Norman McLaren's "Synchromy"

In the late 1980s, British artist Robert Darroll truthfully stated on behalf of many experimental animators, “I am not interested in Film as visual literature . . . I am interested in Film as a visual process which can evoke, via physical awareness, also a metaphysical awareness” (Nowell-Smith 552). For many, music can lead to this kind of awareness, as well, and in his piece 1971 “Synchromy,” successful animator Norman McLaren plays with the evocation of visual music (Nowell-Smith 552).

            For his original musical score, McLaren created a seven and a half minute animation of colorful lines and bars morphing (by color and height, in and outside of each other) in reaction to the staccato music (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Jqz_tx1-xd4). The animation looks, essentially, like what a human brain would imagine the music would look like, if we could see it. Although “Synchromy” is simplistic in terms of content, its effect is mesmerizing, evoking psychological responses from the audience member as we watch “the music” move up and down, and respond as certain colors elicit various emotions.

As the title suggests, the film’s effect hinges on synchrony. The audience is invited to not only watch the bars and hear the music as they relate to each other, but become synchronized with them, as well. At times, the staccato score can pull the listener out of a trance-like state, and keep one on edge for a while, until their ears again adjust and the visuals lead them back into a false sense of comfort, or comfort in familiarity.

Although McLaren “enjoyed the greatest career of any” experimental animator, he was not the only artist who dabbled with “drawn soundtracks” (Nowell-Smith 552). Several years before “Synchromy,” German animator Oskar Fischinger’s “Composition in Blue” (1935) synchronized various sized shapes with a musical score (Nowell-Smith 273). While McLaren was fortunate enough to have the backing of his adopted country, Canada, and the National Film Board, Fischinger was not so lucky. The Nazis disapproved of abstract films, and Fischinger was obliged to screen his “Composition” without “proper permits” (Nowell-Smith 273). Canada, however, has maintained its prestige as a producer of quality animations, experimental or not, and we still have access to McLaren’s films – even on YouTube!

 

Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford, 1996. 273, 552.

 

Word Study: Synchromy/Synchrony

I looked up the word “synchromy” (or “synchromie” in French), and learned that this is not a real word! At least, according to the dictionary. Synchrony, however, is a word that is defined as “synchronistic occurrence, arrangement, or treatment,” and put more simply, occurrences that “happen, exist or arise at precisely the same time.” (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)