people and objects that were photographed in stop-trick shots and their position changed between the individual photographs. With this technique, known as "pixilation", McLaren developed a stop-motion effect from the early days of cinema. Neighbors became McLaren's most famous film. At the Academy Awards in 1953 , Neighbors was nominated for both Best Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film, surprisingly winning the latter category.

In 1953, Norman McLaren went to India with a teaching position from UNESCO. He spent three months in Delhi and three months in Mysore teaching the use of audiovisual equipment in health education. It was McLaren's last trip on behalf of UNESCO, as he suffered from a rheumatic fever after his stay in India . Back in Canada, McLaren tried out a new animation method in which he no longer painted geometric figures on film strips, but instead scratched the film material with razors and then colored the contours and surfaces. The first film made with this “etching” style was Blinkity Blank , which was awarded the Palme d'Or for best short film at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival . In 1959, Short and Suite , Mail Early for Christmas and Serenal were three other etching-style films.

In addition, McLaren took up other animation techniques again and again. The story of the chair was a further development of the pixilation technique in 1957, in which a chair developed a life of its own. The Indian musician Ravi Shankar , who was still largely unknown in the western world at the time, recorded the soundtrack for this film . For a neon sign on New York's Times Square created Norman McLaren in 1961 the film New York Light Board , in the cut-out animation film, flip book and hand-painted animation were combined. In contrast, the animated films Lines: Vertical , Lines: Horizontal and Mosaic , which McLaren created together with Evelyn Lambart between 1960 and 1966, were completely abstract . For the short film Pas de deux , published in 1968, McLaren edited real recordings of second ballet dancers with an optical printer . By playing the dance in slow motion and breaking it down, multiplying and superimposing the sequences of movements into individual images, he created a stroboscopic effect . Pas de deux won 17 film prizes and, along with Neighbors, is McLaren's best-known work. With Ballet Adagio from 1972 and Narcissus from 1983, Norman McLaren's last film, two more ballet films followed.

Even after his involvement in UNESCO's education programs, McLaren remained a promoter of the animation arts. In 1960 he co-founded the Association internationale du film d'animation (ASIFA) and was elected the first president of the film organization. In 1973, Norman McLaren shot the documentary Pinscreen about the animated filmmakers Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker . In the following years he produced five educational films with Grant Munro under the title Animated Motion , in which various animation techniques were presented. After Norman McLaren retired from the National Film Board in 1983, he completed the technical notes on his cinematic work, which included 82 completed films and 52 screen shots and film tests. He died in Montreal on January 27, 1987 at the age of 72.

Awards

With more than 200 international film awards, Norman McLaren is one of the most award-winning filmmakers in the history of Canadian film. McLaren's films have won numerous film festivals and won both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscar and the BAFTA Award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . A total of ten films were awarded the Canadian Film Award, the forerunner of the Genie Award , between 1949 and 1968 .

A selection of the awards for McLaren's films:

• 1949: Canadian Film Awards Special Award for Dots
• 1950: Canadian Film Awards Special Award for Begone Dull Care
• 1951: Silver plaque from the Berlin International Film Festival for Begone Dull Care
• 1952: Special Award from the Canadian Film Awards for Around is Around and Now is the Time
• 1953: Oscar for best documentary short film for Neighbors
• 1953: Special Award from the Canadian Film Awards for A Phantasy and Neighbors
• 1955: Golden Palm of the Cannes International Film Festival for Best Short Film for Blinkity Blank
• 1956: Silver Bear of the Berlin International Film Festival for Rhythmetic
• 1958: Canadian Film Award in the Arts and Experimental category for The Story of the Chair
• 1961: Canadian Film Award in the Arts and Experimental category for Lines: Horizontal
• 1965: Canadian Film Award in the Arts and Experimental category for Canon
• 1968: Canadian Film Awards special award for pas de deux
• 1969: British Academy Film Award for best animated film for pas de deux
• 1984: Golden Peacock of the International Film Festival of India for the best short film for Narcissus

Norman McLaren has also received several awards for his five decades of life's work:

• 1962: Medal from the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
• 1968: Officer of the Order of Canada
• 1972: Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts
• 1973: Companion of the Order of Canada
• 1975: Winsor McCay Award from the Association internationale du film d'animation
• 1982: Prix ​​Albert-Tessier
• 1984: Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Special Achievement Genie
• 1985: Chevalier des Ordre national du Québec

Aftermath

The Norman McLaren Building in Montreal

Two years after his death, the National Film Board of Canada honored Norman McLaren by naming its Montreal headquarters after him. The arrondissement Saint-Laurent belonging to Montreal , in which the NFB has been based since 1956, named an electoral district after McLaren. In memory of Norman McLaren, the Canadian section of ASIFA together with Guy Glover donated the Norman McLaren Heritage Prize , which has been awarded since 1988 as part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

In 2009, Norman McLaren's cinematic work was included in the UNESCO World Document Heritage Register. UNESCO placed Neighbors in the foreground as McLaren's most important film.

In 2007, all of Norman McLaren's works were digitally restored by the NFB. Part of it is accessible online, the entire work has been published on DVD . In addition to the NFB, the New York Museum of Modern Art also has a complete collection of Norman McLaren's films. Archives with personal records from McLaren house the NFB and the Scottish University of Stirling .

Filmography (selection)

1933: Seven Till Five 1935: Polychrome Phantasy 1935: Color Cocktail 1936: Hell Unlimited 1937: Book Bargain 1938: Mony a Pickle 1939: The Obedient Flame 1939: Stars and Stripes 1939: Love on the Wing 1939: Allegro 1940: loops 1940: Dots 1941: V for Victory 1941: Mail Early 1942: Hen Hop 1942: Five for Four 1943: Dollar Dance 1944: Chants populaires nº 5 1944: C'est l'aviron 1944: Alouette 1946: Là-haut sur ces montagnes 1946: Hoppity Pop 1946: A Little Phantasy on a 19th-century Painting 1947: La poulette grise 1947: Fiddle-de-dee 1948: Boogie-Doodle 1949: Begone Dull Care 1951: Pen Point Percussion

1951: Now Is the Time 1952: Neighbors 1952: A Phantasy 1953: Two Bagatelles 1953: Around Is Around 1955: Blinkity Blank 1956: Rythmetic 1957: The Story of the Chair (A Chairy Tale) 1959: Short and Suite 1959: Serenal 1959: Mail Early for Christmas 1959: Le merle 1960: Opening Speech 1960: Lines: Vertical 1961: The Flicker Film 1961: New York Lightboard 1962: Lines: Horizontal 1963: Christmas crackers 1963: Seven Surprizes 1964: Canon 1966: Mosaic 1968: Pas de deux 1969: Spheres 1970: Striations 1971: Synchromy 1972: Ballet Adagio 1973: Pinscreen 1976-1978: Animated Motion, Parts 1-5 1983: Narcissus

Individual evidence

1. ^ Terence Dobson: The Film Work of Norman McLaren , p. 39.
2. ^ Terence Dobson: The Film Work of Norman McLaren , p. 79.
3. ^ Rachael Low: The History of the British Film Vol. VI, 1929-1939 . Routledge, London 1997, ISBN 0-415-15451-0 , p. 183.
4. ↑ Mc Laren, Norman . In: Brian McFarlane (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of British Film . 3rd edition. Methuen, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-413-77660-0 , p. 470.
5. ↑ Thomas Y. Levin: "Sounds from nowhere". Rudolf Pfenninger and the archeology of synthetic clay . In: Friedrich Kittler, Thomas Macho, Sigrid Weigel (eds.): Between noise and revelation. On the cultural and media history of the voice . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-05-004482-8 , pp. 352–353.
6. ↑ Jack C. Ellis: John Grierson: Life, Contributions, Influence . Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale 2000, ISBN 0-8093-2242-0 , p. 141.
7. ^ Gary Evans: In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1991, ISBN 0-8020-2784-9 , p. 23.
8. ^ Valliere T. Richard: Norman McLaren, Manipulator of Movement , p. 57.
9. ^ Valliere T. Richard: Norman McLaren, Manipulator of Movement , p. 70.
10. ^ Gary Evans: In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1991, ISBN 0-8020-2784-9 , p. 24.
11. ↑ Judith Kriger: Animated Realism: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Animated Documentary genre . Focal Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-240-81439-1 , p. 76.
12. ^ Valliere T. Richard: Norman McLaren, Manipulator of Movement , p. 80.
13. ^ Terence Dobson: The Film Work of Norman McLaren , p. 247.
14. ^ Anthony Schillaci, Thomas Allen: Films Deliver . Citation Press, New York 1970, p. 292.
15. ^ Alain Dubeau: Pas de deux . In: Peter Harry Rist (Ed.): Guide to the Cinema (s) of Canada . Greenwood Press, Westport 2001, ISBN 0-313-29931-5 , p. 168.
16. ↑ Annick Teninge: The Annecy Story: 40 Years of Celebrating the Art of Animation ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Animation World Magazine , Vol. 5, No. July 4, 2000.
17. ↑ Don McWilliams (ed.): Norman McLaren: On the Creative Process . National Film Board of Canada, Montreal 1991, ISBN 0-7722-0412-8 .
18. ↑ Jeff lenburg: Who's Who in Animated Cartoons . Applause Theater & Cinema Books, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-55783-671-7 , p. 234.
19. ↑ Jeff lenburg: Who's Who in Animated Cartoons . Applause Theater & Cinema Books, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-55783-671-7 , p. 235.
20. ↑ CBC News : Norman McLaren's films added to UNESCO heritage collection , July 31, 2009.
21. ^ Entry in the Register Memory of the World (in English) or Mémoire du monde (in French), United Nations Educational, Scientific an Cultural Organization. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
22. ↑ CNW: NFB honored for Norman McLaren restoration , May 16, 2007.
23. ^ The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film: The Museum of Modern Art receives complete archival collection of the work of pioneer film animator Norman McLaren , May 1985.
24. ^ University of Stirling: The Norman McLaren Archive . Retrieved February 9, 2012.

literature

• Maynard Collins: Norman McLaren . Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa 1976.
• Terence Dobson: The Film Work of Norman McLaren . Libbey, London 2006, ISBN 0-86196-656-2 .
• Valliere T. Richard: Norman McLaren, Manipulator of Movement . University of Delaware Press, Newark 1982, ISBN 0-87413-192-8 .

Web links

• Norman McLaren in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Entry in the Canadian Film Encyclopedia
• NFB: Norman McLaren: Hands-on animation . A selection of Norman McLaren's films.