Pas de deux

Enter a hypnotic world of movement and light in this entrancing film that harnesses the power of cinema to trace the movements of ballet. Dancers Margaret Mercier and Vincent Warren create a dream-like effect in this award-winning Norman McLaren film, complete with the revolutionary visual effects one expects from this master filmmaker.
For ages 12 - 14
Directed by Norman McLaren - 1968 | 13 min
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[@DanFiebiger]

It was done by filming on high contrast black and white film stock in 35mm, with side lighting only from both sides to outline their bodies, and then that original copy of the "raw" film was developed. Then each section of that developed copy was printed onto a new high-contrast B&W negative via an optical printer (and it could have been done on an even a less complex contact printer) using a technique called "step-printing" where the original developed film is passed thru the printer (with its new roll of high contrast negative film stock) over and over, but each time, the original film was "slipped" one or two or three (etc.) frame(s) ahead or behind of where it originally was during the first pass to leave "after images" (or "before images") relative to the original-pass-thru of the original image, creating the effect you see. Yes, some basic math was involved cuz each section used a different variation of the "frame-slip" process of this multiple-exposure technique.

[@amanunderthepossession]

A genius film

[@duckmansoul]

This is possibly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on film.

[@Antifearn]

This is probably my favorite short by Norman McLaren. It's his most mesmerizing, and it's very touching when you remember that McLaren's life partner, Guy Glover, was a ballet director. This short combines two elements that played large roles in their lives.

[@ConwayBob]

Saw this when it was brand new (1968) at Western Michigan University. It still strikes me as the most beautiful ballet film I have ever seen. It's still one of my favorite short films.

[@clmclachlan]

My grade 11 art teacher actually rented this film for me to watch and gain inspiration from as part of an art assignment. I was also a ballet dancer at the time. Today 47 years later I'm a visual artist living in Spain. This film helped me unlock my potential and understand my own process. I got an A+ on the assignment.

[@kidkangaroo5213]

that's beautiful, thank you for sharing

[@marcusbrutus1999]

I used to work for the National Film Board of Cananda in the late 60's as a film projectionist in Grosvenor Square, London. I have showed this marvellous film dozens of times and it never ceased to amaze me how McClaren did this. Wonderful dancing, music and technique. Once we rented out the theater to a group of ladies who were bringing their own films to show. The films were not delivered on time, so we were stuck. Instead, I suggested they watch Pas De Deux. They were completely enamored by this masterpiece. I had to show it 3 times before they would leave!

[@aravindgs679]

You are absolutely a legend sir , I think that is the best era of cinema comparing today , opportunities are more today but essence is less ... People like you are main textbook of dozens of memories and also had the last life experiences of years ... Live long sir , God bless you ❤️

[@am1997ful]

I saw this first the first time 2 days ago in my History of Cinema class, in College. My favorite movie ever since.

[@electrohouselover07]

+Emphazed Edouard mon petit

[@awisecar9540]

+Emphazed What are movies where on the syllabus? Any other sleeper films like this one (i.e. not Citizen Kane-esque)?

[@andrewlennox8318]

@@awisecar9540 what kind do you want? Dance? Go to nfb.ca or their KZbin channel. Norman has many films.

[@spaceflight111]

This is hypnotic and beautiful. The music transports you to another world and so does the dance and effects.

[@hollyken3]

For some reason this just takes my breath away

[@ArtHistoryScholar]

One of the greatest motion pictures ever made! Pure Cinema Film Art! True Cinema Film Art! RIP Norman McLaren He was a truly gifted, special, brilliant cinematic artist.

[@nEjmEd]

One of the most beautiful footages ever been shot on film. Especially the part from 11:50 when the women looks like turing into smoke in the hand of the man.

[@mylesm-j7946]

It’s beautiful, I see it as gas -> water-> woman

[@peterallen1606]

The music reminds me of Pink Floyd’s Shine on you Crazy Diamond pt 1.

[@nonaandrade7451]

This kisses my brain 🤍

[@Lifelikesky]

This fantastic movie will never age!! Beautiful

[@CityGirlCountry]

Way ahead of its time. It has innovative production values, beautiful music and choreography, and an original concept. It’s as good today as it was in 1968.

[@luxomni]

The only 16 mm film of someone else's I ever chose to buy. And the only reason I still keep a 16 mm projector.

[@ricardoduarte6589]

I have its version created in a tele-cine method over the original 16mm.

[@janetanner8493]

I first saw this in the early 70s. It is still as magical!

[@manfromthehorizon3870]

Norman McLaren was a genius!

[@Autostade67]

I love the comment "It's impressive considering 'After Effects' didn't exist back then". Impressive??? This film was so groundbreaking that it probably, in a sense, 'invented' 'After Effects' - the technology and artistry involved in making this film (using delays with an optical printer) makes today's digital manipulation of imagery look like the hackwork it probably it is. This film is master craftsmanship by an auteur of the first rank ('Pas de Deux' was very much the zenith of nonpareil McLaren's career).

[@DanFiebiger]

This "step-printing" technique can also now be done with a lot of manual manipulation of multiple lines of the same visual scene, 'stacked' over each other, with each line "slipped" a frame or 2 or 3 (etc.) ahead or behind of the main bottom line the same way on video editing programs like like Final Cut Pro an probably other similar video-editing programs by now. I've done this same technique for other people's films on FCP.

[@June_Magoo]

Oh shut it. Just because it is older and harder to make does not make it better art. It might make it more impressive from a technical standpoint, thats all. I know of many art pieces that are miles ahead of this creatively and visually. Just because its easier now with digital does not make it "hackwork". You need a good idea to make good art, the machine doesn't just shit it out. That being said this piece is phenomenal and beautiful. However there is no need to shit on modern creators. Older =/= better

[@Robert.E.Edmondson]

Done before computer animation. All the effects created by cutting and splicing the film by hand.

[@Lifelikesky]

It was made using an optical printer and involved a lot of mathematics, there is not much editing in this film.

[@omanajz]

And it took 4 years

[@DanFiebiger]

It was done by filming on high contrast black and white film stock in 35mm, with side lighting only from both sides to outline their bodies, and then that original copy of the "raw" film was developed. Then each section of that developed copy was printed onto a new high-contrast B&W negative via an optical printer (and it could have been done on an even a less complex contact printer) using a technique called "step-printing" where the original developed film is passed thru the printer (with its new roll of high contrast negative film stock) over and over, but each time, the original film was "slipped" one or two or three (etc.) frame(s) ahead or behind of where it originally was during the first pass to leave "after images" (or "before images") relative to the original-pass-thru of the original image, creating the effect you see. Yes, some basic math was involved cuz each section used a different variation of the "frame-slip" process of this multiple-exposure technique. This trick was used by other filmmakers on occasion, most famously for the first section of the "stargate" sequence of Stanley Kubricks "2001: A Space Odyssey", but it took the gentle genius of NFB's long-time (40-ish years) Canadian filmmaker-artist laureate Norman McLaren to turn this purely technical process into this stunningly beautiful film-art-work. McLaren's dozens of other films, all using other varied artistic techniques, including painting on clear blank film and hand-painting some of the soundtracks to create early electronic music, have all been released in a beautiful boxed set of DVDs and Blu-Rays by the NFB (National Film Board of Canada), with some of them posted here on You-Tube.

[@Robert.E.Edmondson]

@@DanFiebiger Thankyou Dan

[@timnmaryann874]

I saw this for the first time in a Class in HS in the 70's ... I was absolutely transfixed.... sublime! I wanted to move to Canada and join the NFB at that time...

[@khadamalikhadam9926]

Tim&MaryAnn xxps

[@khadamalikhadam9926]

Tim&MaryAnn Xzx/xnmsj. Ndjekd

[@careynutman5705]

I saw this on BBC tv. It must have been in the 1960s. Most impressive. Norman McLaren was a genius.

[@MacBeckett]

This one never grows old. Thanks!

[@DanFiebiger]

The music was done by pan-pipe player Gheorghe Zamfir (before he got world famous in the 70s & 80s) backed by the Balcescu Craiova Romanian Symphony Orchestra. The piece in Hungarian is called: "Donia Oltuoli si Hora". I don't know the English translation of that, but its an ode to the beauty of the valley surrounding the River Olt.

[@jeromnicoara]

Thanks for finding the name of the song, "Doina Oltului și Hora Oltenească" is in Romanian, not Hungarian. I remember learning that it is interpreted by the romanian pan-piper Dobre Constantin for this particular film, but when I asked my professors they did not know to tell me the name of the song and I couldn't find much info on the internet.

[@jeromnicoara]

is "Ciocîrlia Ensemble" the Orchestra you mentioned?

[@RoxanaKristina]

'its Romanian piece, not Hungarian

[@digihu5732]

I love the white and black contrast in this short

[@manfromthehorizon3870]

All the hard work immense talent really shows in this true work of art.

[@sinclairlewis4458]

Yo, this *BANGS.*

[@theprstc]

it fucks too

[@user-ve5ln5le9y]

There is a ballet based on McLarens work called Frame by Frame. This film is portrayed near the end and it’s brilliant

[@frankclack9096]

Saw this many years ago, still amazing piece and I am a fan of Romanian music and the pan pipes

[@anthonyaddison2383]

Pretty neat Masterpiece, even back in 1968.

[@tammcd]

Hypnotic, indeed. The haunting music is a perfect accompaniment.

[@suzannaschimek9045]

The best Pas de 2 I,ve seen in my life !!!!

[@NatalyaChesnova]

Caspita che bello! Ho letto in un libro sovietico di questa animazione. Ma vedendo sono rimasta impressionata anche nonostante del epoca dei effetti speciali! Bellissimo. Grazie a voi che avete reso possibile a vederlo questa vera poesia

[@edumarrodriguez4952]

Hermoso y muy muy creativo. Norman McLaren, un genio del cine

[@EV-D-10]

Magic!!

[@Feeoryne]

What a visionary....

[@marie-ge5qt]

this is so beautiful

[@MidCenturyDan]

Legendary...completlely legendary.

[@pamellamagno3788]

I Saw This First at 2006. In 2020 is still my favorite animation

[@MsTrumpet0]

This film is breathtakingly beautiful. I wonder whether special lighting effect or the dancing outfit was specially treated to reflect the lights on the outlines of the dancers. Or, is this a post processing treatment? The tracing of the ballet movements is both beautiful and meaningful. I would love to know more about the special technique to achieve this visual effect for this video. The filming and post processing are fantastic, just as the the two ballet dancers.

[@alexpaxton1336]

Looks like you have it aaallllllll fiiiiiiigured ooooooouuuuuut

[@andrewlennox8318]

They used high contrast film. It is normally used to make a print. It doesn't capture much grey scale, mostly black or white. The white of the dancers and black background enhance the contrast. The lights are set up open face (no diffusion, etc) from the sides (no frontal or back light). It's a very harsh light to create more contrast. The effects are created thru an optical printer. It makes a copy of the original onto a new film. It is slowed down and frames are sequenced in repeat and new chronology to create the superimposed effect. Making this new film also increases the contrast bc they have to use print stocks to make the copy. Normally you shoot on negative film and then print. This is typical contrast level. Hope that is clear.

[@karelkarel4340]

@@andrewlennox8318 Také jsem si kladl otázku JAK to sakra svítili. Kontrastní film a překopírování "vytáhne" siluetu a potlačí polotóny. Pokud ale vím, kontrastní film je podstatně méně citlivý. Muselo jim to dát hodně práce a přemýšlení. V každém případě super zážitek.

[@TheCharacterActor]

It's SO HARD to believe this was 1968

[@russbentley7677]

great lighting also.

[@belembaza8417]

Magnifique!

[@n00bster97]

I think this is absolutely incredible. I do think it drags a bit, there is a kind of self-indulgent nature I'm seeing in all of Norman McLaren's work but I really struggle to find another filmmaker who is able to transcend beyond the technical like he does. If this movie was like 5 minutes I think it would be one of my all time favorites. Still, this is amazing, loved it.

[@andrewlennox8318]

He was trying to make a personal cinema bc he's an artist. Film is an industry of collaboration. He was trying to make a 1:1 relationship to his work, like a painter to a canvas, as a way of connecting more personally to his audience and medium.. A film like begone dull care is personal. Neighbours is poltical allegory. Pas de deux is a study in motion and aesthetics (via optical printing). Maybe your attention span has a different expectation? Art film is more of a confrontation than entertainment. It's meant to challenge and transport you. This film is supposed to be a meditation on love imo.

[@n00bster97]

​@@andrewlennox8318 What does film being an industry of collaboration have to do with anything?...What does him "making a 1:1 relationship to his work" have to do with anything as well? I would kind of argue that if he's trying to connect his ideas directly to celluloid...well then who isn't? Yeah and those are all valid interpretations of past works, I'm actually not sure where I insinuated where those wouldn't be interpretations I agree with. It's also very interesting how you connect this idea of having a short attention span to this dull expectation of "being entertained", as if I'd ever find myself on NFB's channel to get over my Avenger's withdrawal. It's interesting because it's precisely your antiquated way of holding auteurs and art cinema to this untouchable pristine level that has held the medium back for years now, things can drag on...it's ok to be BORED andrew. I still very much enjoyed the work.

[@andrewlennox8318]

@@n00bster97 glad you enjoyed it. You have your opinion and I have mine. Art is great at opening that dialogue. Easier when one is calm imo. Hope u find other films that inspire you but don't lag.

[@n00bster97]

@@andrewlennox8318 Cool beans brother

[@motionbirdken9375]

Gorgeous

[@RoxanaKristina]

I wish they would mention the music, it is clearly Romanian traditional music 🙏

[@theprstc]

beyond words

[@viktoriasecretto7428]

Amazing!

[@RelativoVevo]

Beautiful!

[@richardsisk1770]

It seems blasphemous that KZbin breaks into this work of art with their crass commercials. 😢

[@furkanaydogmus96]

J. M. Coetzee brought me here. :) Thank you, sir.

[@heewonjeong7531]

Beautiful

[@gilfaver362]

Beautiful.

[@louisecloutier3046]

En 2014, à l'occasion du 100e anniversaire du compositeur Maurice Blackburn auteur de la partition musicale du film Narcisses/Narcisse du réalisateur Norman McLaren, j'ai pris l'initiative d'éditer le manuscrit de la partition musicale en collaboration avec l'Atelier de reprographie du CMC dirigé par Louis-Noël Fontaine.

[@robertg1812]

Sheer magic!

[@morganh2903]

Tremendo viaje me dí con esto, lo amé

[@aliramirez2778]

very beautiful! :D

[@jetblackstripes]

really fantastic piece!

[@gothicdragonwarriorqueen5819]

Interesting!!!☻💀🖤🕷🕸

[@masive1498]

I always imagine Vaughan Williams' fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis when I see this.

[@Caleb309]

😮wog dregot awah yiy hamod

[@Evasandshow]

❤️❤️❤️

[@SantiagoRevecoLepeReborn]

Voilà, mes amis, comment vous faites la danse et les effets spéciaux.

[@wmka]

Woah~

[@GreyEyedAthena]

❤️

[@hpw-dev]

Tachyons+

[@Miguel-ku3bt]

💟

[@vaen_tv]

Cada vez que lo veo berreo y vuelvo a ser niño

[@rommix0]

It's impressive considering After Effects didn't exist back then.

[@mossj9876]

장난 없다...

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Anxiety relief.

[@severorprotect]

Pass de aux

[@jazzsolo84]

I wish I knew how to do this ghosting effect on Vegas Pro 16.0

[@shelaghmckenna2667]

They are all lovers who ever were.

[@ultrahero2115]

How would one replicate this?

[@planaktormagdalenamirek2903]

Piękne mmmmmmmmmmmm

[@Lisismusic]

Is this free copyrigth?

[@qpol]

i’m scared

[@alanaronald244]

A pioneer in film animation, Norman McLaren’s life and work is brought centre stage by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Cote in #FramebyFrameNBC. World premiere June 1 - 10 >> bit.ly/2vM7kVi

[@user-ve5ln5le9y]

The woman is still alive in her 80s but the man is now deceased

[@slavakan1008]

Soundtrack name?

[@lightasair339]

Does anyone know how this was made?

[@isabelm1835]

It was made by applying till 12 copies of the original negative, one above the others with a slight displacement (of some of the frames) between each one.

[@diaduarte3563]

Lost in time

[@clementinecoste5954]

Etienne-Jules Marey rpz

[@immortelle.]

10:10 wow

[@tyjle]

Yo pas de aux

[@amberkelly6593]

Imagine watching this on shrooms.

[@Mrsuperkony]

Znakomite

[@user-vb8lg3qy5g]

Кинофокусы не скрывают примитивность мышления хореографа...

[@savannahbae2660]

Beautiful