Norman Mclaren

This experimental film reminded me of evolution from the cellular perspective.  Many shapes were much like that of bacteria. It seemed as if it was showing the explosion and chaos of life's development and evolution from the primordial soup in the birth of life here on earth. There are combinations of similar looking shapes clashing and becoming new shapes.  Their speed and wild motions fit with this wild idea of nature that I perceived from the film.  The jazz music fit well with the unpredictable nature of the film along with the unpredictable nature of evolution through random cellular mutations that make evolution possible.  It seemed that different shapes and sides were fighting for the "on-screen" survival in a very playful yet intrusive manner.  This reminded me very much of nature's survival of the fittest.  I was very curious as to how Norman Mclaren did the part where the screen was black, but there were little lights dancing on the screen and then visibly presented themselves in the form of the string being played. I cannot figure out how he achieved this, but I liked it very much.  I found the most enjoyable part of Norman's film to be how he managed to match the music to the dancing images on the screen.  Not only did it make it fun, but it brought those images to life and gave them a personality of their own, even though we know as viewers that they were created.  This breath of life Norman created in these images was what I found so entertaining with his experimental film.