Artist's Profile: Norman McLaren
Born
in Scotland,
Norman McLaren studied
at the Glasgow School of Art
and began painting directly on film
when he was 19. In 1936, he was invited by
John Grierson to work in London for the General
Post Office's Film Unit. There he experimented with
synthesized sound for the first time. In 1939 McLaren
moved to New York, and two years later, he hooked up with
Grierson again, this time at the National Film Board of Canada.
McLaren made about 50 short films for the NFB and was instrumental
in establishing its world-famous animation department.
Selected Filmography
| Year | Title | Distributor |
| 1943 | C'EST L'AVIRON (IT'S THE OAR) |
NFB, BFI |
| 1949 | BEGONE DULL CARE -- with Evelyn Lambart |
NFB, BFI, CFS
MOMA, Facets |
| 1952 | NEIGHBOURS* |
NFB, BFI, CFS
MOMA |
| 1965 | MOSAIC -- with Evelyn Lambart |
NFB, BFI, CFS
MOMA |
| 1967 | PAS DE DEUX |
NFB, BFI, CFS
MOMA, Facets |
| 1971 | SYNCHROMY |
NFB |
* Academy Award® winner.
Bibliography
Computerama Absolut Panushka
Light Shows Absolut Panushka
Seeing Sound Absolut Panushka
"Norman McLaren and Jules Engel: Post-Modernists." William Moritz. A Reader In Animation Studies. Ed. Jayne Pilling. Sydney: John Libbey, 1997, 104-111.
"Influence and Inspiration: the Great Tradition of Visual Music." William Moritz. Exhibition catalog. KINETICA 2. Los Angeles: The iotaCenter, 2000.
"Concerning the Aesthetic Autonomy of Animation, and Why the Short Film is Not Just a Shorter Feature Film." William Moritz. Keynote Address, Filmfest Dresden, 19 April 1995.
"Animation in the Post-Industrial Era." William Moritz. The Oxford History of World Cinema. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1996, 551-558.
The Italians Who Invented the Drawn-On Film Technique
Giannalberto Bendazzi
"Towards and Aesthetics of Visual Music." William Moritz. ASIFA Canada Bulletin. v.14 n.3 (Dec 1986): 1-3.
"Oskar Fischinger: Artist of the Century." William Moritz. Exhibition catalog. KINETICA 2. Los Angeles: The iotaCenter, 2000.
The Absolute Film Moritz, William. Lecture notes, WRO99, Media Art Biennale. Wrodaw, Poland: 1999.
"Non-Objective Film: the Second Generation." William Moritz. Exhibition catalog. Film as Film, Formal Experiment in Film, 1910 - 1975. London: Hayward Gallery, 1979, 59-71.
"Color Music - Integral Cinema." William Moritz. Poétique de la Couleur. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1995, 9-13.
"Jordan Belson: Last of the Great Masters." Animation Journal. v.7 n.2 (Spring 1999): 1-17.
Links
Profile
McCarney's Film and Video Art
National Film Board of Canada
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