Direct Animation

ダイレクト・アニメーション / 1935– / Technique / Experimental Film

Images made without a camera, by drawing, scratching and pasting directly onto the filmstrip. The film stock itself becomes the brushstroke and the rhythm.

Direct Animation — Norman McLaren drawing directly on film 1944 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Norman McLaren drawing directly on film 1944 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Hand-drawing on film
  • Scratched marks
  • Continuity that ignores frames
  • Physical blots of color

Best used for

  • Short experimental films and titles that put the material itself in front
  • Abstract runs of color and scratch cut by hand to a piece of music

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Dictionary entry

Type
Write letters by hand one frame at a time and keep the drift
Composition
Ignore the frame line and pull marks as long continuous bands
Material
Paint onto clear stock, scratch into black, and switch between them
Caution
Laying one scanned scratch texture over the footage so the dirt sits still instead of changing every single frame.
Further study
Len Lye, A Colour Box (1935) / Norman McLaren / Stan Brakhage, Mothlight

Related entries

More from Experimental Film

Continue through styles in the same Experimental Film family, prioritised by shared effects.

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https://indexstyle.org/styles/direct-animation
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[Direct Animation — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/direct-animation)
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