Norman McLaren (1914-1987) was most famous for his animations created by etching directly onto celluloid. His films became cinema landmarks.
This wonderfully crafted tribute app functions as a repository of information about McLaren, including a biography and 51 classic animated films to view (free), plus three creative elements - a Paper Cut-Out workshop, a Synthetic Sound workshop and an Etching on Film workshop.
These are the most engaging parts of the app, because they give you the chance to ape McLaren’s style in your own projects. You get the Paper Cut-out workshop for free, but the others are $2.99 (£1.99).
Etching on Film is really fun to use - there are tools for simulating scratching images on film and colouring them, and it's easy to build up a simple McLaren-style animation quickly. You can then export your film to the iPad’s Camera Roll where you can use all the standard sharing options, or send it straight to Vimeo.
Review by: Graham Barlow
Key info
- Works with: iPad
- Price: Free
- Developer: National Film Board
- Version: 1.0.3
- App size: 185MB
- Age rating: 4+
