Pick one of the films that we watched in the Early Abstract Film program, preferably one that you particularly enjoyed or were intrigued by. (Check the lecture slides, the films & videos, and the links resources pages for references to the films and artists.) Conduct research on both the artist and the specific film you picked. Write a two to three-paragraph reflection on the motivation of the artist to make such a film and the actual process the artist used to create it. Pay special attention to the presence or absence of any synesthetic relationships between the visuals and the sound.
Norman McLaren – Dots (1940)
“Animation is not the art of drawings that move but the art of movements that are drawn.”—Norman McLaren
Dots is “an experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by Norman McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink”. When I first watched it, I didn’t realize the creation of this film was simply through drawing. Norman followed the rhythm to create the appearance of the dots.
The short film is as simple as the name might suggest. “A collection of blue dots on a red background shuffles and squeaks into life, trumping in and out of existence with a playful autonomy”. The synesthetic relationships between the visuals and the sound are very interesting. The presence of different shapes of dots signifies the sound. When the duration of the sound is longer, the size of the dots becomes smaller, which is exactly like the balloons. I think this creation is really well-made because it combines visuals and sound perfectly.
In this film and all the other films Norman produced, we can get the idea that “he used film as an alternative tool of expression and a canvas to express flowing movement and rhythm” (Russell). He’s really managing to draw the movements of art.
Reference
Russel, Calum. 80 years of Norman McLaren’s experimental film ‘Dots’. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/norman-mclaren-film-dots/
https://www.nfb.ca/film/dots/