Rythmetic

synopsis

The single-digit numbers order themselves in simple arithmetic operations in a precisely measured rhythm until they hit the revolutionary, zero. Its defiance then spreads throughout the mathematical community, grinding up threes and ones as it goes, their every movement accompanied by carefully timed sound in this precise stop-motion animation.

biography

Norman McLaren (1914–1987) was an award-winning Scottish-Canadian experimental animator. His Neighbours (1952), with its strong pacifist message, won an Academy Award, and Blinkity Blank (1955) won the Palme d'Or. He experimented with many animation techniques: from scratching and drawing directly onto the film stock to stop-motion animation and combining animation with live actors.

Evelyn Lambart (1914–1999) was an important Canadian animator and long-time collaborator with Norman McLaren, with whom she made several films; in addition to Rythmetic, she also created Begone Dull Care (1949), in which paintings, made directly onto the film stock, transform to the rhythm of a jazz piece.

more about film

director:	Norman McLaren, Evelyn Lambart
producer:	Norman McLaren