Rythmetic

Rythmetic
Directed byNorman McLaren
Evelyn Lambart
Produced byNorman McLaren
CinematographyNorman McLaren
Evelyn Lambart
Distributed byNFBC
Release date
  • 19 January 1956 (1956-01-19)
Running time
8 minutes, 25 seconds
CountryCanada
LanguagesEnglish, 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]

  1. ^ "Rythmetic". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  2. ^ Utako, Kuriharo. "Norman McLaren's Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art" (PDF). bigakukai.jp. The Japanese Society for Aesthetics. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  3. ^ Utako, Kuriharo. "Norman McLaren's Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art" (PDF). bigakukai.jp. The Japanese Society for Aesthetics. Retrieved 26 February 2023.