Street Musique

Visual improvisation on music performed by a popular group presented as sidewalk entertainers. The illustration is by a young film artist and animator who sees life with an amused and imaginative eye. His take-off point is the music, but his own beat is more boisterous than the musicians. He ranges from the most convoluted of abstractions to caricature of familiar rituals, including the bath. A film without words.
Directed by Ryan Larkin | 1972 | 8 min
Watch more free films on NFB.ca → bit.ly/YThpNFB
Subscribe to our newsletter → bit.ly/NFBnewsletter
Follow us on Facebook → bit.ly/ytfbNFB
Follow us on Instagram → bit.ly/2FdmRol
Follow us on Twitter → bit.ly/yttwNFB
Download our free iOS Apps → apple.co/2dbva4h
Download our free Android Apps → bit.ly/2dbvHmO

[@YoungBlasarius]

A once in a lifetime talent! Let’s give him his flowers, he was a legend and an inspiration in animation. This art is timeless.

[@observer7418]

This is how I remember of "the hippies" who taught us music and art as a little kid in my grade school

[@yacovmitchenko1490]

A good acid trip skillfully rendered.

[@quentchekan]

Excellent! Sooo much talent... what an imagination this man, Ryan Larkin, had.

[@363740]

felt like a kid while watching...

[@JohnathonNoteworthy]

An inspiration for sure.

[@user-fq2bb5gs7n]

beautiful video

[@EV-D-10]

Fantastic!!

[@balthasardenner5216]

This is beautiful I wish there was a good quality version available

[@joycekunzelman7435]

This animation was done in 1972. And 51 years ago they didn't have computers and other technology to make everything look like a Disney movie. This man made every frame of the entire movie by hand, by himself. Absolute genius.

[@andrewforbes1433]

​@@joycekunzelman7435 The year it was made has nothing to do with the poor presentation here. This low resolution upload looks muddy and compressed, and does a disservice to Larkin's fine work. Why do people think fine detail was invented with computers?

[@doopiss]

@@joycekunzelman7435if NFB still has the original negatives they could rescan it in higher quality. Film has not set resolution unlike digital, they can make it go as high as 4K and beyond.

[@mat5473]

It's available in high resolution on the NFB website to watch for free.. Lol Joyce Kunzelman doesn't understand video resolutions.

[@kafkettethehungerartist]

​@mat5473
maybe, but i do. i ran a video lab & taught tape editing for seven years. been a webmistress {handcoding} ever since.
i was gonna recommend the nfb website as well . . . . .
. . . . however, that’s not the all & end of it.
imagine what yr seeing as the difference between a record & digital music. you either like the pops & crackles or you don’t.
i also could go on about chops & feel: this version may cut off the top part of the chops but the feel is still there, something becoming increasingly rare, & feel matters more . . . .
¡yay joyce kunzelman!
sign me,
the weary
-𝒌𝒂𝒇𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆

[@estudiodproductions]

BUENO BUENO!!!

[@feloparedes2152]

💎

[@itsluxy8918]

❤️😭

[@rsmtv]

RYAN LARKIN!!!!

[@filmteknik]

Does anyone know anything about the final piece of music? It's very catchy. The credits list a Jon Van Arsdell last but I don't know if they were all working together or separately.

[@miltyway]

I’ve been searching for years and sadly can’t find anything!

[@DrFrickenFrack]

The tune is known as Blackberry Blossom. It’s a traditional bluegrass number. Mule skinner has a great version. So does Tony Rice. This version is by far the best I’ve ever heard.

[@363740]

time pass...

[@pipsqueak56]

@DreamSerumProd the animator is ryan larkin go look him up

[@nedogedell]

A classic! Better quality would be nice though.

[@joycekunzelman7435]

Excellent quality. If you're looking for today's animation, you're not looking at art.

[@DASSTILTS]

LOVE SCOTT DRAFT
BITCHES

[@kyleselby3196]

why is the emblem an eye tho

[@montanaproductions5559]

PBS sponsored

[@mat5473]

@@montanaproductions5559 No... that's the logo for the National Film Board of Canada.

[@mat5473]

The quality on this video is terrible and an insult to the work. NFB, what gives?? Ryan Larkin's work deserves better than this. Come on.

[@joycekunzelman7435]

This is the original product. These are thousands of hand drawn screens all done by Ryan Larkin. Todays tech and computers will give you slicker productions but no soul

[@diabalotia]

the animations werent drawn in 240p resolution though, the digital scan looks like VHS quality, it originally would have been transferred to film which would look better than this even if it was 8mm, not even to mention the original drawings/cels are probably still kicking around, OP is right

[@mat5473]

@@diabalotia Yes, for sure. It's available in 1080p on the NFB site, not sure why they couldn't upload a better version here.