Rythmetic Explained

Rythmetic
Director:Norman McLaren
Evelyn Lambart
Producer:Norman McLaren
Cinematography:Norman McLaren
Evelyn Lambart
Distributor:NFBC
Runtime:8 minutes, 25 seconds
Country:Canada
Language:English, French

Rythmetic is a 1956 Canadian short animated film directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart for the National Film Board of Canada.[1]

It is a non-verbal lecture on the subject of mathematics and one of McLaren’s longest animated works.

McLaren wanted to make a truly international film about the inadequacies of communication between peoples of different cultures and languages. To this end, he used the most understood method of communication, Arabic numerals.[2] Filmed without a camera or microphone and using McLaren’s scratch sound system, the film is a ‘crazy dance’ of mechanical actions and anthropomorphic gestures made by arithmetical figures and symbols; we hear rhythmic music with clicks or scratching sounds made by ink directly painted on the soundtrack. The filling of the background with bright figures against a dark background evoke a classroom blackboard and the teaching process. Classified as an educational film, it is also regarded as a visual and auditory work of art.[3]

Awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rythmetic . onf-nfb.gc.ca . National Film Board of Canada . 26 February 2023.
  2. Web site: Utako . Kuriharo . Norman McLaren’s Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art . bigakukai.jp . The Japanese Society for Aesthetics . 26 February 2023.
  3. Web site: Utako . Kuriharo . Norman McLaren’s Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art . bigakukai.jp . The Japanese Society for Aesthetics . 26 February 2023.
  4. Web site: 6th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners . 26 December 2009 . berlinale.de.
  5. Web site: Rythmetic . onf-nfb.gc.ca . National Film Board of Canada . 26 February 2023.