New Adventures in Motion Pictures: Norman McLaren 15

Tuesday 21st November, 8.30pm (T)

Norman McLaren is a Scottish born animator who challenged animation conventions and became one of Britain’s most significant abstract filmmakers. At this special event, Professor Paul Wells (Director of Animation at the Animation Academy in Loughborough) will guide you through some of the best examples of McLaren’s inspiring and impassioned work.

The event includes the screening, a discussion, and a FREE glass of wine for every audience member!

Begone Dull Care

Director: Norman McLaren, Short, 8 minutes, Canada, 1949.

McLaren didn’t need politics or stories to inspire him, music served just as well. In this piece, the images move to the music of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

Love on a Wing

Director: Norman McLaren, Short, 5 minutes, UK, 1939.

After his time at Art School, McLaren joined the GPO Unit, an organisation established to promote Royal Mail. His most significant film for the unit was this.

Pas de Deux

Director: Norman McLaren, Short, 13 minutes, Canada, 1968.

McLaren was passionate about ballet and the fluidity of dance. This beautiful film illustrates how simply bodies sit together, understand each other and can work together.

Neighbours

Director: Norman McLaren, Short, 8 minutes, Canada, 1952.

Two neighbours happily live next door to each other. That is until a flower appears on the border between their properties. This film won McLaren an Academy Award and Canadian Film Award. Produced during the height of the Cold War, it is as powerful now as it was then.

Hell Unlimited

Director: Norman McLaren, Short, 15 minutes, UK, 1936.

Made during his time at the Glasgow School of Art, and co-directed by sculptress Helen Biggar, Hell Unlimited is hailed as one of the most remarkable films made in the inter-war period. Inspired by McLaren’s interests in the Communist Party of Great Britain, it is a complex mixture of archival footage, animation and graphics - compiled to make a rapid montage film.