Norman McLaren was born in 1914 in Stirling, Scotland and
attended the Glasgow School of Fine Arts in 1932. McLaren began as a simple art
student but would end his career as a renowned film maker and animation
pioneer.
In 1933 he created his first film Seven Till Five a “day in the life of an art school” which showed
influence from Sergei Eisenstein, the Soviet Montage film maker, and this
influence continued through his later work, as seen in Camera Make Whoopee (1935) with heavy use of superimposition and
animation.
In 1936 McLaren become interested in political ideals and
was at one point part of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and out of this
interest he created the film Hell UnLtd
(1936)
Once he had
graduated, McLaren joined the General Post Office Film Unit (GPOFU) in London,
where he worked under John Grierson. It was there that he created Love on the Wing (1937), using the technique of drawing
directly on the filmstrip. After expressing his talent, John Grierson asked
McLaren to work alongside him as he left for Canada and founded the National
Film Board of Canada. It was here that McLaren was asked to help put together
the NFB’s first animation team.
Bibliography
Sexton, Jami. Reference
Guide to British and Irish Film Directors
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/446775/index.html
University
of Stirling http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/libraries/collections/spcoll/McLarenHome.php
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