OUAN404 - Study Task 3 - Norman McLaren - A Phantasy in Colors (1949)

I want to start by saying that I absolutely love 'A Phantasy in Colours' by Norman McLaren. The use of shape and colour with the highly erratic and fast paced movement and shifting patterns compliments the sound incredibly well. There is huge variation of patterns and movement within the animation that it's hard to pinpoint and talk about specific sections, especially since each section flashes up and transition to the next before you know it.

In regards to the audio accompaniment, it's a fast paced jazz activity that contains huge amounts of energy which is represented well in the visuals. Throughout the piece, the audio changes pace and tempo, the volume also varies throughout allowing a more varied style of visual representation. I noticed at the slower parts there is less pattern and the overall visuals are less crowded, whereas at the fast erratic parts of the piece, the visuals are all over the place and crowded, but this works extremely well in terms of representing the audio and emulating the chaotic nature of the sound with visuals.

The colours used during the piece are hugely varied, and throughout the piece contain different colours, although at one time I think there is no more than three or four colours at a time which gives the animation and patterns some definition and as the audience the patterns and colour schemes although in parts chaotic can be appreciated more because of their definition and overall design. The patterns used are also, in my opinion, appropriate for the type of audio being played at the time. For example, the middle section of piece has a slow section where lines are used, and faint dots to emulate the delicate nature of the sound. Something I did notice about the colours used is that at the higher or sharper sections of the piece the colours used are much brighter and harsher. Whereas duller colour schemes such as black and white are used to visually represent the slower or quieter sections.

I think that the shape of certain patterns is also worth noting. The patterns seems to have smaller segments to them whenever the section of audio is fast paced. This may be trying to reinforce the idea of chaos and the tightly packed designs aid that. Apart from this I can only say that the timing of the animation and the way it's pieced together to compliment the music is perfect, and reflects it visually to an incredible standard.