Brief Encounters 1997

Fiddle-Dee-Dee

Norman McLarenAnimationCanada19474 min

Norman McLaren was, along with Len Lye, one of the first animators to experiment with painting directly on to film and these three films are classic examples of that technique. McLaren drew fluid lines and brilliant colours down the piece of film, creating restless movement and shapes which converge, change, multiply and recede to accompaniment from jazz musicians of the day. They are fine examples of how abstract images can sustain the viewer and also of how an accident can be an asset, with McLaren using dust in the celluloid to form new textures.

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