Norman McLaren - Dots (1940)

Here's a very fun film from 1940 by the Canadian experimental filmmaker/animator, Norman McLaren. The technique he uses what's termed "Camera-less animation" or "direct animation." Each individual cell is drawn directly on blank film stock, and in the case of "Dots", the soundtrack is also hand drawn directly on the film.





Here's a video that details McLaren's process. I remember seeing this as a kid in elementary school and being completely transfixed.




It would be very fun to get our hands on a 16mm film projector and let the kids have a hand at making some direct animation of their own. There's something really magical about seeing films like this actually projected (vs. seen on a video screen) with the projector making the light pass directly through the art that was drawn on the film. Do we think the district might have a projector stored away somewhere that we can use?