Synchromy (French: Synchromie) is a 1971 National Film Board of Canada visual music film by Norman McLaren utilizing graphical sound. To produce the film's musical soundtrack, McLaren photographed rectangular cards with lines on them. He arranged these shapes in sequences on the analog optical sound track to produce notes and chords. He then reproduced the sequence of shapes, colorized, in the image portion of the film, so that audiences see the shapes that they are also hearing, as sound.
McLaren had experimented with this technique for creating notes through patterns of stripes on the soundtrack area of the film in the 1950s, working with Evelyn Lambart. Their technique was based on earlier work in graphical sound by German pioneer Rudolf Pfenninger and Russian Nikolai Voinov.
The creation of Synchromy was documented by Gavin Millar in 1970 in a film called The Eye Hears, The Ear Sees. In McLaren's production notes, he stated that "Apart from planning and executing the music, the only creative aspect of the film was the “choreographing” of the striations in the columns and deciding on the sequence and combinations of colours."
The film received eight awards, including a Special Jury Mention at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
, 8minutes Directed byNorman McLaren OriginCanada GenresComedy, Animation ThemesPolitique, Political films ActorsGrant Munro Rating78% Two men, Jean-Paul Ladouceur and Grant Munro, live peacefully in adjacent cardboard houses. When a flower blooms between their houses, they fight each other to the death over the ownership of the single small flower.
, 12minutes Directed byClaude Jutra, Norman McLaren, Evelyn Lambart OriginCanada GenresComedy, Animation ActorsClaude Jutra Rating72% Dans ce court métrage, sans parole, les chaises ont le rôle central. Norman McLaren, dans la relation entre les chaises et un personnage humain, montre comment la matière peut se révolter. À quelle condition l’homme et l’objet feraient-ils bon ménage?
Directed byNorman McLaren GenresMusical, Animation ThemesFilms about music and musicians, Jazz films, Musical films Rating66% Court métrage expérimental explorant les possibilités de l'animation par intermittence et des images spasmodiques. Norman McLaren joue avec les lois de la persistance rétinienne dans une œuvre de pure imagination faisant penser tantôt à un feu d'artifice très nourri, puis ensuite à un dessin lent à se former et dont on ne perçoit que des touches rapides et éphémères. Film sans paroles.